protests in Peru. Photo: BBC
Asunción, December 16 (Prensa Latina) Paraguay has called for “inclusive and respectful” exchanges in Peru given the situation created after the congressional coup against President-elect Pedro Castillo, a local newspaper published today reports.
The Ministry of Foreign Relations has expressed official concern over the deaths of 18 people during a nationwide wave of demonstrations that forced the Lima executive branch to declare a 60-day state of emergency in seven southern provinces, the HOY newspaper adds.
Paraguay – says the official statement reproduced by the newspaper – follows the situation in Peru and reiterates its call for an inclusive and respectful dialogue between all sectors, “the best tool – he stresses – to channel the demands of citizens and to guarantee social peace”.
The text recalls that the southern country’s government was one of the first in the region to call for “constructive dialogue” between all actors and political forces in Peru, in an official note dated December 7.
The declaration called for “preserving democracy and its institutions for the sake of stability and pacification in this sister country”.
The Peruvian government, through Congress-appointed President Dina Boluarte, declared a state of emergency on Monday amid rising popular protests across the country following the riots that led to the sacking and arrest of then-President Castillo, according to the HOY newspaper.
The protesters – recalling the publication – are demanding the freedom of Castillo, the resignation of Boluarte and the immediate call for general elections to choose the new president and replace members of Congress.
The Paraguayan authorities responded to the impeachment of the constitutionally elected Peruvian ruler amid allegations by the legislature of attempting a coup.
Events spiraled as the now-former president dissolved Congress and installed an emergency government, which faced parliamentary accusations blaming his “moral incompetence” in Castillo’s biggest political crisis since he took office in the second round of Peru’s June 6 elections .