Political crisis in Peru: a 16-year-old boy died and 49 are already dead after more than a month of protests

Just over a month after the removal of Pedro Castillo from the presidency of Peru, the country is still immersed in a political crisis and cornered by the protests that do not stop. The most recent toll of the last day was the death of a 16 year oldwhich brought the death toll to 49 from the violence unleashed since December.

The latest victim, identified by the abbreviation BAJ, died in the southern region of Puno, according to the ombudsman’s office report at noon on Thursday. In a broadcast with the newspaper The Republicthe minor’s relatives stated that he had been hospitalized for two days in critical condition after being hit on the head.

With this death, the number of deaths in the Puno protests rose to 19, where the death was already registered on Monday. the deadliest day of seizures in the Andean country. The incidents left a policeman burned alive in his patrol car after being attacked by a group of protesters.

The ombudsman’s office reported Thursday that there were mobilisations, strikes and checkpoints in 35 provincesmost of the southern regions of the country.

In addition, there were 80 checkpoints on national roads and a siege by protesters on a shopping center in the city of Arequipa, in another southern region of the same name.

In Lima, hundreds marched through the city center calling for the resignation of Boluarte and the close of Congress. Some have called for the release of Castillo, who remains in prison.

The request of the governors to calm the situation

The regional governors of Puno, Cusco and Apurímac have requested the resignation of the president as a necessary measure to appease the demonstrations in the country.

In Cusco, a group of protesters tried to burn down the headquarters of the General Inspectorate of the National Police of that region. They poured petrol and set it on fire. The carabinieri managed to disperse them and put out the fire that had developed at the door of the room.

A delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has arrived in Puno. gather information about protests and the social crisis, in the context of his official visit which began the day before with meetings with Baluarte and later with other authorities.

The IACHR was also in Peru in November, at the request of Pedro Castillo, when he was still president, to address the crisis of political instability in the government of the former president who was removed in December.

In Apurímac, another southern region, a group of residents protested at the entrance to the Las Bambas mine.

What are the protesters asking for?

The protests – demanding the advance of the general elections, the resignation of Boluarte and the close of Congress– gained new momentum this week after recovering last Wednesday after a partial break due to the holidays. With Castillo removed, political instability in Peru has already claimed five presidents in six years.

Among the protesters calling for the resignation of the president, the closure of Congress and new elections, are those They are also demanding that Castillo be releasedBoluarte’s predecessor who was deposed and remains in custody for eight months while under investigation for alleged rebellion.

Boluarte took over the government after Castillo, president since 2021, was removed from Congress after he tried to dissolve this state power in a televised message on December 7.

The current president was vice president and he was elected on the same list as his predecessor. Parliament was sworn in the same day of Castillo’s dismissal to be constitutional successor.

Castillo was arrested while in a vehicle with his entourage on an avenue in downtown Lima. According to the prosecutor’s office, he would have gone to the Mexican embassy to ask for political asylum.

Source: AP