LIMA, Peru (AP) — A group of shamans gathered Monday by the sea in the Miraflores district of Peru’s capital, Lima, to carry out an annual ritual in which they make predictions for the upcoming year.
Dressed in traditional Andean ponchos and headdresses, the group performed a ceremony, and made predictions about the course of international relations, ongoing conflicts and the fate of world leaders.
In this year’s event, the shamans said that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will be removed from office, and added that global conflicts, like the war in Ukraine will continue.
“We have asked for Maduro to leave, to retire, for President Donald Trump of the United States to be able to remove him, and we have visualized that next year this will happen,” said shaman Ana María Simeón.
The group has a mixed record with its annual predictions.
Last year, they warned a “nuclear war” would break out between Israel and Gaza, where a ceasefire is currently in place.
But in December 2023, the group correctly predicted that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who had been imprisoned for human rights abuses, would perish within twelve months.
Fujimori died from cancer in September 2024 at the age of 86.
Before Monday’s ceremony, the shamans met to drink hallucinogenic concoctions derived from native plants — including Ayahuasca and the San Pedro cactus — which are believed to give them the power to predict the future.
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During the ceremony, they placed blankets with yellow flowers, coca leaves, swords and other objects on La Herradura beach, asking for positive energy for the new year.
After dancing in circles and playing ancestral instruments, the shamans asked for peace in the Middle East, an end to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and the fall of President Maduro.
The prayers to the gods, performed amid flowers and incense, as well as dances, are intended to encourage leaders to make good decisions.
The shamans also predicted natural disasters, such as earthquakes and climatic phenomena.
