Political crisis in Peru: tourists stranded in Lima, armored square and shops closed in another dramatic day

With shields placed on the floor of the Plaza San Martín, in the center of LimesThere are hundreds of policemen. The government has decided to block the entrance to the main meeting point of defenders of the former president of Peru Peter Castillodeposed and arrested for attempting a self-coup.

In Lima, tourists are wondering if they will be able to travel to Cusco, which has closed its airport due to the violence. With the square armored, Robert and Sara, a couple of Swedish tourists, begin to understand that they will not be able to visit the Inca citadel Machu Picchu, for which they traveled to Peru.

“We have tickets for two days from now, but with this number of police officers, we don’t think it will be resolved quickly,” they said. clarion.

The sound band in the Plaza San Martín is punctuated by the trumpets”Tornado” that the demonstrators play non-stop. Every now and then the motorcycles of “Los Halcones” burst in, the group of policemen who patrol the center of the city.

Peru has declared a state of emergency across the country and has bolstered the capital with 5,000 police officers, as marches are planned for a key day for former President Castillo’s judicial situation.

The do you live of the men in uniform is the anti-riot one: helmet, shield, rifles with rubber bullets and tear gas. I’ve been there since the morning and permanently, even if the afternoon is the moment of greatest tension. They use ground shields to prop up their forearms and control cell phones.

At 18:00, when many are leaving work in central Lima, the intersection with the protesters is tense. With his hands around his mouth, a man yells “job” at Castillo’s defenders, who respond with insults. The painting is completed by a street vendor who raises his voice to offer Peruvian flags for 10 soles.

“For six days we have been opening and closing depending on the violence. If the riots and the gas start, we close and wait a bit to open”, he said clarion Lourdes, manager of the Rústica bar, on the corner with Plaza San Martín. And she reveals the numbers of the crisis: “For a week now I’ve been selling 10% of what I was selling before”.

In times of social media and fake newsmany cell phones in Lima received an Instagram capture presumably from the newspaper The Republic which stated a curfew from 10 to 4 in the morning, but it was false.

In the busy Polvos Azules shopping mall, talks between traders about organizing themselves about the alleged curfew only dissipated when they turned on the radio and waited for the 7pm newscast.

Alberto Otárola, the new defense minister, announced a state of emergency extended to the whole country for 30 days and, before consulting with the press, did not rule out calling for a curfew.

In Lima, however, where the crisis is being experienced on radio and television and is felt only in the afternoon in the center of the capital, the curfew rang out loudly and went on television at night to clarify that there would be no curfew. remains.

Congress debates whether to bring forward the elections

The Peruvian Congress will meet this Thursday to define the date of the elections. On Wednesday, President Dina Boluarte indicated she could bring them forward to December 2023, instead of April 2024 as she had announced.

“We have met with the National Council and we have reached some agreements. The president of the national electoral jury, the president of the Congress, institutions on which it depends verify all the times of this advance of elections that I have already raised,” said Boluarte in a press conference at the Government Palace of Lima.

“Legally the times would go to April 2024. However, by making some adjustments, this can be brought forward to December 2023. Before that date, technically, legally it would not be good. Consequently, good Peruvians, sisters and brothers, must maintain and walk within the legal framework, of the Constitution”, added the president, until 8 days ago Castillo’s vice president and now considered a “traitor” by the ousted president.

Lima, special envoy

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