Two people were killed in Peru as anti-new president protests spread

Sunday, two people died when police and angry protesters clashed during demonstrations against Peru’s new government. The protesters wanted a national strike, new elections, and the release of former President Pedro Castillo, who was in jail.

Since the South American country’s legislature got rid of Marxist Castillo on Wednesday, after he tried to get rid of Congress and rule by decree, there have been more protests, especially in the northern and Andean towns.

Dina Boluarte, who had been Castillo’s vice president and was an experienced prosecutor, took over right away.

She unveiled her new cabinet on Saturday; it consists of eight women and has a technocratic and autonomous profile.

She appointed Pedro Angulo, a former prosecutor, as prime minister.

Castillo was arrested right away after he was removed from office, and protesters in cities like Cajamarca, Arequipa, Huancayo, Cusco, and Puno demanded his release on Sunday.

As demonstrators attempted to storm the city’s airport, further battles between protesters and police broke out in the southern city of Andahuaylas, leaving two people dead and at least five others hurt, including a police officer, according to authorities.

Riot police were stationed at the airport to control the tens of thousands of protesters in Andahuaylas. This city is in Boluarte’s home region of Apurimac.

Images from the scene that were carried by local TV showed protesters firing slingshots and throwing stones while police fired tear gas in response. According to RPP radio, a police station in the Apurimac town of Huancabamba was set on fire.

Interior Minister Cesar Cervantes told the station, just after police had confirmed the first death, “I urge people to maintain calm.”

The office of the national human rights ombudsman says that one of the people who died was a teen who had been at the protests.

Injuries from clashes in Andahuaylas on Saturday included 16 civilians and 4 policemen.

The nation leans to the right. Congress met in an emergency session on Sunday afternoon to discuss the situation, but it had to be interrupted when fights started.

Images shared on social media show a man striking another man in the back before members push one another in the chamber’s middle.

In the meantime, in support of Castillo, who is himself the son of a peasant family, rural unions and organizations that represent Indigenous peoples have called for an “indefinite strike” to start on Tuesday.

The Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru, which is made up of about a dozen groups, said in a statement that they wanted Castillo to be freed right away. They also wanted Congress to be dissolved, early elections, and a new constitution.

The Rural Front says that Castillo “did not carry out a coup d’etat” when he shut down Congress and said he would rule by decree on Wednesday.

At the heart of the nation’s political protests, Lima’s historic Plaza San Martin, the communist party Free Peru staged a rally there on Sunday afternoon.

Castillo has always had the most support in the Andean regions. As a rural teacher and union leader with little contact with the country’s elites, he has had trouble getting support in coastal Lima.

Prosecutors charged the former president with rebellion and conspiracy after he was stopped on his way to the Mexican embassy on Wednesday to ask for asylum.

Recent polls show that nearly 90% of Peruvians don’t like the country’s legislature. This has led to calls for new elections.

Boluarte, who on Friday did not rule out calling early elections, must make it clear whether she intends to lead a transitional government or hold onto power until 2026, according to political expert Giovanna Penaflor, who spoke to AFP.

Penaflor went on to suggest that she should “make clear that her mission is to enable new general elections,” adding that doing so would “allow this cabinet to not be like those in the past” and bring about the necessary stability.

On December 9, 2022, Lima’s new president, Dina Boluarte, attends a ceremony commemorating Army Day.

Since 2016, Peru has had six presidents.

During Castillo’s 17-month term, there were six investigations into him and his family, large-scale protests calling for him to be removed from office, and a power struggle with Congress, which was backed by the opposition.

(Reuters)