- Guillermo D. Olmo BBCgolmo
- BBC News World correspondent in Peru
Three hours
Image copyrightSebastian Castaneda
caption,
Some of Lima’s main streets seemed deserted.
“I’m open, but people can’t come in,” complains the clerk at a grocery store on Angamos Avenue in Lima.
He is among the many Lima residents who did not learn in time that President Pedro Castillo had declared a state of emergency until midnight in Lima and Callao provinces on Tuesday to halt protests and incidents that saw the traffic strike begin last week in Peru .
As a result, Lima, a regularly congested metropolitan area of more than 9.6 million people, was a semi-paralyzed city on Tuesday.
At the beginning of the day, many were not even aware of the “social lockdown” announced by Castillo at midnight the day before. “When I opened the store, I didn’t even know there was an emergency,” says the store owner, who handled the event with no issues other than the lack of audience.
The schools, which because of the pandemic were gaining momentum with face-to-face teaching after months of distance learning, suddenly had to suspend it. The families found that there was no school when they were already preparing the children to go to school.
In a message shared on social media, a father expressed outrage when he confirmed the school walk would not pick up his son this morning: “When you thought he couldn’t tarnish him anymore, the government does… Locked up by force. “
With no public transport, and few taxis in circulation, many had no means of getting to their jobs. Neither should workers in essential services, who should be exempted from mandatory social immobilization by the Castillo Decree.
Rosa, who declined to give her last name, had to pay a steep price for a taxi to get to the gas station where she works in the Miraflores neighborhood, usually a hive of restaurants and bars that are all closed this Tuesday. “The taxi driver warned me that if he finds a roadblock he will drop me off where I am.”
In the end he made it, but now he doesn’t know how to get back to his home in the populous neighborhood of San Juan de Lurigancho. “The company will have to offer us a solution,” he confided.
Image copyrightPaolo Aguilar
caption,
Many had difficulty finding their way.
Line 1 of the Lima metro, which was operational earlier in the day and had become the only way for some, was closed early in the morning after receiving a notification from the Department of Transportation.
The Santa Anita market, the city’s main supply point, opened its doors, but traders also found themselves there with the problem of the lack of visitors.
Many have had to lower the prices of their perishable products in order to sell them for fear of their deterioration.
The kilo of lemons ended up selling for 2.50 soles when it normally costs 3.
Almost everywhere, the conversation revolved around the damage the state of emergency is bringing, especially for the many Peruvians who work in the informal economy.
Image copyrightSebastian Castaneda.
caption,
Military troops are stationed in some places in Lima.
Venezuelan teenager Jesús Freitez stood at an exit off the Vía Expresa, which is normally congested but almost deserted this Tuesday, and lamented his fate. He lives on what car drivers give him to clean the windows, but hardly anyone comes by these days. “I didn’t even know we were in a state of emergency and the police were throwing us out wherever we tried to place ourselves.”
Military and police forces were deployed in Manchay and other parts of Lima province to maintain order.
That wasn’t enough to clear the South Pan American highway, where motorists and transport companies were still stranded by the protests near Ica, according to images from Latina TV.
Locals had organized to sell food and water to drivers trapped in the blockade. Some killed time playing soccer on the asphalt.
Image copyrightReuters
caption,
Castillo announced the exceptional measure at midnight.
Castillo’s state of emergency had not helped lift the blockades in that and other parts of the country.
In Lima, they are wondering how long the situation will last.
Residents in the La Molina and San Borja areas began protest marches, openly defying the ban on leaving their homes. Fifty of them marched to the call for “freedom” without being stopped by the security forces.
Now you can receive notifications from BBC World. Download and activate the new version of our app so you don’t miss our best content.