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Dina Boluarte, newly appointed president of Peru, gave in to the protesters’ demands, and announced that she will send a proposal to Congress to advance the general elections. While the protests are intensifying in various parts of the country, the Attorney General filed a complaint against former President Pedro Castillo for rebellion and conspiracy.
A crisis that worsens. The presidential announcement comes after thousands of protesters took to the streets of Peru on Sunday, December 11, to demand the resignation of Dina Boluarte, named after the abrupt departure of Pedro Castillo from power.
The protesters are calling for elections to replace her and the current Congress, whom they accuse of being the protagonists of the country’s political crisis. The demonstrations left at least two people dead in a remote community in the Andes, according to authorities.
Given the intensity of the discontent, Boluarte proposed holding general elections in April 2024. This marks a change of course, since he had previously said that he would hold office for the remaining three and a half years of his predecessor’s term.
“My duty as President of the Republic in the current difficult moment is to interpret, read and collect the aspirations, interests and concerns, if not of all, of the vast majority of Peruvians,” said Boluarte.
“Thus, interpreting the will of the citizens in the broadest way, I have decided to take the initiative to reach an agreement with the Congress of the Republic to advance the general elections,” he said in the message released at midnight on December 12. .
Boluarte was sworn in last week after Pedro Castillo was arrested for trying to dissolve Congress and prevent his removal, a move described by congressmen, former ministers and local media as an attempted “coup d’état”, a new chapter of instability. of a country that has not recovered from successive political crises.
Protests intensified in rural areas, where Castillo, a former professor and new politician from an Andean mountain district, is most popular.
Protesters burned a police station, destroyed a small airport used by the Armed Forces and demonstrated in the streets over the weekend, demonstrations that promise to spread.
In the remote Andean community of Andahuaylas, a minor under the age of 15 died from an injury during the demonstrations, according to a complaint by congresswoman María Taipe Coronado.
“The death of this compatriot is the responsibility of Mrs. Dina for not presenting her resignation,” accused Taipe, who is affiliated with the party that helped Castillo and Boluarte come to power as president and vice president, respectively, before both were expelled. of that party. “Since when is protesting a crime?” she wondered.
Taipe denounced that the authorities were using repressive tactics to contain the demonstrations, although it is not clear how the protester was fatally injured, as well as a second death in the same community where another 26 people were injured is being investigated.
In Lima, the capital, hundreds of people demonstrated and there were clashes with riot police who used tear gas to push back the protesters. The violence forced Boluarte to declare a state of emergency in the areas where the protests were most violent, a move that would allow the Armed Forces to take greater control if necessary.
The protesters are also demanding the release of Pedro Castillo, the center-left president ousted on Wednesday.
Congress passes law to strip Castillo’s immunity; prosecutor accuses him of rebellion
The Peruvian Congress voted this Monday to approve a bill that removes Castillo’s immunity and authorizes the Supreme Court to prosecute him under the alleged crime of rebellion.
With 67 votes in favor, 45 against and 0 abstentions, the Peruvian Congress lifted the jurisdiction of Pedro Castillo, investigated for carrying out a “coup d’état” during a session that lasted until early Monday morning and that included violence between the congressmen.
“The #PlenoDelCongreso approved the Congressional Resolution Project that lifts the prerogative of political impeachment of the citizen Pedro Castillo for the flagrant commission of crimes and declares that there is room for the formation of criminal proceedings,” Congress reported on its Twitter account.
Meanwhile, on the morning of December 12, Attorney General Patricia Benavides filed a complaint with Congress against former President Pedro Castillo for the alleged crimes of rebellion and conspiracy.
Castillo’s failed move against the opposition-led Parliament came hours before lawmakers were set to launch a third attempt to remove him from office.
Peru’s political crisis is so dire that in the past five years the country has had six presidents, including three in a single week in 2020, when Congress exercised its impeachment powers.
The struggle for political power continues as the Andes region and its thousands of small farms struggle to survive the worst drought in half a century. The country, with more than 33 million inhabitants, is also experiencing a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections after having registered nearly 4.3 million infections and 217,000 deaths since the pandemic began.
With AP and Reuters
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