Protests continue in Peru as president tries to convey normalcy

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Protests against the government give no respite in Peru one day after massive mobilization in the capital, Lima, forced President Dina Boluarte to make a statement on national television to say that the situation was under control.

New clashes between security forces and supporters of former leader Pedro Castillo were recorded this Friday (20) in various regions of the country, from La Libertad, in the north, to Arequipa, in the south. Activists returned to block roads and confront police, who used tear gas bombs – there is still no information on the number of injured.

In Arequipa, Peru’s second-largest city, dozens of activists tried for the second consecutive day to seize the airport, which has been closed and heavily guarded by security forces since Thursday.

In the Cusco region, the installations of a copper mine were set on fire. Video posted on social media by the multinational Glencore shows people placing flammable material near the employee housing area – the images could not be independently verified.

Attacks on infrastructure are a strategy to weaken the Dina government. In Cusco, the train to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu remained paralyzed this Friday due to protests. At least 300 foreign and local tourists remain trapped in the town of Aguas Calientes, which lies at the foot of the mountain.

“We are not sure if a train will come to pick us up. As you can see, all the tourists here are lining up, collecting signatures and registering to get us out of here,” Chilean Alem López told the AFP news agency.

Tourists ask the authorities for a “humanitarian train” to remove them from the site. The train is the only means of mass transportation to leave the area. In December, a helicopter rescued about 200 tourists stranded in Machu Picchu who were also isolated because of the protests that began last month.

At least 54 people have died since the beginning of the acts. According to the government, 44 people lost their lives in protests and 9 in incidents related to roadblocks. The other death was of a police officer.

The chaos led Dina Boluarte to make a statement alongside ministers this Thursday, in which she said that the situation in the country is under control and that acts of vandalism will not go unpunished. She said the government is “firm and more united than ever”.

The statement came up against a statement released this Friday by the Peruvian national prosecutor’s office, which emphasized that the Public Ministry is an autonomous institution. “The function of criminal investigation is a constitutional competence of the Public Ministry, which is carried out with autonomy, independence and without any kind of political, economic or media interference”.

Last week, given the escalation of violence, the Public Ministry announced the opening of a preliminary investigation into several authorities, including the president and Prime Minister Alberto Otárola, suspected of having committed the crimes of genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries in the repression of the protests. .

In the capital, after the great mobilization called the “taking of Lima” this Thursday, the Ministry of the Interior announced that 38 people were injured in clashes between police and civilians.

The act was marked by a large fire in a building in Plaza San Martín. This Friday afternoon, the flames returned, mobilizing firefighters again.

The almost century old structure in the center of Lima was completely destroyed and there is a risk of collapse. The authorities are investigating the causes of the fire and are mourning the loss of a “monumental property”.

The government has rejected rumors that the fire was caused by a tear gas canister thrown by police during the violent clashes.

“We cannot enter because there is no security. The structure could collapse and crush the firefighters,” fire chief Luis Ponce told Peruvian newspaper La República.

At the same time, supporters of Castillo say that the mobilizations will not stop until President Boluarte resigns.

“The struggle will continue in all regions until the resignation and the other items on the agenda are completed,” said the general secretary of the General Confederation of Workers of Peru, Gerónimo López.

The acts, which have proliferated in the country since the ousting and imprisonment of former president Pedro Castillo, after the populist tried to carry out a coup d’état, call for Dina’s resignation, the dissolution of the unicameral Parliament and the immediate calling of elections.

Protesters are also demanding that a new constitution be drafted to replace the current Peruvian Magna Carta, which dates back to dictator Alberto Fujimori in the 1990s.

Last Sunday, authorities decided to extend the state of emergency in four provinces and three regions of Peru, including Lima. The decree allows, among other points, for the Army to join the police in monitoring the protests.

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