Excerpt of a discussion between villagers in the town of Jaén, Azuay

Excerpt of a discussion between villagers in the town of Jaén, Azuay

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The mayor of Jaén, Azuay eavesdropped on some local villagers (farmers who work on small lands) talking about developments they observed on the border. Excerpts from the conversation are presented below.

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Villager 1: I’ve been hearing things; Celino was saying something about the government being worried about some sort of clash with Peru? Do you know what this is all about? Just some other word on the street because people have nothing else to do, ey?

Villager 2: Yeah, the government has been trying to arm us against a potential Peru invasion, it is so scary! This morning when I was working the farm, I saw more troops than usual on the Peruvian side of the border. It’s quite concerning when harvest time is so close. 

Villager 3: Oh my, my neighbour saw some mounted on the border too - nothing too big, but still. The Peruvian navy is quite admirable, so I don’t know what’s happening next. 

Villager 1: ¡Por favor! You said that last time as well. Are you sure this is not another silly rumour you’ve just heard?

Villager 2: No, I’m worried it might be something real this time - the troops I saw seemed like they were training. Ah, I’ll try to see again when I go tilling my farm tomorrow, but I am genuinely scared hermano. 

Villager 1: Eh, I don’t know. How close were the troops? It could be routine training, too, right?

Villager 2: I would call it dangerously close, hermano! Usually, they are quite far from the border, they seem really tiny when I watch. But this time, I could actually see them marching and even hear them faintly. So, much closer than usual, I would say. 

Villager 1: Ah, we’ll see how this goes. I still think you’re all being paranoid, but if it’s real the government will probably have a whiff of it and we’ll find out. I’m going to go sort some chores in the town square before sunset, hermanos. ¡Hasta luego!