ISLAMABAD: Five more protesters were killed in Peru on Monday, as violent protests against the former president’s ouster showed no signs of abating, despite his successor’s efforts to stop the turmoil.
Seven people have died in rising protests since the communist Pedro Castillo was ousted accusing him of an attempted coup last week.
On Sunday, new President Dina Boluarte attempted to defuse tensions by announcing that she would seek to hold elections two years early, proclaiming a state of emergency in sensitive districts. Protesters continued to block roads in several cities across the country with logs, rocks, and burning tires, but it had little effect.
On Monday, 2,000 protesters smashed runway lighting, burned security booths, and forced the airport in Arequipa, Peru’s second-largest city, to close for several hours before being dispersed with tear gas by police.
One person was killed in the latest clashes, and four more died as riot police put down demonstrations in Boluarte’s home region of Apurimac in the country’s southeast. On Sunday, two more protesters died in clashes with security personnel while attempting to storm an airport.
According to a source from the public defender’s office who spoke to Agence France-Presse under the condition of anonymity, “we have seven people reported dead” since Sunday.
Also on Monday, protesters set a police station and the office of the public prosecutor on fire in Apurimac. One of the biggest factories in the nation, owned by the dairy company Gloria, was also taken over by protesters in Arequipa.
Marta Hurtado, a spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office, issued a statement in which she urged “all involved to exercise restraint” because “the situation may escalate further.” Hurtado further pleaded with authorities to “enable people to enjoy their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of thought and expression.”
Political prisoner and victim of antidemocratic harassment
Castillo has been detained since last Wednesday, and after dissolving Congress and pledging to rule by decree, prosecutors have charged him with rebellion and conspiracy.
The former president had a meeting with his attorneys in Lima ahead of the hearing on Tuesday, where they will argue against the court’s decision to order his seven-day detention and ask for his immediate release.
Attorney Ronald Atencio stated, “The president’s position is that he is a political prisoner.” Castillo has been “the victim of antidemocratic harassment” since his election, according to a joint statement from the leftist governments of Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia.
Six investigations into Castillo and his family, large-scale demonstrations calling for his ouster, and a power struggle with the opposition-controlled Congress overshadowed his 17-month administration. Castillo was impeached and arrested, and Boluarte, a former prosecutor who had been Castillo’s vice president, was quickly sworn in to take his place.
Move elections from 2026 to 2024
In a televised address on Sunday, she attempted to calm the public by announcing that she would work with Congress “to reach an agreement” to move the elections from July 2026 to April 2024. A bill to advance the election, she said, would be submitted soon.
The country has a rightward slant. Congress convened a special meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss the crisis, but it had to be called off due to fights. The government dismissed the 26 regional prefects that Castillo had appointed on Monday after they were accused of “inciting protests.”
Castillo has never had much contact with the country’s elites because of his rural teacher and union leader background, and he has struggled to gain support in Lima’s coastal areas. In support of Castillo, the son of a peasant family, rural unions and organizations representing Indigenous peoples have called for an “indefinite strike” to start on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru, which unites about a dozen organizations, they demanded Castillo’s immediate release, the suspension of Congress, early elections, and a new constitution.
Political unrest is not new to Peru, which has had six presidents since 2016.
