Lima Peru.- The Prosecutor of Peru ordered to initiate a preliminary investigation against President Dina Boluarte for the alleged crimes of “genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries” committed during the recent protests, reported the Public Ministry.
The preliminary investigation of the Attorney General of the Andean country, Patricia Benavides, also includes the Prime Minister, Alberto Otárola, and the Ministers of the Interior and Defense.
“The preliminary investigation is for the alleged crimes of genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries, committed during the demonstrations in the months of December 2022 and January 2023 in the regions of Apurímac, La Libertad, Puno, Junín, Arequipa and Ayacucho” , reported the Ministry on its Twitter account.
The protests that began in early December after the removal and arrest of President Pedro Castillo have left a balance of 40 people dead in clashes with police forces.
Just on Friday, the Public Ministry reported the opening of an investigation to clarify the deaths and which extended to Boluarte.
But the number has gone up since then. Just yesterday, the violent repression by the forces of order caused 14 deaths among the demonstrators who tried to occupy the Juliaca airport and three more died during looting in a shopping center, according to the Ombudsman’s Office. In addition, a policeman died burned inside his patrol car, he reported.
Peru imposed a curfew on Tuesday in the Andean region of Puno, in the south, to stop the protests against Boluarte.
“A supreme decree has been approved by the Council of Ministers that declares social immobilization in Puno for a period of three days, from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.,” Otárola announced before Congress.
The epicenter of the protests is the Aymara region of Puno, on the border with Bolivia, where there were looting of commercial premises and attacks on police vehicles between Monday night and early today.
The deaths have exacerbated outrage in the cities of Puno and Juliaca, some 1,300 kilometers from Lima, whose inhabitants have been on strike for a week and have kept businesses closed.
Otárola announced in Congress that tomorrow “will be a working national mourning.”
The Superintendence of Land Transportation reported blockades and interrupted traffic in six regions: Puno, Cusco, Apurímac, Arequipa, Madre de Dios and Amazonas.
In Cusco and Ayacucho there were marches to demand the resignation of Boluarte, new elections and the call for a Constituent Assembly, the main demands of the protests in addition to the release of Castillo.
