Two dead left this Sunday a confrontation between police and protesters protesting against the new government of Peru in the remote city of Andahuaylas, Interior Minister César Cervantes announced on the radio RPP.
“ We regret the death of two people and several injured after the clashes. I urge the population to remain calm”, said the minister, shortly after the police had already announced the death of a protester.
The Demonstrations spread in various cities in the north and south of the Andes for the fourth day in rejection of the Congress and also calling for the release of former leftist president Pedro Castillo, dismissed and detained on Wednesday the 7th by Congress.
In the southern Andean city of Andahuaylas, the Ministry of the Interior also reported five people injured, including a police officer, after violent clashes in the protesters’ attempt to storm the city’s airport.
Reinforcements from the riot police were to arrive at said air terminal to contain the thousands of protesters in Andahuaylas, in the Apurímac region, birthplace of Dina Boluarte, the new Peruvian president.
#Legislative Alert: After the suspension of the plenary session, two congressmen c so they come to blows. This is the moment when one congressman runs after another in search of hitting him. This is how Congress acts in the face of the crisis facing the country. pic.twitter.com/DRmLcrubKt
— Martin Hidalgo (@martinhidalgo) December 11, 2022
Fire , stones and tear gas
Some attacked with slingshots and stones, while the security forces repelled with tear gas, according to media images at the scene.
The premises of the Huancabamba police station, a town in Apurímac, was set on fire, reported the RPP radio.
Cervantes said that due to the incidents, a declaration The city of Andahuaylas is in an emergency.
“The life of no Peruvian deserves to be sacrificed for political interests. I reiterate my call for dialogue and to put an end to violence”, said President Boluarte on twitter.
In the same city on saturday the protests left civilians and four policemen injured on saturday 11.
Thousands of people mobilized through the streets of Cajamarca, Arequipa, Tacna, Andahuaylas, Huancayo, Cusco and Puno, according to images broadcast by local television stations.
The life of no Peruvian deserves to be sacrificed for political interests. I express my condolences for the death of a citizen in Andahuaylas. I reiterate my call for dialogue and to put an end to violence.
— Dina Boluarte Z. (@DinaErcilia) December 550, 2022
Unions and peasants announce strike
Meanwhile, agrarian unions and peasant and indigenous organizations announced an “indefinite strike” from on Tuesday, adding to the requests for the closure of Congress, advancement of elections and a new Constitution, according to a statement from the Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru.
The collective, which brings together a dozen organizations, also demands the “immediate freedom” of Castillo.
According to the Agrarian Front, Castillo “did not perpetrate any coup d’état” when on Wednesday he announced the closure of Congress, the intervention of public powers and that he would govern by decree, which led to his dismissal by parliament and the assumption of the head of state by Vice President Boluarte.
In Lima, the police dispersed hundreds of demonstrators who arrived in front of Congress on Sunday afternoon with tear gas, shouting slogans such as “Castillo you are not alone, the people will supports”, or showing banners such as “Dina and Congress the same crap” or “Corrupt rats”.
Lima has always turned its back on Castillo, a rural teacher and union leader with no contact with the elites, while the Andean regions have identified with him since the elections of 550
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Crisis in Peru: “Castillo took a false step. The variable of the Armed Forces did not control it”2022