Peru: “Now civil war!”, protestors declare

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“We will demand that he resign until the last day. She doesn’t listen to the people,” citizens say about Dina Boluarte

Hundreds of protesters did course yesterday monday in Limathe capital of Peru, once again demanding the resignation of President Dina Bolluarte and chanting the slogan “now civil war!”, on the eve of a new mass mobilization, which unions and parties have called for.

The demonstrations and riots—in which have lost their lives as this stage at least 46 people— continue in the Andean state. In Lima, hundreds of people, many of whom arrived in the city from poor areas, especially in the south, chanted slogans such as “Dina the murderer”, or “Dina the people disown you”.

Ms. Boluarte, former President Pedro Castillo’s vice president until he succeeded him under the Constitution after he left Congress on December 7, is from the Andes and was elected with the same radical left party that ran as her predecessor. The protesters call her a “traitor”.

At the head of the march were four “Uquku” (or “spectacled bears” in Quechua, a reference to the Andean bear and indigenous mythology), snow protector dancers, in traditional masks and costumes. One of them regularly beat the ground with a long whip, a symbol of authority.

The police made repeated use tear gasan AFP journalist found.

Peru

Edmunda Canagira, 60, set off for the capital from Sicuani, in the Cusco region, last week. “Dina (Boluarte) must resign as soon as possible,” said the woman in traditional costume.

“He does not listen”

“We will demand that he resign until the last day. He doesn’t listen to the world”he added.

The march broke up in the evening (local time), but today an even bigger mobilization is being organized, to which unions and parties have called. The leader of the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (GSEP), Jerónimo López, speaks of a “national peaceful mobilization”.

“We reject violence. Those who cause chaos and destruction are bogeymen of the government,” he added.

The participants in the demonstrations demand, in addition to the resignation of President Boluarte, the dissolution of the parliament, the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections immediately as well as the formation of a Constituent Assembly to draw up a new Constitution.

Peru

The mobilizations “will continue”, the Minister of the Interior Vicente Romero acknowledged yesterday morning, even though the state of emergency imposed in key areas of the country remains in force and therefore movements and protest gatherings are theoretically prohibited.

He also pointed out that the country is experiencing “a level of violence that is among the highest since the 1980s”, when armed conflict raged between the authorities and the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru revolutionary movements.

Expressing pride in the “professionalism” of law enforcement, he defended the police intervention, despite strong criticism at home and abroad of the bloodshed.

On the night of Sunday into Monday, the authorities released 192 of the 193 arrested at San Marcos University, where they had camped to participate in the protests.

Peru

Machu Picchu is closed

Media and civil society voices denounced her controversial police operationwho stormed a university campus, violently searched, forced protesters to fall face down..

The unrest erupted in Peru after the suspension, arrest and pretrial detention on December 7 of former President Castillo, who was accused of attempting to stage a “coup” by ordering the dissolution of parliament as it prepared to remove him from office.

The crisis also highlights, once again, the huge gap between the political and economic elite of the capital and the poor provinces, where many supporters of former president Castillo saw his electoral victory as revenge for the contempt and racism of the elites. , especially towards the natives.

On the diplomatic front, Ms. Boluarte is expected to speak at the Organization of American States (OAS) tomorrow Wednesday, while the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an institution directly linked to the OAS, emphasizes that Peru has turned into a theater of “violence” during the protests.

Peru

In Buenos Aires, the presidents of Argentina and Brazil, respectively Alberto Fernandez and Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, called on “all Peruvians to resume dialogue” in a joint statement and expressed concern “about the situation of former president Pedro Castillo”. who remains in custody.

In addition, the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered, following statements by the presidents of Bolivia Luis Arce and Colombia Pedro Castillo, “notes of protest” to the ambassadors of the two states in Lima, demanding that they stop interfering in the “internal affairs” of the country.

In the Ika area, approx 350 kilometers south of the capitalprotesters attacked properties of major agri-food export companies.

The airports in Arequipa and Juliaca (south) remained closed yesterday. Like Machu Picchu, the archeological site that is a magnet for tourists in Peru, which has not been open to visitors since Saturday.

RES-EMP

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