Supporters of Pedro Castillo set fire to a fake Boluarte coffin during a protest in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas. Photo: AFP
the City of Juliaca, in Puno, dressed in mourning, in a public and massive tribute to the 17 protesters who died on Monday, on the bloodiest day since protests erupted – in December 2022 – against the government of Dina Boluarte, which ended a month in indictment . Another died in the roadblock the same day and a police officer was burned alive by protesters.
The clashes with law enforcement left that number dead and almost 80 injured in a week in which the public prosecutor’s office also opened an investigation genocide the Head of State, Prime Minister Alberto Otárola and Ministers Víctor Rojas (Interior) and Jorge Chávez (Defense).
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The investigations relate to the alleged crimes of “genocidequalified murder and serious injuries” during the anti-government demonstrations in the regions of Apurímac, La Libertad, Puno, Junín, Arequipa and Ayacucho.
According to the chief prosecutor, all fatalities of this bloody Monday were caused by a firearm projectile Jorge Chavez Cotrinanational coordinator of specialized prosecutors against organized crime.
This Andean city, whose airport remains closed, has been the epicenter of mobilizations demanding the resignation of the president, the closure of Congress and new elections in 2023 since protests resumed on Jan. 4 after the Christmas ceasefire.
Message to the Nation by Dina Boluarte. television peru
Protests continued on Wednesday in Cusco, a mecca of world tourism, where around 50 were injured and the peasant leader died rowing Canadahit by gunshots, as well as the one irrelevantproduct of the disputes.
The head of state has constantly called on the groups of demonstrators to engage in dialogue and has met with various political, trade union and business organizations to find a climate of calm.
This Friday evening, after several days of departure, he asked “forgiveness” if his government was “wrong in finding peace and tranquility”, affirming that he would not resign and would continue to “promote the dialogue of social peace” in order to to overcome the crisis that the country lives whose protests add up Total tally of 49 deaths in one month, 21 in the past seven days, in addition to 531 injuries.
“If we made a mistake in finding peace and tranquility, I apologize to the Peruvian people,” said the President, who has not made any public statements since last Monday, assuring that she will not be stepping down from her post.
the Stuardo Ralón, Vice-President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and Rapporteur for Perucited the Andean country’s security forces, which must act within inter-American standards on the use of force, which imply “lawfulness, necessity and proportionality”.
“Regarding the security forces, as they said, it is clear to act according to the inter-American standards of legality, necessity and proportionality,” he said.
“We see a very complicated situation because we are waiting for what may happen in the coming days. Let’s hope there will be no more deaths, the commitment that the state has expressed to us is that it will act within the framework of international standards,” he stressed.
the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs (WOLA), which campaigns for human rights in the region, called on US President Joe Biden to “strongly oppose” the “disproportionate and excessive use of force against protesters and arbitrary arrests in Peru”.
🇵🇪 🇺🇸 Another failure to speak out against human rights abuses committed by Peruvian security forces risks the impression that the US government does not care about the risks that these repressive tactics pose to Peruvian democracy
🔗Explanation: https://t.co/Aay1crB90i pic.twitter.com/4O9Tko0VMt
— WOLA (@WOLA_org) January 13, 2023
“Additionally, the US must condemn the use of stigmatizing language against protesters, which creates an environment for security forces to use deadly force indiscriminately,” WOLA said in a statement posted on its website.
He also called on the Biden administration to “join the demands of the international community for the Boluarte administration to ensure impartial and independent investigations led by civilian institutions and to expressly oppose recourse to military jurisdiction for investigations. Also, you have to offer public support for the important work of the Defensoría of the people,” he continued.
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Evo Morales and the “Red Ponchos,” the far-left group accused of transporting illegal bullets into Peru