TARAPOTO HAS THE LONGEST TORCH RELAY

Tarapoto. The Pan American Torch visited Tarapoto's three main districts, surrounded by joy, high expectations, typical dances and dancing in the streets. The Pan American Flame started its journey on July 4, when the first torch was lit in Machu Picchu, Cusco.

All 144 torchbearers that carried the torch this day have a special trait: they all connect the past of their birth places with the joy of the present, with an unbreakable motivation during the 26 km route that lasted eight hours across La Banda de Shilcayo, Morales and Tarapoto districts.

But this is not the only event that will mark the first Pan American Torch relay in Peru. It was also the first of 14 cities where torchbearers with an impairment were included. One of them is 19-year-old Naomi Rengifo Rodríguez.

The visual artist Boris Quintero Viena, the President of Asociación Manos Unidas Myrian Pinchi Dassa, who has been working in social assistance for 16 years, and the teacher from the Instituto Especial 0002 in Moyobamba, Luz Marina Vela, also attended the event. 

The celebration ended with the lightning of cauldron and the speech of local authorities from San Martin.