At least two dead and five injured left this Sunday the demonstrations for the resignation of the president of Peru Dina Boluarte and the call for new general elections.
The mobilizations took place in various cities in the north and south of the Andes for the fourth day in rejection of Congress and also calling for the release of former leftist president Pedro Castillo, who was sacked and detained on Wednesday the 7th by Congress.
In the southern Andean city of Andahuaylas, The Ministry of the Interior reported two people dead and five injured, including a policeman, after violent clashes in the attempt by protesters to storm the city’s airport. Reinforcements from the riot police were to arrive at said air terminal to contain the thousands of protesters in Andahuaylas, in the Apurímac region, the birthplace of Boluarte.
The life of no Peruvian deserves to be sacrificed for political interests
Some attacked with slingshots and stones, while security forces repelled with tear gas, according to media images at the scene. The premises of the Huancabamba police station, a town in Apurímac, was set on fire, RPP radio reported.
The Minister of the Interior, César Cervantes, said that due to the incidents, it will be evaluated to declare the city of Andahuaylas an emergency.. “The life of no Peruvian deserves to be sacrificed for political interests. I reiterate my call for dialogue and to put an end to violence,” President Dina Boluarte said on Twitter.
In the same city on Saturday the protests left 16 civilians and four police officers injured on Saturday. Thousands of people mobilized through the streets of Cajamarca, Arequipa, Tacna, Andahuaylas, Huancayo, Cusco and Puno, according to images broadcast by local television stations.
‘Indefinite stoppage’
In the meantime, Agrarian unions and peasant and indigenous organizations announced an “indefinite strike” as of Tuesday, adding to the requests for the closure of Congress, advancement of elections and a new Constitution, according to a statement from the Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru.
The collective, which brings together a dozen organizations, also demands the “immediate freedom” of Castillo.
According to the Agrarian Front, Castillo “did not perpetrate any coup” when on Wednesday he announced the closure of Congress, the intervention of the public powers and that he would govern by decree, which led to his dismissal by parliament and the assumption of the head of state by Vice President Boluarte.
In Lima, the police dispersed hundreds of protesters with tear gas on Sunday afternoon who arrived in front of the Congress shouting slogans such as “Castillo you are not alone, the people support you”, or showing banners such as “Dina and Congress the same crap” or “Corrupted rats.”
Lima always turned its back on Castillo, a rural teacher and union leader with no contact with the elites, while the Andean regions have identified with him since the 2021 elections.
The Congress, dominated by the right, suspended a session on Sunday afternoon where it was analyzing the situation after a brawl between two congressmen.
early elections
Until now, the president has not been clear on what the big question is: are we in a transition government or are we before an authority that intends to stay until 2026?
Castillo was detained by his own escort while on his way to the Mexican embassy to request political asylum. The prosecution charges him with rebellion and conspiracy. Boluarte formed a government on Saturday with an independent and technical profile and with former prosecutor Pedro Angulo as prime minister.
“Until now, the president has not been clear about what the big question is: are we in a transition government or are we before an authority that intends to stay until 2026?” political analyst Giovanna Peñaflor told AFP.
Demand for new elections is associated with overwhelming rejection of Congress: According to November polls, 86% of Peruvians disapprove of parliament. Boluarte did not rule out calling early elections on Friday in search of a peaceful solution to the political crisis.
Drugged?
Meanwhile, the controversy grew around the version of a former chief of staff and Castillo’s lawyer that the former president was doped when he read the message in which he announced his failed coup attempt.
In an alleged letter that he would have written in prison, Castillo maintains that a “camouflaged” doctor and nurses and a “faceless” (hooded) prosecutor “forced” him to take blood samples on Friday and Saturday.
According to the letter, he refused to cooperate because he feared for his safety. The president of the Institute of Legal Medicine, Francisco Brizuela, specified that “the expertise (to find out if he was drugged) could not have been carried out.” Castillo also rejected “a psychological and psychiatric expertise,” he added.
AFP
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