Shamans in Peru on Monday gathered for an annual New Year’s ritual where they made predictions for the year to come, including illness for US President Donald Trump and the downfall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“The United States should prepare itself because Donald Trump will fall seriously ill,” Juan de Dios Garcia proclaimed as he gathered with other shamans on a beach in southern Lima, dressed in traditional Andean ponchos and headdresses, and sprinkling flowers on the sand.
The shamans carried large posters of world leaders, over which they crossed swords and burned incense, some of which they stomped on.
Photo: AFP
In this year’s event, the shamans said that Maduro would be removed from office, and added that global conflicts such as the war in Ukraine would 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,” shaman Ana Maria Simeon said.
Garcia added that Maduro would flee Venezuela and not be captured.
Photo: AFP
In addition to Trump and Maduro, the shamans waved posters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Closer to home, Garcia predicted that Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, would emerge victorious in Peru’s presidential election after three failed bids.
“The woman who dreams of ruling Peru, I have been able to see through the wachuma [ancestral plant] that Keiko Fujimori will be president in 2026,” he said.
Photo: EPA
The shamans also foretold the end of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which it previously predicted to happen in 2023.
“I see that the conflict will end; they will raise the flag of peace,” Garcia said.
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.
In December 2023, the group correctly predicted that Alberto Fujimori, who had been imprisoned for human rights abuses, would perish within 12 months. He died from cancer in September last year 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.
The prayers to the gods on Monday, 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.
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