Riot police officers during the “Take Lima” march against the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, in Lima on January 19, 2023. Photo: Portal.
Clashes between demonstrators and police marked the protests against the Peruvian government in the afternoon and on Thursday night. Thousands of people have flocked to the capital from the south in the past few days to demand this Resignation of President Dina Boluarte, early elections and constitutional changes in the South American country.
According to the agency, the march was launched and started at four a.m. local time this Thursday It started peacefully, although there were clashes with security forces who had earlier screened the streets.
Thousands of people from all over the country demanded the resignation of the president with songs and slogans. Among the protesters were many Peruvian flags and the wiphala used by indigenous communities.
The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Boluarte and the cabinet as well as structural changes in the country. Photo: dpa.
Massive protests broke out in Lima on Thursday evening, with shouts of “out with the president” and “the dictatorship will fall”.where people from different Peruvian regions have arrived as part of a large anti-government march.
Thousands have traveled to the capital in buses and on foot for two days with flags and banners criticizing the government and police for using excessive force after fatal clashes in southern cities like Ayacucho and Juliaca.
In Lima alone, the government ordered the presence of more than 10,000 agents on the streets. Photo: Portal.
“We call for the exit of this de facto government. usurper [referido a Boluarte]We don’t want more of our countrymen to die. We are not in a civil war, and yet it is killing our brothers. We don’t want a civil war,” protester Víctor Pérez told the EFE news agency.
Campesino Samuel Acero, president of Cusco’s regional struggle committee, told The Associated Press as he walked through Lima’s historic center that people are “going out now to fight, going out to claim their just rights.”
The goal of the protesters was to reach the Miraflores neighborhood, one of the richest in the city, but Police responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The protesters responded to the repression by throwing stones and objects, which resulted in images of a pitched battle being seen in the center of the Peruvian capital.
Authorities have deployed a significant safeguard. In Lima alone, the government ordered the presence of more than 10,000 agents on the streets.
According to the authorities, there were also demonstrations and some attempts to take over local airports in other regions of the country, such as Cusco and Arequipa.
So far, the protests have been registered mainly in the southern Andes, and although there have been some in Lima this week, this Thursday was the largest since the demonstrations began.
The protests began after Boluarte, Castillo’s vice president, was sworn in as the new president on December 7, despite promising exactly a year earlier that she would step down if the president were ousted.
Activists dubbed Thursday’s demonstration the “March of the Four Suyos” in reference to the four cardinal points of the Inca Empire. It’s the same name that led to another massive mobilization in 2000, when thousands of Peruvians took to the streets to protest the autocratic government of Alberto Fujimori, who resigned months later.
Some groups, mainly peasants and indigenous people, stayed on the campuses of the Universities of San Marcos and Engineering, supported by the students, to take part in the mobilizations.
before escalation President Boluarte gave a televised message to the nation in which she accused the protesters of “being violent,” “violating the rule of law,” and causing “chaos and disorder” to “take power over the nation,” and posed states that “in their protests there is no social agenda that the country needs”.
Protesters are rejecting Congress’ proposal to hold general elections for April 2024 and are calling for the government change to be complete and immediate. Therefore, they are demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, who served as Castillo’s vice president and assumed leadership of the executive and legislative branches.
According to the official calendar, the trial was scheduled for 2026, when the ousted president, who is in preventive detention, ended his term of office.
On Wednesday, General Secretary of the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), Gerónimo López, assured that if these demands are not met, there will be “neither democracy nor peace” in the country.
If Boluarte resigns and no one fills the vice presidency, command of the country would pass to the President of Congress, conservative José Williams Zapata. This is one of the reasons why the demonstrators are calling for a complete change of power in Peru.
However, the president, who succeeded the leftist Pedro Castillo, insists that she wants to remain in office.
The Ombudsman’s Office reported this Thursday that a man died in clashes with police in the Arequipa region of the south of the country, bringing the death toll to 55 during the protests.
Earlier, one seriously injured person died during another protest on Wednesday in the southern city of Macusani in the Puno region. The agency noted on its Twitter account that 10 people were injured and taken to health centers during the crash.
Amid protests and cuts across the country, particularly in the southern region, the government announced states of emergency in three more regions, bringing the total to seven. The last three areas affected by the regulation are Amazonas, La Libertad and Tacna.
Earlier, the executive extended the 30-day validity of the state of emergency in Puno, Cuzco, Lima and Callao.
The state of emergency consists in empowering the armed forces to work together with the national police to ensure public peace. Fundamental rights such as freedom of transit and the inviolability of the home are also suspended.
Demonstrators cover themselves with makeshift shields while another waves the Peruvian flag during the Take Lima march against President Dina Boluarte January 19, 2023 in Lima. Photo: Portal.
On Wednesday, January 18, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) condemned the violence used by the security forces and the destruction of public property by the protesters.
This Thursday, authorities closed Arequipa Airport in southern Peru as a security measure after clashes between police officers who used tear gas and protesters, some of whom threw stones.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport and Communications reported that it was temporarily suspending operations at Velasco Astete International Airport in the tourist city of Cusco “as a preventive measure.”
The Peruvian press reports that the air travel restrictions are affecting nearly 150,000 passengers and their impact is expected to last until July.
According to an AP analysis The protests have grown to such an extent that protesters are unlikely to accept Boluarte’s resignation. Now they are calling for a structural reform, also in view of the worsening crisis of confidence among the ruling elites.
Violent clashes between demonstrators and police were reported from different parts of Lima in the afternoon and into the night of Thursday. Photo: Portal.
A police officer in riot gear fires his shotgun to disperse protesters who have traveled to the capital from other parts of the country to march against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte in Lima on Thursday, January 19, 2023. Photo: AP.
Police arrest a protester who was marching against President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru on Thursday, January 19, 2023. Photo: AP.
People help an injured man during anti-government protests in Arequipa, Peru, Thursday January 19, 2023. Photo by AP.
A woman treats an injured protester during protests against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru Thursday January 19, 2023. Photo by AP.
A protester against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte is arrested and thrown into a police van during protests in Lima, Peru Thursday January 19, 2023. Photo: AP.
A protester confronts police officers during protests against President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru, Thursday January 19, 2023. Photo: AP.
A woman taking part in protests against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte stands in front of police with a prayer and a Bible during clashes in Lima on Thursday, January 19, 2023. Photo: AP.
Women cover themselves from smoke from tear gas thrown by police during protests in Lima, Peru Thursday January 19, 2023. Photo: AP.
(With information from AP, AFP, France24, EFE and Portal)