LIMA, Peru — The Peruvian government on Saturday released the decree extending the state of emergency by 30 days from Jan. 15 in the regions of Lima, Cusco, Puno, Callao, three other provinces and one district to contain the social protests control which have claimed the lives of 49 people since December.
Through a supreme decree published tonight in the official newspaper El Peruano, the executive branch extended the state of emergency in the areas reporting the largest anti-government protests in the past week, which came into effect on December 15 across the country. National Territory.
The norm stipulates that from this Sunday the regions of Lima, Cusco and Puno, as well as the constitutional province of Callao, will be in a state of emergency.
Also in the province of Andahuaylas in the department of Apurímac, in the provinces of Tambopata and Tahuamanu in the department of Madre de Dios and in the district of Torata in the department of Moquegua.
The measure also includes five national highways, including the Panamericana Sur, Panamericana Norte, Central, the South Apurímac-Cusco-Arequipa Road Corridor and the South Interoceanic Road Corridor.
“During the state of emergency … the constitutional rights relating to the inviolability of the home, freedom of transit through national territory, freedom of assembly and personal liberty and security are suspended,” the decree said.
The norm also stipulates that the National Police of Peru, with the support of the armed forces, maintains internal order.
It states that the intervention of law enforcement officers is carried out in accordance with the regulations in force, which regulate the use of force by the police, and the decrees, which set the rules for the use and use of force by the military.
The document also states that the President of the Republic can declare a state of emergency in the event of “a disturbance of peace or internal order, a catastrophe or a serious circumstance affecting the life of the nation”.
On the other hand, the fourth article of the decree also extends, starting Sunday and for ten days, the compulsory social immobilization between 8:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. that the government decreed this week in the southern Puno region, the epicenters of the protests.
In the city of Juliaca, Puno, the social mobilizations demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the closure of Congress and elections for 2023 saw their deadliest day, killing a total of 17 protesters.
Since protests began last December after former President Pedro Castillo’s failed coup d’état, 49 people have died, 21 of them in the past week.
The norm bears the signatures of President Boluarte, Prime Minister Alberto Otárola and the heads of the Defence, Home Affairs and Justice departments.
“EXCESSES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT”
58% of Peruvians believe there have been “excesses on the part of law enforcement” in the anti-government protests, which have claimed 49 lives since December, and around 70% disapprove of the performance of President Dina Boluarte and Congress leader José Williams, according to an on survey published this Sunday.
The Institute for Peruvian Studies (IEP) poll, reported by La República newspaper, shows that almost six out of ten citizens have perceived police excesses in the December demonstrations, while 26% believe that law enforcement is “adequately managing” social affairs have upheaval.
It also shows that 60% of respondents believe the protests are ‘justified’ compared to 35% who disagree.
According to the macro zone, the justification for the protests is greater in the center (73%), south (69%) and east (70%) of the country, while metropolitan Lima concentrates the highest percentage of citizens claiming that mobilizations ” are not justified”, with 45%.
When asked about the “main actors in the protests”, 44% of respondents named “spontaneous or organized groups of citizens”, 27% named “groups prone to violence or linked to terrorist groups” and 13% named “groups”. related to the “illicit economy” such as drug trafficking and illegal mining.
The city of Juliaca in Peru’s Puno region dressed in mourning in a massive public tribute to the 17 protesters who died on Monday, the bloodiest day since protests erupted last month.
Likewise, 50%, half of the country, feel identified with the current protests, although the majority do not justify attacking public buildings (90%), taking over airports (82%), attacking law enforcement (81%), businesses stop (74%) or closed roads (68%).
On the other hand, the IEP study shows that 71% of Peruvians disapprove of the way Boluarte runs his government and 19% approve of it, a more favorable scenario than that of Congress, whose disapproval is 88% and only 9% approve of it.
For his part, the Speaker of Parliament, retired military man José Williams, has 72% opposed and 16% in favor.
The IEP study, which has an error rate of 2.8%, was conducted between January 7 and 12, when the country experienced its bloodiest day since protests began last December.
This was reported on Monday, January 9, in the town of Juliaca, in the southern department of Puno, where 17 protesters died in clashes with police.
The protests, which have called for Boluarte’s resignation, the closure of Congress and new elections for 2023, add up to 49 people who have died since they began in December after former President Pedro Castillo’s failed coup d’état.