Peruvian President Dina Boluarte confirmed that her “government is standing firm”. and accused the demonstrators, who are demanding his resignation, of wanting to “break against the rule of law” in the middle of the action Protests that arrived in Lima this Thursdaywith clashes between protesters and security forces, EFE reported.
“I would like to deny the fake news (…) the government is steadfast and its cabinet is more united than ever,” Boluarte said in a press statement along with a group of ministers at the Government Palace in Lima.
The ruler assured that despite the Increase in protests and clashesmaintains its invitation to dialogue with the political and social forces demanding his resignation and the closure of Congress, and the call for general elections and a Constituent Assembly.
“I call again for dialogue, I call for calm,” he remarked.
“They want to break the rule of law”
However, Boluarte addressed the protesters to tell them that “their protests are things they know are outside the law,” accusing them of “breaking the rule of law, creating chaos and disorder and damaging the nation.” wanting to lose power”.
“You are wrong, from the government we say to the Peruvian people: the situation is controlled and will be controlled,” he said, before adding that they know that “these gentlemen will not stop breaking the rule of law.”
In this regard, he announced that The authorities will act “with the full weight of the law”. and they “individualize those bad citizens who breed acts of violence.”
The head of state also praised the “flawless” Actions of the National Police during the demonstrations this Thursday in Lima “and in some destinations where violent protests have taken place.”
In his thanks he included members of the prosecutor’s office, the Ombudsman’s office and the press, to whom he expressed his solidarity with “the men and women of the press who were attacked during the protests”.
“The acts of violence caused these days from December to January now will not go unpunished, the government will act within the framework of the constitution and the law,” he said.
The demonstrations in Peru began last December 7thwhen Boluarte took over the presidency Constitutional succession after Pedro Castillo’s failed coup d’état (2021-2022) and recovered after a Christmas break from January 4th, especially in the south.
Until now, The protests have killed 44 protesters and a police officer, while another 14 people, including an unborn baby and four Haitian citizens, lost their lives to various causes. caused by roadblocks and demonstrations.
Fire destroys house in Lima
A large fire this Thursday devastated a mansion in the historic center of Lima, a few meters from the famous Plaza San Martín, the epicenter of the huge anti-government demonstration in the Peruvian capital, EFE reported.
For hours, the protesters confronted the police stationed in the area and forced them to retreat, until they retreated from Plaza San Martín when flames began to destroy the as-yet-unidentified building in a sector dotted with many historic mansions, some of them made of wood .
Faced with rumors circulating on networks about the cause of the fire, Peru’s interior minister, Vicente Romero, said it was “totally false” that a tear gas canister belonging to the Peruvian National Police (PNP) caused the fire.
“It’s completely wrong. I can put this tear gas device in my pocket and it doesn’t cause burns, the gas is just what it causes,” Romero said in a joint government message on Thursday.
The death toll continues to rise
Four Haitian nationals died this Thursday in the Peruvian municipality of Desaguadero, which hosts the main border crossing with Bolivia and sits at more than 3,800 meters above sea level, as a result of road closures due to panti-government riots in Peru that have killed more than 50 people since December.
“We mourn the deaths of four Haitian citizens in Desaguadero who died of lung diseases because they could not move and unfortunately they died because they did not have access to health services because the roads remained blocked,” said the Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otárola in a statement without questions.
The head of the Cabinet of Ministers also regretted the death of “two compatriots” on Thursday, when a nationwide strike was called.
Is about two men who died in the southern regions of Puno and Arequipa after clashes between protesters and law enforcement officials.
Those six new deaths in the South, that’s it Epicenter of anti-government protests after Christmas peacebring to 59 the total number of deaths during mobilizations since they began in the country last December, according to failed self-coup by former President Pedro Castillo.
Thousands are calling for Boluarte’s resignation
Thousands of Peruvians from different parts of the country gathered in the capital this Thursday for the so-called “conquest of Lima”.to call for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the closure of Congress, and to express their weariness at forgetting the state they think they suffer from.
“We demand that this (de) facto government go. Usurper (referring to Boluarte), we don’t want any more of our countrymen to die. We’re not in a civil war and they’re still killing our brothers. We don’t want a war civilian,” Víctor Pérez told EFE.
Pérez, walking down central Abancay Avenue, confirmed that the current executive branch was not popularly elected, so not legitimate, and who it was was Pedro Castillo, the currently imprisoned former president.
The march, called by unions and various groups, started peacefully before 4:00 p.m. local time, but soon Clashes broke out between demonstrators and policewhich formed great barriers to prevent the passage to avenues with public facilities.
“We protest peacefully and find it outrageous that they won’t let us go to (the affluent neighborhood of) Miraflores favors them. It favors all power groups in the country. In Peru we live in a dictatorship,” a protester, holding a national flag in her hands, told EFE.
Attempted robbery at Arequipa airport
Hundreds of protesters tried to enter the facilities of Arequipa Airport, Peru’s second most populous city, Thursday, which was shut down in the morning as a preventative measure amid anti-government protests.
The protesters attempted to enter Alfredo Rodríguez Ballon Airport and broke through the metal fences around the terminal, after which police officers responded by firing tear gas canisters.
Hours earlier, the Department of Transport and Communications announced the airport was closed “to ensure the integrity of citizens and the safety of flight operations.”
At least five press workers are attacked
At least five members of a press team at Peruvian broadcaster América Televisión were injured this Thursday while covering the massive anti-government protests in Lima, where a group of protesters threw stones at them, the aforementioned media outlet reported.
Images broadcast by América Televisión showed three members of his injured press team, one of them with two broken teeth, and the station’s white van with broken windows and large rocks inside the vehicle.
Located in the historic center of the Peruvian capital, the reporters covered the march, which dubbed itself the “Conquest of Lima.”