As protesters, called by the General Confederation of Workers (CGTP) and the National Assembly of Peoples today, prepared to march through the city, police deployed a powerful security device.
The organizing secretary of the CGTP, Manuel Coronado, told Prensa Latina that pickets (brigades) of activists of the national strike called today began to act from mid-morning in the center of the city and in the north, south and central zones , as well as the neighboring port of Callao.
He pointed out that the picket’s mission is to encourage participation in the columns, which will concentrate at these points to converge on the central Plaza Dos de Mayo, from where the central mobilization will start.
On the other side, buses and other vehicles continue to arrive with provincials coming mainly from the southern regions of the country, a hotbed of the protest that began 15 days ago with a tally of more than 50 deaths, including a woman killed last night was resumed in the attack and fire on a police station in the southern Andean region of Puno
The provincials arrive at the camp on the grounds of the Mayor de San Marcos and the National Engineering University, under jealous police surveillance and certainly with agents infiltrated into both centers, according to former Interior Minister José Elice.
The first phase of the protests followed the sacking and imprisonment of President Pedro Castillo on December 7 and his replacement by Vice President Dina Boluarte, whose resignation is the main demand of the dissatisfaction movement.
Meanwhile, the police operation aimed at neutralizing the symbolic “capture of Lima” by provincial protesters includes some 12,000 uniformed personnel, with no military presence observed. “We have already taken Lima, activities are being conducted normally,” said Lima Police Chief General Víctor Zanabria while inspecting his troops about the massive deployment of forces.
The operation included the preventive closure of public access to the Plaza de Armas, where the Government Palace and the area around the Legislative Palace are located, as well as the protection of ministries and other government agencies and strategic facilities.
The secretary general of the CGTP, Gerónimo López, warned that the struggle will not end today and will continue until the president resigns, a demand from the social movement, to which is added the call for early elections this year simultaneous referendum on the relevance of a constituent Assembly.
mgt/mrs