Peru this Sunday woke up to more roadblocks and mobilizations demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, despite Saturday at midnight the government extended the state of emergency in a new attempt to stop the serious political and social crisis that is sweeping the country.
The executive extended the state of emergency for 30 days in the regions of Lima, Cusco, Callao and Puno to stop the protests. The military are thus authorized to intervene together with the police to safeguard public order, after more than a month of marches throughout the country which have been firmly repressed and which have already caused almost 50 deaths.
Through a supreme decree published on Saturday evening in the official gazette A Peruvian manthe Executive has extended, in the areas where there have been the greatest protests in the last week, the state of emergency that came into force on 15 December throughout the national territory.
“During the states of emergency … the constitutional rights relating to the inviolability of the home, freedom of transit on the national territory, freedom of assembly and personal freedom and security are suspended”, reads the decree.
The law also specifies that the National Police of Peru maintains internal order, with the support of the Armed Forces.
Government He also extended the curfew in Puno, the epicenter of the protests. in the last weeks. The measure will be in effect from Sunday for the next ten days, from 20:00 to 4:00.
Marches in Lima
The government’s decision comes at a time when various associations called for mobilizations from southern Peru to Lima starting Monday, an action that the authorities describe as a “riot” to destabilize Boluarte.
On Sunday, more than 100 sections of highways were blocked by protesters in 11 of 25 Peruvian regions calling for the resignation of the president, who assumed the presidency on December 7 after Congress ousted Pedro Castillo following his coup.
Until then, Boluarte was vice president and, when she took office, she said in principle that she would hold the mandate until July 2026, when it should have ended. But then, under pressure from the streets and from Congress, with the majority of the right-wing opposition, you forced her to bring forward the elections to April 2024.
The protests, which caused at least 42 deaths in five weeks, according to the Ombudsman’s Office – other sources already speak of 49 – resumed on January 4 after a break for the end of the year holidays. More than 20 people have died in the last week alone.
Regions with blocked roads included Puno, Arequipa and Cusco (south), the Land Transportation Superintendence said, adding that There have never been so many cuts in the current crisis.
In Arequipa, dozens of residents blocked the Pan-American Highway that reaches the Tacna region, on the border with Chile.
On Saturday night, dozens of protesters arrived in the Miraflores district of Lima, after leaving from the central Plaza San Martín.
In Cuzco, train service to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu resumed on Sunday after two days of paralysis due to protests.
mass for the dead
With photographs placed in the atrium of the cathedral in Lima, a mass was celebrated on Sunday morning to remember the people who died during the protests.
“We want to dedicate this Mass to our deceased by human hands these days. All of them are our deceased, there is no death of another. We are all Peruvians,” said the archbishop of Lima, Carlos Castillo.
The priest named each of the civilian victims and the policeman who was burned alive this week in the town of Juliaca, on the border with Bolivia.
Dozens of people attended the mass officiated in Spanish and Quechua (a native language of the Peruvian Andes) in the Cathedral Basilica of Lima.
The president on Friday apologized for the deaths caused by the crisis and urged Congress to speed up procedures to call early elections in April 2024 and
Boluarte has a 71% disapproval rate, according to a poll released Sunday by Ipsos.
The survey, with a sample of 1,199 people carried out on January 13, indicates that 63% of those interviewed believe that violent actions in the regions are “organized by political movements”.
The deputy minister of the government of the territory, José Muro, underlined that the government’s commitment is to establish spaces for dialogue this week in the regions in conflict to respond to the postponed social demands.
“Tell our brothers that this week we intend to establish spaces for dialogue to start meeting the requests. We pass this on as a commitment from the Executive’s social management and dialogue team, articulating efforts with regional and local governments”, he said called Muro al canale. of the state television TV Peru.
Source: AFP
B. C
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.