Peru’s Melting Glaciers

Photos by Martin Mejia The tropical glaciers of South America are dying from soot and rising temperatures, threatening water supplies to communities that have depended on them for centuries. But experts say that the slow process measured in inches of glacial retreat per year also can lead to a sudden, dramatic tragedy.

In Peru’s Andes, Bitter Cold Devastates Alpaca Farmers

Photos by Rodrigo Abd After three days of heavy snowfall and bone-chilling temperatures, Mateo Mullisaca watches as one of his alpacas falls to the ground in agony on his farm almost 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) high in Peru’s Andes.

Tourism in Peru’s Shanty Town

Photos by Rodrigo Abd Shacks cling precariously to sandy hillsides. The flat roofs of board-and-tin hovels stretch as far as the eye can see on treeless moonscapes.

Peru Snow Star Festival

Photos and Text by Rodrigo Abd Tens of thousands of pilgrims crowd an Andean valley, with dancers in multi-layered skirts and musicians with drums and flutes performing non-stop over three days.

In Peru Highlands, Support for Fujimori’s Daughter Runs Deep

Photos by Rodrigo Abd This remote hamlet high in the Peruvian Andes is nearly drained of color, save for the bright orange campaign signs plastered on walls and houses promoting presidential hopeful Keiko Fujimori.

Alpaca Fiber From Peru Destined For Luxury Stores

Photos by Martin Mejia The 4 million alpacas that graze on the remote slopes of Peru’s southeastern Andes wear warm coats of a silky fiber highly sought in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Raids on Illegal Mining Camps Target Brothels

Photos by Rodrigo Abd In one of the biggest such raids yet, police and soldiers destroyed scores of illegal gold mining camps in Peru’s Madre de Dios region this week.

Peruvian Fighting Ritual

Photos by Martin Mejia Renato Nunez was looking for a fight after drinking seven bottles of beer with his friends.

Peru’s Ashaninka Hunger

Photos by Rodrigo Abd Hunger haunts the jungle home of the Ashaninka.

Peru’s Dirty War

Photos by Rodrigo Abd More than two decades after they were massacred by Maoist-inspired insurgents during Peru’s bloody civil conflict, 34 Andean villagers were finally given a proper burial.

Peru’s Coca Eradicators

Photos by Rodrigo Abd Destroying coca plants is grueling work.

Peru’s Cocaine Runways

Photos by Rodrigo Abd It happens about four times a day, right under the nose of Peru’s military: A small single-engine plane drops onto a dirt airstrip in the world’s No. 1 coca-growing valley, delivers a bundle of cash, picks up more than 300 kilos of cocaine and flies to Bolivia.

Peru’s Jungle Drug Cops

Photos by Rodrigo Abd The elite police who work in the dense central jungles of the world’s No. 1 cocaine-producing nation regularly raid the pits in which coca leaves are processed into the paste used to make the drug.

Peru Illegal Mining Raid

Photos by Rodrigo Abd Patricia Quispe sat sullen on a black suitcase outside a dismantled mining camp, nursing her baby son and waiting for her husband, who was among 41 wildcat gold miners arrested in Peru’s latest crackdown on illegal mining in the Amazon.

Peru Indigenous Festival

Photos by Rodrigo Abd Gathered in the middle of the Amazon forest, the participants in the beauty contest wear the simple brown dresses of the Ashaninka indigenous woman, their faces dotted in a traditional design with a red dye extracted from a spice called achiote.

In Peruvian Valley, Coca Harvest Means Survival

Photos by Rodrigo Abd Just before sunrise, Raul Rua joins 15 others, including women, teens and children, for a half-hour walk to pick coca in the world’s No. 1 coca-producing valley.

Peru’s Vicuna Shearing Festival

Photos by Sebastian Castañeda Hundreds of people from the nearby village of Lucanas grasped a rope decorated with multi-colored streamers and marched across the broad Andean plain to round up vicunas, llama-like animals that are prized for their valuable wool.

Peru Anti-Mining Farmers

Photos by Rodrigo Abd A respite imposed by martial law after nearly two months of violent anti-mining protests has sent farmers in a fertile coastal valley of southern Peru back to their fields.

Peru Sea Therapy

Photos by Rodrigo Abd They arrive at Lima’s coast shortly before dawn and wade into the Pacific Ocean, seeking relief from the ailments doctors have been unable to cure.

Outsized Risks Face Peru’s Expendable Cocaine Couriers

Photos by Rodrigo Abd He slides two T-shirts, shorts, canned tuna, toasted corn and boiled potatoes into the rucksack atop 11 pounds of semi-refined cocaine. In a side pocket, a .38-caliber Chinese pistol.

Peruvian Community Lives Half-Year on the Water

Photos by Rodrigo Abd Residents of the Peruvian Amazon community nicknamed “Venice of the Jungle” live half the year on the water, with canoes replacing motorcycle taxis as the most popular form of transport.

Violent Past Haunts Peru Dances in Ayacucho Area

Photos by Rodrigo Abd They danced all day, until the sun set over Latin America’s oldest bullring. But these were not typical dances of Peru’s highlands.

Illegal Logging, Fear Haunt Remote Peru Village

Photos by Martin Mejia Illegal logging persists unabated in this remote Amazon community where four indigenous leaders who resisted it were slain in September, and the fear remains palpable.

Climate Change

With 2014 on track to become the warmest year on record and time running short, more than 190 nations began talks on a new worldwide deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions and keep global warming from causing irreversible damage.

Peru’s Dirty War Victims

Photos by Rodrigo Abd It was the second burial for the three members of the citizen self-defense force from this remote Andean village, who officials say died so that others might live.

Peru Lord of Miracles

Photos by Martin Mejia Thousands of people crowded into downtown Lima on Saturday to participate in a procession at the start of a five-day festival that carries a painting of the capital’s patron saint, the Lord of Miracles, on daily treks through the streets.

Peru Unearthing the Bodies

Photos by Rodrigo Abd This remote hamlet on fertile Andean slopes beside the Apurimac river has been a ghost town for three decades, inhabited only by the buried bodies of villagers slain by security forces who considered them rebel sympathizers.

Worldview: Peru Daily Life

Photos by Rodrigo Abd For today’s installment of AP’s Daily Life series, we feature the South American country of Peru and the work of Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Rodrigo Abd.

Peru Mining Ghost Town

Photos by Rodrigo Abd In April of 2014, Peru’s government dialed up a crackdown on illegal gold mining that has badly scarred the ecologically rich southeastern jungle region of Madre de Dios.

Peru’s Illegal Gold

Photos by Rodrigo Abd In a surprise raid, about 1,500 police and troops dynamited $20 million worth of heavy machinery as Peru’s government dialed up a crackdown on illegal gold mining that has badly scarred the ecologically rich southeastern jungle region of Madre de Dios.