A militarized Peru woke up this Thursday under high tension, with preparations for a national mobilization in support of the ousted former president Pedro Castillo and a judicial hearing to define whether he is still in prison. The protests have already resulted in nine deaths.
Radio station RPP said the ninth victim of protests against new president Dina Boluarte and calling for immediate elections and the dissolution of Congress is a farmer who died Wednesday after being run over at a checkpoint in northern Peru.
Congress is also expected to meet on Thursday to set the date for the elections, after Boluarte speculated to bring them forward to the end of 2023 after an earlier bid to hold them in 2024 failed to erode demonstrations.
The state of emergency, already in force in some regions of Peru, went into effect this Thursday throughout the country for 30 days. This implies the suspension of the right of assembly, the inviolability of the home and freedom of movement, and allows for the deployment of the Army and Police to “maintain order and security,” according to Defense Minister Alberto Otárola.
The government has also not ruled out the possibility of declaring a curfew.
closed airports
Meanwhile, a fifth airport, the one in the central city of Ayacucho, suspended its operations after the army warned that protesters were planning to enter it, said Aeropuertos Andinos del Perú, the company that operates it.
The airports of four other cities, Cusco, Puno, Arequipa and Apurímac, are closed due to the protests, and the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, one of the main tourist attractions in the country, has announced its closure to tourists.
Castillo, a 53-year-old rural teacher and leftist leader, was arrested on Wednesday last week after trying to dissolve Congress before it voted, for the third time since taking office in July 2021, on a motion to remove him. .
The military did not support Castillo, and Congress, dominated by right-wing opposition, voted to remove him. Boluarte, until then vice president, assumed the presidency in his place.
And although she initially promised to finish Castillo’s term until July 2026, the crisis forced her to announce a possible advance in the elections. He first spoke of mid-2024 and said Wednesday it could go as far as 2023.
The demonstrations, without formal convocation and with dissimilar claims, seem to coincide in a call immediate elections and closure of the Congress, even if some sectors are calling for the resignation of Boluarte or the return to power of Castillo.
new gears
In spite of the state of emergency, a massive march through the historic center of Lima is announced for Thursday, attended by representatives from different parts of the country and demonstrations in many regions.
Congress was to meet on Thursday at 10 (12 in Argentina) to define the date of the elections.
At the same time, the Judge postponed the hearing in which will consider whether to release Castillo, accused of rebellion and conspiracyor if it gives rise to a request from the Public Prosecutor’s Office to continue pre-trial detention for 18 months.
Judge Juan Carlos Checkley clarified that Castillo must remain detained at the police headquarters of the National Division of Special Operations, east of Lima, until the hearing, at 8:30 (10:30 in Argentina).
Castillo, who has long denounced attempts to unlawfully remove him, condemned his arrest and he claims he is still president. The governments of Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Bolivia have expressed their support and called for his release.
As for the violence in the streets, it was added on Wednesday night a new deathwhich would be the ninth since the beginning of the protests in favor of Castillo, which are especially shaking the south of the country, which is more rural and where support for the former president is greater.
The victim, 51-year-old farmer Yoni Rosalino Cárdenas Escobal, was run over on a road in the northern department of La Libertad, following an accident during a lull in the blockade, RPP said.
His death has not yet been reported by any regional or state authorities.
Six other people died in the southern department of Apurímac, one in Arequipa and another in La Libertad.
Amid the protests, classes in primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions will be held remotely this Thursday and Friday in Lima and the neighboring city of El Callao, education authorities in both cities said.
With information from agencies
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Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.