Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/LIMA: Peru has extended a state of emergency for another 30 days in the city of Lima and the two southern regions.
Deadly protests against the government have sparked in the regions in the country’s worst violence in twenty years.
State of emergency
According to Reuters, Peru announced a month-long, nationwide state of emergency in mid-December. Demonstrations broke out over the ousting of Pedro Castillo, ex-leftist President who had attempted to dissolve the Congress and rule by decree.
More than 40 people died in violent clashes between protesters and national security forces since early December. State has extended emergency measures signed by President Dina Boluarte late on Saturday, which gave the police special powers and limited freedoms including the right to assembly. The restrictions applied to Lima and the southern regions of Cusco and Puno.
In Puno, nearly half of the victims have died, the restrictions include a ten-day curfew.
In the march in Lima on Saturday, protesters raised white and red national flags alongside banners rimmed in black in a sign of mourning. They criticised Boluarte, Castillo’s former vice president, who the day before, apologized for the deaths while demanding investigations.
