Diplomatic heritage: The involvement of the Wold Heritage Fund in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Cuzco, Peru.

In 2019, the World Monuments Fund (WMF), a non-profit international organisation dedicated to the safeguarding and conservation of endangered heritage sites across the globe, included the Sacred Valley of the Incas (in Cuzco, Peru) in its annual round of nominations for its 2020 Watch Program. The reason for the nomination was the perceived threat posed by the projected New International Cuzco Airport in the nearby town of Chinchero to the area’s cultural heritage. The article explores the political implications of the WMF’s intervention in the Sacred Valley, particularly the frictions between conservationist and developmentalist agendas. Specifically, the paper sets out to examine the reasons for the WMF’s early suspension of the program. It also seeks to unravel the various levels and scales of collaboration where the politics of heritage are at work and where heritage as a form of governance is instantiated. A main question is: how does the WMF’s international preservation profile fit within a strongly development-oriented sub-national agenda?

Heritage. Diplomacy. Politics. World Monuments Fund. Cuzco.