The country’s public prosecutor’s office launched a preliminary investigation against Dina Boluarte – the political crisis deepens, dozens of dead in the anti-government protests
The political crisis is deepening in Peru, where since the anti-government protests began in & December, at least 40 people have lost their lives and more than 600 have been injured in clashes with the police.
Protesters are demanding the resignation of President Bolluarte, who took over as new head of state on December 7 after her predecessor Pedro Castillo was suspended from Congress following his attempt to dissolve parliament in what was described as a “coup”. Mr. Castillo’s supporters say instead that he was overthrown in a coup.
Bolluarte, who was elected with the same radical left party — Perú Libre (“Free Peru”) — that nominated Mr. Castillo, is branded a “traitor” by protesters.
They also demand that the parliament be closed, that elections be held immediately, which have already been accelerated by a decision of Congress — they will be held early in April 2024, instead of 2026 — and that the former head of state, who has been jailed for 18 years, be released. months and is accused of “stance” and “conspiracy”.
The Puno region, which borders Bolivia, has become the epicenter of anti-government protests. An indefinite general strike has been declared there since January 4.
Peru general strike: Indigenous Andean communities are moving giant rocks to place at the barricades, without machinery. Inca style coordinated team work. pic.twitter.com/vBgqGEgtAF
— Ollie Vargas (@OllieVargas79) January 8, 2023
In the midst of a deep political and institutional crisis, the Peruvian government secured a vote of confidence from Congress last Tuesday night (73 votes in favor, 43 against, six abstentions). She would be forced to resign if she lost this constitutionally mandated vote.
Genocide investigation
In the face of this explosive scene, the Peruvian prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday that it had begun a preliminary investigation into “genocide”, “serial murders” and “causing serious bodily harm”, targeting the new president Dina Bolluarte and top officials of her government for their role in the bloody suppression of anti-government protests.
Prosecutor Patricia Benavides has “decided to initiate a preliminary investigation” against President Bolluarte, Prime Minister Alberto Otarola, Interior Minister Victor Rojas and Defense Minister Jorge Chavez, her services said on Twitter.
This investigation concerns the alleged commission of the crimes of “genocide”, “aggravated murder” and “causing bodily harm” during “the demonstrations of December 2022 and January 2023 in the districts of Apurimac, La Libertad, Puno, Junin, Arequipa and Ayacucho,” they added.
Also targeted in the investigation are Ms. Boluarte’s former prime minister, Pedro Angulo, and former interior minister Cesar Cervantes, who served in her government from December 7 to 21. In these two weeks, at least 22 people were killed in the anti-government protests.
Mourning and mass burials
The center of the protest movement is now the region of Puno, home mainly to members of the indigenous Aymara tribe, on the border with Bolivia, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, where an indefinite general strike has been declared since January 4 and where widespread incidents have unfolded, destruction, looting.
On Tuesday, authorities imposed a three-day curfew in the district after 18 people died in protests and riots since Monday.
In Juliaca, 1,300 kilometers south of Lima, dozens of family members of victims, dressed in black, lined up outside a mortuary to collect the bodies of their loved ones, following the deadly incidents in the airport area of ​​the city in the Puno region. “My brother is dead because they killed him, the police killed him,” one man told local radio station La Decana.
A mission of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is expected in Peru today, with a mandate to investigate the protests and the reaction of the law enforcement forces.
In a statement released yesterday Tuesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed “concern” about the escalation of violence in Peru, called on “protesters to show restraint” and the police to ensure that violence is not used unless it is “absolutely necessary”.
“We are in the hands of brutality,” Cardinal Pedro Barreto, archbishop of Huancayo, told RPP radio station.
While the head of the People’s Advocate, Eliana Revoyar, judged that the violence in the country has reached “unimaginable levels”.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
