After more than a month of protests against the government of Dina Boluarte In Peru, on Friday there were new clashes between demonstrators and security forces in various parts of the country, which were especially virulent in the capital, Lima.
The new day of protests in the Andean nation resulted in one death and more than 50 injured.
The attack on a mining company caused the temporary closure of its operations, amid a wave of anti-government riots, the most violent in two decades that has put the country’s democracy to the test.
In Lima, police used tear gas to repel hundreds of protesters who were throwing glass bottles and stones as the city’s streets went up in flames, local television footage showed.
And in the southern region of Puno, some 1,500 people attacked a police station while another group burned down the Zepita police station, Interior Minister Vicente Romero said in a press statement.
The Puno Health Office reported the death of a 62-year-old man from “hypovolemic shock”, while seven others are hospitalized, including a man with a “projectile” in the abdomen; the rest have broken arms and legs.
In its latest report on Friday, the Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office reported that some 58 people had been injured throughout the country in the demonstrations.
The protest that began in early December has so far left 46 dead in clashes between protesters and the police; while another nine people died in accidents linked to roadblocks during the protests.
“There is a duly planned and concerted action that obeys political interests, which seeks to blackmail the government in power, with attacks on police stations, state powers, critical assets and private property,” said Romero.
Many of the dissatisfied They came to Lima from remote areaswhere dozens of people have died amid the political turmoil that has gripped large portions of the country since Pedro Castillo, the first ruler to emerge from a rural Andean area, he was fired and jailed last month for having attempted to dissolve Congress.
“Give it up once and for all, Dina! What do you want from our Peru? ”, She said to PA José Luis Ayma Cuentas, 29, who traveled some 20 hours to reach the capital from the southern region of Puno, which has been the scene of the bloodiest state violence in the last month. “We will stay until he resigns, until Congress closes, until there are new elections.”
At least six regions have been declared a state of emergencyalmost all of them from the south of the country, where important mining deposits are located, cutting some civil rights such as the free movement of people.
[Parte de la información para este reporte provino de las agencias Associated Press y Reuters]
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