The protests in Peru that paralyzed Lima and were responded to with repression and curfews have spread to other cities, amid increased pressure against the government of Pedro Castillo.
This Wednesday (6), protesters opposed to the increase in fuel prices closed roads, and one person died in a confrontation with police in the region of Ica, 300 kilometers south of the capital.
The conflict took place in the morning, when the police tried to remove a blockade made by workers on the Pan-American highway, where agribusiness companies operate. There was violence on both sides, and a farm worker was killed. “Fifteen wounded were hospitalized, one seriously. There is a civilian who was admitted already dead as a result of the conflict,” said the director of the Ica hospital, Carlos Navea, in a video on Facebook. Among the 15 injured, 12 are police officers and three are rural workers, according to Navea.
Rural leader Julio Carbajal told radio that the victim is a 25-year-old worker from Huancavelica who worked in an agricultural company in Ica. He joins three other people killed so far in different regions of the country, according to the Peruvian press. On Tuesday, a 19-year-old man died after being hit in the ear during an act in the city of Ambo, 350 km from the capital. He arrived at the hospital already dead.
In Jauja, 260 km from Lima, a 13-year-old boy drowned in the Yacus River while fleeing from tear gas. In the same region, a 31-year-old teacher died after being run over in the middle of the acts.
Initially convened against rising fuel prices, the demonstrations became the first major protests against President Castillo, who took office eight months ago and survived two impeachment proceedings. It has a 66% rejection rate, according to a survey by the Ipsos Institute.
The popular movement gained more strength after Castillo decreed a curfew on Tuesday (5) in Lima and the city of Callao, which was supposed to be in effect until midnight, but which was suspended after 5 pm after the population defied the restrictions and amid violent protests in the capital.
As the president announced the end of the curfew to Congress, protesters marched through the streets saying they would enter Parliament, according to local media, and threw bottles at police, who responded with tear gas. Some protesters attacked journalists covering the demonstrations, looted shops and looted bus stations and the offices of the Public Ministry and the Judiciary of the country. More than 20 people were injured, including at least 17 police officers.
Transport workers blocked roads in different cities against the price of gasoline, and protesters in Huanaco put up roadblocks against the high price of agricultural fertilizers.
In the construction sector, workers announced a national strike on Thursday (7th) and a march to the Ministry of Labor for wage increases. “There is a need for an increase to recover purchasing power, reduced by inflation and the rise in fuel and basic necessities,” said Luis Villanueva, secretary general of the Federation of Civil Construction Workers of Peru.
