After the failed coup and the arrest of former president Pedro Castillo, new leader Dina Boluarte has announced that she wants to bring the elections forward in the face of growing protests.
Peru’s new president, Dina Boluarte, announced on Monday that she wants to bring the elections forward to April 2024 as two people died and at least five people were injured on Sunday during growing protests against the Peruvian leader after the failed coup. and the arrest of former President Pedro Castillo.
Sign of the rising tension: a session in Congress on the situation in the country was suspended after incidents. Images posted on social networks show a man punching another in an aisle of the hemicycle and then a stampede in the center of it, so that it is possible to know the cause. The session was still suspended on Sunday at the start of the evening.
“Corrupt Rats»
Protests have multiplied across the country, especially in cities in the north and in the Andes. Thousands of people mobilized in the streets of Cajamarca, Arequipa, Tacna, Andahuaylas, Cusco and Puno, demanding the release of the former head of state and new elections and calling for a national strike. “We regret the death of two people and several injuries in clashes. I urge people to stay calm“, declared the Minister of the Interior César Cervantes on RPP radio, shortly after an initial report from the police reporting one death – a teenager – and five injured.
“The life of no Peruvian deserves to be sacrificed for political interests. I reiterate my call for dialogue and the renunciation of violence“, launched the president on Twitter. The day before, clashes in Andahuaylas (south) had resulted in a toll of 20 wounded (16 civilians and 4 policemen). The violence resumed on Sunday with tear gas fired by police and rocks thrown at protesters. Riot police reinforcements were to be flown in to contain the protests, police were told. Andahuaylas, located in the Apurimac region, is the region of origin of Ms. Boluarte, described as “traitorby supporters of the deposed ex-president. The police station in Huancabamba, a town in Apurimac, was set on fire, according to RPP radio.
Read alsoWho is Dina Boluarte, the new president of Peru?
In Lima, between 1,000 and 2,000 people demonstrated in front of Congress shouting “Castillo you are not alone, the people support youand waving signs accusing “Dina (Boluarte) and the Congress» to be «corrupt rats“. They were dispersed with tear gas early Sunday evening. Lima has always turned its back on Mr. Castillo, a rural teacher and union leader disconnected from the elites, while he was supported by the Andean regions since the 2021 elections.
Agrarian unions and peasant and indigenous social organizations called on Sunday for a “indefinite strikefrom Tuesday, rejecting Congress and calling for early elections and a new constitution. According to the communiqué of the Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru, which calls for the “immediate releaseby Mr. Castillo, this one “did not carry out a coupwhen he attempted on December 7 to dissolve parliament and institute a state of emergency. He was arrested a few hours later by his own bodyguard on his way to the Mexican embassy to seek political asylum. He is accused of “rebellion“.
jail letter
Ms. Boluarte, vice-president until her inauguration on December 7 after the dismissal of Mr. Castillo, formed a government on Saturday with an independent and technical profile, with a former prosecutor, Pedro Angulo, as prime minister. “So far, the president has been unclear on the big question: is it a transitional government or a government that intends to stay on until 2026?political analyst Giovanna Peñaflor told AFP.
The demand for new elections is associated with a massive rejection from Congress: according to November polls, 86% of Peruvians disapprove of Parliament. On Friday, Ms. Boluarte had not ruled out calling early elections in order to find a peaceful way out of the political crisis. At the same time, the theory, put forward by the former chief of staff and Mr. Castillo’s lawyer that the former president was drugged without his knowledge during his failed coup attempt, is exciting the country.
Read alsoPeru: President Pedro Castillo deposed
In a letter that Mr. Castillo would have written in prison, he assures that a doctor and nurses “camouflaged“and a prosecutor”without a face“(hooded) have it”strength“to take blood samples without his consent, evoking a “machiavellian plan“. The president of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Francisco Brizuela, told him that the former president had “refused to submitto testing.
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