Peru began roadblocks and demonstrations this Sunday (15) demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, despite the government extending the state of emergency at midnight on Saturday to alleviate the severe political and social crisis the country is facing lives.
Dina Boluarte’s executive extended the state of emergency in the Lima, Cusco, Callao and Puno regions by 30 days to halt protests and authorized the military to intervene with the police to protect public order.
The government also extended the curfew in Puno, the epicenter of the protests. The measure applies from today for 10 days from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
The decision comes as associations have called for mobilizations from southern Peru to Lima, starting Monday, in an action the authorities are describing as a “riot” to destabilize Boluarte.
This Sunday, 99 stretches of highway were blocked by protesters in 10 of Peru’s 25 regions demanding the resignation of Boluarte, who took over the presidency after Congress ousted Pedro Castillo after his failed coup d’état.
The protests, which have claimed at least 42 lives in five weeks, according to the Ombudsman’s office, resumed on January 4 after a truce during New Year celebrations.
Regions with blocked roads include Puno, Arequipa and Cusco (south), the Superintendence of Land Transport reported, adding that there have never been so many blockages in the current crisis.
In Arequipa, dozens of residents blocked the Panamericana Sur highway, which reaches the Tacna region on the border with Chile.
Dozens of protesters arrived in the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima on Saturday night after exiting the central region’s San Martín Square.
In Cusco, train services to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu resumed this Sunday after a twoday break due to protests.
deaths
The president on Friday apologized for the deaths caused by the crisis and called on Congress to expedite procedures to hold early elections in April 2024.
Boluarte has a rejection rate of 71%, according to a survey published today by the company Ipsos.
More than 100 Peruvian, five Argentinian and two Chilean intellectuals called on the Boluarte government to “stop immediately the killing of citizens exercising their legitimate right to political existence”.
“We call on Dina Boluarte to listen to the people’s demand and to resign, to step down immediately and to call for immediate new elections,” added the writers and artists who signed the statement.
The Deputy Minister for Territorial Administration, José Muro, stressed on state television that it is the government’s obligation to create spaces for dialogue in the conflict regions this week in order to respond to postponed social claims.
Discontent grows in Peru with protests as Castillo’s successor negotiates a new government