Entangled in a political crisis, the government of Peru announces the establishment of a state of emergency throughout the territory for thirty days. “We need a forceful response with authority” in the face of the demonstrations, declared the Minister of Defense Mr. Alberto Otarola on Wednesday 14 December. And to specify that this measure suspends “freedom of movement and assembly” and may be accompanied by a ” curfew “. “The police, with the support [de l’armée], will have control of the whole territory”, he added. The government had already declared a state of emergency on Monday in several provinces, then extended it on Tuesday.
Overwhelmed by the demonstrations which continue, the power is trying to get out of the crisis, blowing hot and cold. Police repression is violent: since Sunday, seven people have died and more than 200 have been injured.
But at the same time, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte – who was Pedro Castillo’s vice-president until his failed attempt to dissolve parliament and his imprisonment – again promised early elections on Wednesday, hoping for a poll in December 2023. “Legally, it would work for April 2024, but by making adjustments we can bring them forward to December 2023”she told the press. “Before this date, it does not work legally, she continued. We have to stay within the legal framework. »
Resignation requests
Mme Boluarte, who crystallizes part of the discontent in his person, had already pledged on Sunday to bring them forward from 2026 to April 2024, without stopping the protests. She herself is affected by the measure: her mandate theoretically runs until 2026, Mr. Castillo having been elected in 2021 for five years. In addition to the release of Mr. Castillo, the demonstrations which continued on Wednesday demand the resignation of the president – from the same radical left party as him – and the dissolution of Parliament.
The mobilization remained strong on Wednesday with many roads blocked, according to local television images. The police had counted rallies in fourteen of the twenty-four regions of the country on Tuesday evening. The southern part of the country and the northern part remain the areas most affected by the protests.
The train between Cuzco and the Inca city of Machu Picchu, Peru’s tourist gem, has been suspended since Tuesday due to the situation, operator Peru Rail said. Many tourists are stranded on the site, according to the mayor of Machu Picchu, Darwin Baca, who is asking for assistance to evacuate them. Juliaca airport in the south of the country was closed on Wednesday “as a precaution”.
In Lima, like the last few days, scuffles took place Tuesday evening between police and demonstrators near Parliament.
Court battle
The former president will remain in prison in his barracks located east of the capital. Judge Juan Checkley, who was to rule on Wednesday on a request for 18-month preventive detention filed by the prosecution overnight, granted a deadline to the defense, which assured that it did not have all the necessary documents. But he kept the president in custody for another 48 hours.
“I will never give up”, had sworn the day before the ex-president; at a previous hearing, he had called on his supporters to welcome him on his release from prison. ” That’s enough ! The outrage, humiliation and mistreatment continue. Today they deprive me of liberty again for 18 month. I ask the IACHR [Commission interaméricaine des droits de l’homme] to intercede for my rights and those of my Peruvian brothers and sisters who seek justice”does he have wrote on his Twitter account. “I hold you, judges and prosecutors, responsible for what is happening in the country. “Only the people save the people” he concludes.
In front of the barracks where he is being held in Até, a hundred people were chanting slogans in his favour. “We will stay here until our president comes out and returns to his presidential chair at the Palace”promises Roxana Figueroa, 59, social worker.
On December 7, Mr. Castillo, 53, had ordered the dissolution of Parliament, which had shortly after voted, by a large majority, his dismissal for “moral incapacity”. He had tried to find refuge in the Mexican Embassy before being arrested.