Clashes between protesters and security forces continued / AP
Lime
New clashes in the northern and southern regions of Peru occurred yesterday in the midst of anti-government demonstrations, which have not let up despite the 45 deaths they have left since their beginning in December, while some 300 tourists were stranded in Machu Picchu. .
The protests led the government of President Dina Boluarte to declare a state of emergency in seven of the country’s 25 regions -including the capital and areas in the north and south of the country- until mid-February, thus enabling military intervention together with the police to control public order and stop acts of vandalism.
The latest clashes were concentrated in the La Libertad (north) and Arequipa (south) regions, with roadblocks and pitched battles between the protesters, who threw stones with slingshots, and the police, who repelled with tear gas.
In Arequipa, Peru’s second city, dozens of residents tried for the second consecutive day to invade the airport’s runway, closed and guarded by law enforcement since Thursday.
The riots have claimed 45 lives -44 civilians and one police officer- since December 7, after the dismissal and arrest of the left-wing president of indigenous origin Pedro Castillo, accused of having attempted a coup by wanting to dissolve Congress – controlled by the right – that was about to remove him from power for alleged corruption.
He was replaced by Boluarte, who served as vice president, but is seen as a “traitor” by the protesters.
In Cusco, the rail service to the Inca citadel Machu Picchu was still not resumed in the context of the protests, while the Cusco airport resumed operations (see separate).
“The fight continues”
In Lima, where the protests spread with marches with thousands of people coming from the Andean areas, not exempt from clashes that left 38 injured between police and civilians, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
The organizers assure that the mobilizations will not stop until the resignation of President Boluarte.
“The fight will continue in all regions until Boluarte’s resignation is achieved and the other points on the agenda, such as the elections this year and the referendum for the Constituent (Assembly),” declared the general secretary of the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), Gerónimo López.
Boluarte once again called for calm, in a message broadcast on state television.
“To the sisters and brothers who do want to work in peace, who do want to bring their income to their homes to support their families, I say and also to those who are generating these acts of protest, to those who have moved from the provinces to the capital, I am not going to get tired of calling them to good dialogue”, he said.
But his words fall on deaf ears. “This government does not represent us, it is illegitimate for the Aymara people, therefore we have come here to make our protest voice heard,” said Ricardo Mamani, 47, who participated in the marches in Lima.
“We have traveled for 42 hours from the Puno region, we are demanding once and for all that this lady (Boluarte) step aside so that the people are at peace,” he added.
Mamani, who wore black to mourn those killed in the demonstrations, urged international human rights organizations to intervene. “We do not feel the presence of international law. There is no one to defend us, ”he cried out, indignant.
The crisis also reflects the huge gap between the capital and the poor provinces that support Castillo and that saw in his election a form of revenge against Lima’s contempt. (AFP)
