The first victim of the social outbreak that has Peru in suspense was David Atequipa Quispe, a 15-year-old teenager who was beginning to discover life. The second, a boy who had barely reached the age of majority and who will never again be able to emulate the two megastars that make up his name on a soccer field: Beckham Romario Quispe Garfias. Both were born in Andahuaylas, a region in the Sierra Sur area of the country. Both left their homes to protest after the dismissal of Pedro Castillo and against the new government of Dina Boluarte and never returned. They were hit by fire projectiles and their screams were silenced with bullets.
Between Sunday and Thursday, according to reports from the Ministry of Health, the number of deaths has risen to 18, of which 12 died directly during the confrontation with the armed forces and the rest due to the road blockade. At least six were not older than 19 years. None died in Lima, the capital, but in the mountains and on the coast: Apurímac (6), Ayacucho (7), Huancavelica (1), Arequipa (1), and La Libertad (3).
The bloodiest day was this Thursday. Violence broke out in Ayacucho, the region hardest hit by terrorism between the 1980s and 1990s. A town that lives in an eternal crossfire and for which it is very difficult to breathe peace. The massacre took place in the surroundings of the Alfredo Mendívil Duarte airport. As has been verified in videos broadcast by neighbors, not all the soldiers fired into the air. Proof of this are the seven deaths and 52 injured, according to information from the Health Directorate.
“We are fighters, we are not terrorists,” they shouted loudly in the Huamanga Plaza de Armas, in Ayacucho. And, as in the past, accusations of terrorism fall on the demonstrators with the purpose of delegitimizing their protests. The Regional Government of Ayacucho has been emphatic in holding the current president, Dina Boluarte, as well as the Ministers of the Interior and Defense accountable. “They must immediately resign their positions. We demand the immediate cessation of the use of firearms by the National Police and the Armed Forces against our population,” she said in a statement.
In this context, the Executive decreed five days of mandatory social immobilization in fifteen provinces belonging to the regions of Arequipa, Apurímac, Huancavelica, La Libertad, Cusco, Ayacucho, Ica and Puno. The victims in Ayacucho, where a cacerolazo took place on Thursday night, have not yet been identified. There are already 187 wounded throughout the country.
Two years ago, in November 2020, Peru also burned with the losses of two young people: Inti Sotelo and Bryan Pintado, and dozens of injured, some with lifelong consequences. In those days the brief de facto government of Manuel Merino de Lama had been installed. The deaths have gone unpunished as those responsible have not yet been identified. The cry for these eighteen lives from the capital grows with the passing of the hours in other mobilizations. Peru has once again fired at itself.
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