Photo: MARTIN MEJIA/AP PHOTO/PICTURE ALLIANCE / copyright
At least 27 injured (ten of them police officers) and a police station set on fire left on Saturday (03.04.2023) a confrontation between protesters and Peruvian security forces during protests in the Andean region of Puno against President Dina Boluarte, authorities reported.
The actions occurred in the city of Juli when hundreds of indigenous people mobilized demanding the resignation of Boluartewho on March 7 celebrates three months in power after assuming the place of leftist Pedro Castillo, dismissed in December by Congress after a failed coup d’état.
The Peruvian Ministries of Defense and the Interior strongly condemned the attack and burning of the Juli district police station, in the southern Andean region of Puno, and pointed out that 27 people were injured as a result of the clashes in that town.
In a joint statement, both ministries indicated that “approximately 300 violent activists” attacked the Juli police station with stones and blunt objects for several hours, despite the attempts of the officer in charge to dialogue with the protesters.
The troops tried to repel the attack but they were outnumbered by the “extremists”, who set fire to various areas of the police station with Molotov-type cocktails, the official source added.
As a result of the attack, 10 police officers were injured, who were evacuated by helicopter, and also seven civilians who were treated at the Rafael Ortiz Ravines hospital.
In parallel, the statement added, another group attacked the Juli military basetemporarily established in a hotel, which caused injuries to ten Army personnel, who present bruises and cuts to the head and arms.
In addition, there was another “reprehensible” attack against the headquarters of the Judiciary and vehicles belonging to the police station, police personnel and the military patrol were burned.
The health network of the province of Chucuito, dependent on the Ministry of Health, indicated that the wounded were directed to the Rafael Ortiz Ravines hospital in Julialthough without specifying the state in which they were found or the type of injuries.
The fall of Pedro Castillo has sparked violent protests since December, which left 48 dead and more than 600 injured in clashes with security forces. The protesters call for the resignation of Boluarte, the closure of Congress and the advancement of elections to 2023.
Pedro Castillo was removed by Congress on December 7 when he had been in power for 17 months. The police stopped him when he was trying to get to the Mexican embassy to request asylum. His vice president, Dina Boluarte, has assumed power since then.
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