In the third month of protests demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, protesters defied municipal bans and marched through downtown areas of the Peruvian capital.
Photo: web
The mostly young protesters even tried to reach the head of state’s house in the municipality of Surquillo in Lima, but were stopped by a strong police line.
The mobilizations were called from the southern and northern neighborhoods of the city, in Plaza Dos de Mayo in central Lima and in the center of the exclusive Miraflores district.
Both the provincial mayor of Lima, Rafael López-Aliaga, and the district mayor of Miraflores, Carlos Canales, both from the far-right Renovación Popular party, banned the demonstrations in their areas of responsibility, claiming the protection of Lima’s monumental heritage and the city’s integrity in Miraflores.
A strong security presence awaited the demonstrators but could not prevent some of them from reaching the concentration points.
Those from the south side arrived at Plaza Dos de Mayo, which was closed to protests, and peacefully advanced through the center of the city, but police fired tear gas at them to disperse them.
In Miraflores, elements of the neo-fascist group “La Resistencia” tried to disrupt and provoke the opposition demonstrators without confrontation.
A section of the protesters then marched through the streets of Miraflores and reached the neighboring district of Surquillo, where the column called for residents of the area to advance to the President’s house, despite a heavy police barricade blocking their way.
Meanwhile, inland, there were roadblocks at 50 points in 15 provinces, according to an official report, and marches, rallies and strikes in eight provinces.
The protests continued, albeit at a lower intensity than a few weeks ago, although in the early hours of the morning President Boluarte called for the demonstrations to stop and for talks to be held with the government on development projects for the regions, meaning that purely political demands were shelved become the dissatisfied.
In addition to the president’s resignation, the demonstrators are calling for early parliamentary elections and a referendum on the convening of a constituent assembly.
The President repeatedly asked them to pay wages, pensions and welfare payments, as well as medicines for hospitals, when a consignment of cash left for hospitals in the southern Andean region of Puno, the main stronghold of the protests.
The roadblocks, strikes, marches and other actions began after the parliamentary dismissal and arrest of President Pedro Castillo on December 7th.
(Taken from Latin Press)