Tuesday, January 10, 2023 | 9:15 a.m.
The clashes between the security forces and the demonstrators protesting in southern Peru have caused the death of 17 people this Monday in the city of Juliaca, several of them from gunshot wounds, with which those who died in the mobilizations against the Government of Dina Boluarte rose to 46.
According to reports from the Ministry of Health and the Ombudsman’s Office, most of the 17 protesters died in the clashes that occurred in the vicinity of the Juliaca airport, the epicenter of the protests demanding the resignation of Boluarte, the closure of Congress, new elections this year and a constituent assembly
The Ombudsman, Eliana Revollar, told Canal N that among the victims there is a minor under 17 years of age and regretted that the mobilization this Monday in Juliaca “has become very violent.”
In this sense, he mentioned that the protesters use “homemade weapons” and urged them to act peacefully without “these levels of violence.”
“The solution to this problem is political. That is why our call to Congress and the Government to find a real way out, ”he concluded.
For his part, the director of the Regional Health Directorate (Diresa) in Puno, Ismael Cornejo, explained to the same outlet that the first deceased this Monday died from a gunshot wound to the head and the second from a gunshot wound to the head. the lung, which destroyed that organ.
He added that the population denounced the overflight of helicopters, at low altitude, to launch tear gas bombs and shots at the demonstrators.
In addition to the people killed in direct clashes with law enforcement, the Ombudsman’s Office reported one death due to “events related to road blockades” in the Chucuito district, also in Puno.
This is a 35-week-old baby who died in the ambulance that was taking him to a regional hospital, where he had been referred to a specialist due to respiratory failure and sepsis.
So far, President Boluarte has not ruled on the 17 deaths on Monday, with which there are now 46 people who lost their lives in a month with her in office.
Of this total, 36 died in confrontations and another 7 “due to traffic accidents and events related to the blockade” of roads, according to the Ombudsman’s Office.
government accusations
Hours before the deaths were confirmed, the president declared that the sectors of the extreme left that supported the ousted former president Pedro Castillo in the failed self-coup are now asking for a series of demands that are only “a pretext to continue generating chaos in the cities”.
The head of state affirmed that the “radical left has already changed its message”, after initially demanding the release of Castillo in the protest demonstrations, and that “now they are saying” that she wants to “stay until 2026”.
However, Boluarte recalled that he had already asked Congress for the “advancement of elections” for 2024 and Parliament approved it in its first required vote, so it must be ratified in a second round.
In addition, he pointed out that these leaders of the “radical left” are asking for the convocation of a constituent assembly, the closure of Parliament and the freedom of Castillo, issues that are not in their hands, since “the one who wanted to close Congress is now in prison.” .
“They are deceiving them, they are lying to them, it is not in my hands. (…) If you want to win the next elections, don’t lie, don’t cheat, have the courage to tell the truth”, said Boluarte during the installation of a session of the national agreement, which brings together the representatives of the powers of the State, political forces and regional governors in the Government Palace.
After a truce for Christmas, the protests in the south of the country, where Cuzco, Puno and Apurímac are located, have resumed since last Wednesday and some regions announce indefinite strikes and mobilizations, which has generated the closure of terminals and transportation since the biggest confrontations with the Police have been registered in the vicinity of these places.
Denounce attack on democracy
Shortly after, the Prime Minister, Alberto Otárola, denounced that an “organized attack on the rule of law and institutions” and a “coup d’état” were underway, for which he blamed the protesters.
In a statement without questions, Otárola affirmed that the confrontations that occurred in Juliaca were “an organized, systematic attack of vandalism and violent organizations against the rule of law and the institutions” of the southern region of Puno.
“As if they were in a war scenario, they have tried to take over the airport,” he said after asserting that the responsibility lies with “those who want to carry out a coup.”
He added that this action mobilized around 9,000 people in Juliaca and that some 2,000 “began an all-out attack against the Police (…) generating an extreme situation.”
Otárola announced that in the next few hours the government of Dina Boluarte will announce “important measures on public security” and urged the National Prosecutor’s Office (general) to investigate the clashes, which also left 75 police officers injured, “many of them in a state of serious”.
