POLITICAL CRISIS Dina Boluarte was Vice President of Peru until her inauguration on December 7 after the impeachment of Pedro Castillo by Parliament
Supporters of former President Pedro Castillo, during a demonstration in Lima on December 10, 2022. — Martin Mejia/AP/SIPA
The political crisis turns tragic in Peru. Two people died and at least five were killed. injured Sunday during growing protests against President Dina Boluarte after the arrest of former President Pedro Castillo.
Sign of rising tension: a session in Congress on the situation in the country was suspended after incidents. Footage posted to social media shows a man punching a man from behind. another in an aisle of the hemicycle then a stampede in the center of it, without it being possible to know the cause. The session was still suspended early Sunday evening.
Dina Boluarte launches a “call for dialogue”
Protests multiplied in across the country. Thousands of people mobilized in the streets of Cajamarca, Arequipa, Tacna, Andahuaylas, Cusco and Puno, demanding the release of the former head of state and new elections.
“We regret the death of two people and several injuries in the clashes. I urge people to keep calm,” Interior Minister César Cervantes RPP radio. “No Peruvian life deserves to be sacrificed for political gain. I reiterate my call for dialogue and the waiver of violence,” the president.
Saturday, clashes at Andahuaylas, Dina Boluarte’s home region, resulted in a toll of 20 wounded (16 civilians and 4 policemen). The violence resumed on Sunday with tear gas fired by police and rocks thrown at protesters.
The opposition is counting on an “indefinite strike”
À Lima, between 1,000 and 2,000 people demonstrated; in front of Congress to the cries of “Castillo you’re not alone, the people support you” and waving signs accusing “Dina (Boluarte) and the Congress” to be “corrupt rats” They have been dispersed with tear gas early Sunday evening. Lima, however, has always turned back to Pedro Castillo, rural teacher and out-of-touch labor leader; elites, while it has been supported by the Andean regions since the 2021 elections.
Agrarian unions and peasant and indigenous social organizations have also called for Sunday at; an “indefinite strike” to Tuesday, rejecting Congress and calling for early elections and a new constitution. According to the Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru, which calls for the “immediate release” of Pedro Castillo, he “didn’t perpetrate of blow of state” when he tried to on December 7 to dissolve Parliament and establish a state of emergency. Accused of “rebellion” arrested a few hours later on his way to Embassy of Mexico to request political asylum.
Dina Boluarte, vice-president until’ his investiture on December 7, formed on Saturday a government with an independent and technical profile, with a former prosecutor, Pedro Angulo, as Prime Minister.