At least 15 people have been killed during protests sparked by the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo.
The protest movement is worsening in Peru, where it entered its ninth day on Friday after the deposed former head of state Pedro Castillo was kept in prison and new clashes which left seven dead in the south of the country.
The Supreme Court decided on Thursday to leave in detention the ex-president of the radical left, imprisoned since his dismissal on December 7, following a failed attempt to dissolve Parliament, described as a failed putsch by his opponents. The prosecution, recalling that Pedro Castillo had tried to take refuge in the Mexican embassy after his dismissal, demanded that he be kept in detention until June 2024, citing a “leak risk“.
Prosecuted for “rebellion” and “conspiracy“, the ex-president faces ten years in prison, according to the prosecutor Alcides Diaz. “We felt it coming (…) We did not go to the hearing, because we refuse to take part in this masquerade“, denounced the lawyer of Mr. Castillo, Ronald Atencio, announcing that he was going to appeal.
At least 15 dead and 340 injured since protests began
In the streets, the mobilization against the new power and the Parliament does not weaken despite the state of emergency declared Wednesday for 30 days throughout Peru. This measure allows the army to participate in law enforcement operations. At least 15 people have been killed during protests since December 7, including seven on Thursday during several clashes between protesters and soldiers in Ayacucho (south), according to regional health authorities. A total of 340 people have also been injured since the start of the protests, according to the People’s Defender (Ombudsman).
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The most virulent demonstrations are taking place in the south of the country, where five airports remain closed (Andahuaylas, Arequipa, Puno, Cuzco and Ayacucho). More than a hundred roads are blocked by protesters, and the train to the famous site of Machu Picchu has stopped running, leaving several hundred tourists stranded.
“We have to fight. So that our children do not suffer as we suffer. The president is Pedro Castillosaid Milagros Quispe Diaz, her five-month-old baby in her arms, during a march on the outskirts of Lima which was to take her to the center where several organizations had called for a large rally. With 2000 to 3000 people, it was bigger than those of the last days.
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“In Peru, there is no justice”
On the spot, Estefania Rivera, 28, protests against the detention of the former president: “In Peru, there is no justice. It applies to some and not to others. There we judge him in record time while the procedures drag on for the others“. “It shows our history made of classism and racism against indigenous peoples and deep Peru. Everything is in Lima, health services, education, administration. Nothing for deep Peru“, continues this professor, whose family is of Amerindian origin. Pedro Castillo was widely supported by provincial populations when he was elected in 2021. “We need elections now. We can’t wait“, concludes Estefania Rivera.
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Another protester, 26-year-old worker Jorge Sandoval, welcomes the detention of Castillo: “It’s good. I am neither for Castillo nor for (the new president Dina) Boluarte. I demonstrate for Peru, for the dissolution of Parliament, elections and a constituent assembly. The people must decider».
Many police and members of the armed forces had been deployed to supervise the demonstration which was dispersed with tear gas in the early evening. “It takes a forceful, authoritative responsein the face of violence, launched Defense Minister Alberto Otarola, stressing that the state of emergency included “the suspension of freedom of movement and assembly” with “possibility of curfew“.
Elections for December 2023
In front of the police barracks where Pedro Castillo is being held, in Até (east of Lima), many of his supporters are camping and demanding his release. Opponents of the Castillo camp say some of its support comes from Movadef, the political wing of Shining Path, the Maoist guerrillas that claimed thousands of lives in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s.
The power tries to enforce order by force but also to appease discontent by acceding to certain demands. Dina Boluarte, former vice-president of Pedro Castillo who came to power after the latter’s dismissal, announced that she wanted to advance the electoral calendar again “to December 2023“. Dina Boluarte, who crystallizes part of the discontent in her person, had already pledged on Sunday to bring them forward from 2026 to April 2024, without stopping the protests.
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