Last week, she was told two other hostel guests tested positive for COVID-19, and as a result, Brandenburg and more than 100 other guests were forced into a mandatory 28-day quarantine. She said they were sprayed with what they were told was diluted chlorine.
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They were not allowed to leave the hostel.
Brandenburg’s family contacted New Jersey U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez for help. He serves as the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
“The fact that Peru closed it's country to all commercial air flights put us in an effort to get the State Department to engage the Peruvian authorities,” said Menendez.
The U.S. State Department attempted to organize a flight home last weekend, but it was unsuccessful, as the hostel-bound travelers were greeted by armed Peruvian military personnel.
“I called the Peruvian ambassador in Washington,” Menendez said. “I engaged with him directly. I spoke to the undersecretary of state for management, and a medevac (flight) was approved.”
Brandenburg was flown to Lima on Friday and is on her way to the U.S. She was among a group of 15 Americans who are returning to the U.S. safely.
“The challenge of having a U.S. citizen in a global pandemic in a foreign country that has closed their air space — it’s a challenge of breaking through with that country, having diplomatic channels open so that you can create the right circumstances to get American citizens out,” he said, “so that is what we are engaged in.”
Menendez hopes to speak with the Brandenburg family in the days to come.
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