Peru celebrates 2 decades of a fast-growing breed of guinea pigs eaten as a delicacy

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru on Thursday celebrated two decades since the creation of a genetically modified breed of guinea pig, a rodent whose meat has formed a part of the diet of people in the Andean nation for thousands of years.

The genetically modified breed of guinea pig — known as cuy locally — is called “Peru.” It was created in 2004 at the National Institute of Agrarian Innovation, Juan Solórzano, a research zootechnician, said in the middle of one of the institute’s farms where thousands of guinea pigs are raised for study.

What characterizes the “Peru” breed is that grows faster, reaching a weight of 1 kilogram in 56 days, rather than the 160 days that was needed before, Solórzano said.

“It is a precocious breed,” said Solórzano.

Guinea pigs are native to the Andes Mountains and are raised in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia, areas where the Inca Empire spread almost 500 years ago.

There are more than 25 million guinea pigs in Peru, according to official figures. The rodent is so popular in the South American country that authorities have decreed the second Friday of October as National Guinea Pig Day to encourage its consumption.

Internal migration from Peru’s Andes in the 20th century brought the custom of eating guinea pigs to the country's Pacific coast.

“It is eaten at sporting events or religious festivals. Guinea pig is a festive dish,” Solórzano said. It is also used in ritual healing practices by being rubbed over the body of a sick person.

Marina Isabel Briceño, an employee at an air conditioning supply company, said she has eaten guinea pigs since she was a child, calling them a delicacy served at “special events.”

Born in the Cajamarca region, Briceño said that at baptisms the parents often give the godfather and godmother a tray with more than a dozen guinea pigs that have been fried and are “crispy and ready to eat.”

“I know it is a rodent, a distant relative of rats, but those animals eat garbage, whereas guinea pigs eat something else, tender corn leaves which is why they are tasty,” she said.

Juan Carlos Solorzano holds a newborn Peru Guinea Pig at an agricultural research farm where breeding animals are raised for distribution to farms across the country, in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. Peruvian guinea pigs, locally known as 'cuy,' have been traditionally raised for meat consumption since pre-Inca times. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Butchers hold guinea pigs behind the glass of a refrigerator at a market in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. Guinea pigs, locally known as 'cuy,' have been traditionally raised for meat consumption since pre-Inca times. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Costumers eat guinea pig at a restaurant in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. Guinea pigs, locally known as 'cuy,' have been traditionally raised for meat consumption since pre-Inca times. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Peru Guinea Pigs are bred at an agricultural research farm to distribute to farms across the country, in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. Peruvian guinea pigs, locally known as 'cuy,' have been traditionally raised for meat consumption since pre-Inca times. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

A cook fries guinea pigs at a restaurant in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. Guinea pigs, locally known as 'cuy,' have been traditionally raised for meat consumption since pre-Inca times. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Peru Guinea Pigs are bred at an agricultural research farm for distribution to farms across the country, in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. Peruvian guinea pigs, locally known as 'cuy,' have been traditionally raised for meat consumption since pre-Inca times. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

A guinea pig dish is ready to be served to a customer at a restaurant in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. Guinea pigs, locally known as 'cuy,' have been traditionally raised for meat consumption since pre-Inca times. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

A Peru Guinea Pig stands at an agricultural research farm where breeding animals are raised for distribution to farms across the country, in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. Peruvian guinea pigs, locally known as 'cuy,' have been traditionally raised for meat consumption since pre-Inca times. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday drew a direct link between immigration and an attack in Germany where a man drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing at least five people and injuring 200 others.

During a rare appearance before independent media in Budapest, Orbán expressed his sympathy to the families of the victims of what he called the “terrorist act” on Friday night in the city of Magdeburg. But the long-serving Hungarian leader, one of the European Union's most vocal critics, also implied that the 27-nation bloc's migration policies were to blame.

German authorities said the suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, is under investigation. He has lived in Germany since 2006, practicing medicine. Describing himself as a former Muslim, the suspect shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes, criticizing the religion and congratulating Muslims who left the faith.

Orbán claimed without evidence that such attacks only began to occur in Europe after 2015, when hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees entered the EU after largely fleeing war and violence in the Middle East and Africa.

Europe has in fact seen numerous militant attacks going back decades including train bombings in Madrid, Spain, in 2004 and attacks on central London in 2005.

Still, the nationalist leader declared that “there is no doubt that there is a link” between migration and terrorism, and claimed that the EU leadership "wants Magdeburg to happen to Hungary too.”

Orbán's anti-immigrant government has taken a hard line on people entering Hungary since 2015, and has built fences protected by razor wire on Hungary's southern borders with Serbia and Croatia.

In June, the European Court of Justice ordered Hungary to pay a fine of 200 million euros ($216 million) for persistently breaking the bloc’s asylum rules, and an additional 1 million euros per day until it brings its policies into line with EU law.

Orbán, a right-wing populist who is consistently at odds with the EU, has earlier vowed that Hungary would not change its migration and asylum policies regardless of any rulings from the EU's top court.

On Saturday, he promised that his government will fight back against what he called EU efforts to “impose” immigration policies on Hungary.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during his annual international press conference in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during his annual international press conference in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during his annual international press conference in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during his annual international press conference in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during his annual international press conference in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)