Lime.- The Peruvian government decreed a curfew in the Andean zone of Puno, in the south, the epicenter of violent protests against President Dina Boluarte, which have left 17 dead since yesterday, announced the chief of staff, Alberto Otárola.
“A supreme decree has been approved in 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.,” he announced before the plenary session of Congress.
The Peruvian region of Puno, on the border with Bolivia, began a three-day mourning for the death of almost twenty people on the eve, in the most violent day since the protests against the government began in December after the removal and arrest of the former leftist President Pedro Castillo.
The decision to mourn was made by the Government of Puno last night, which called on the Prosecutor’s Office to carry out an investigation to identify those responsible for the deaths. In total there are 39 civilians killed after violent riots in various locations in the country, mainly in the southern Andes, since Castillo’s dismissal in early December.
The Ministry of the Interior reported that a police vehicle was attacked this morning by “unknown persons” in the city of Juliaca, in Puno. One of the policemen sustained multiple head injuries, he said in a statement.
Hours later, the head of the operational command of the National Police, Jorge Angulo, confirmed the death of the other police officer who was in the vehicle.
“At this moment, an autopsy is being performed to fully identify the manner and circumstances in which he has been injured, practically burned,” Angulo told the Canal N television station.
In the worst day of protests due to the number of victims, the Ombudsman’s Office and the Government also reported 68 civilians and 75 policemen injured the day before in Puno, many of them by bullets or pellets, according to the health authorities.
The protesters demand the resignation of President Boluarte, the closure of Congress, a new Constitution and the release of Castillo, who is serving an 18-month preventive prison accused of “rebellion”, a charge that the former President denies.
Prime Minister Oluarte regretted the deaths, but said that thousands of people wanted to take over the Juliaca airport in an “organized and systematic attack” against the Police, financed by “dark” money from illegal mining and drug trafficking.
