Police station and court set on fire during protests in Peru

A police station and a courthouse in southern Peru were set on fire on Saturday during an anti-government protest in which law enforcement officers fired shots into the air and launched tear gas canisters from helicopters, while mobilizations also took place in Lima.

A confrontation in the city of Juli left 16 injured —10 civilians and six soldiers—, according to a report by the Ombudsman.

the nonconformists demand since december the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, as well as all the members of Parliament, which is the most unpopular institution in the country according to all surveys, and the early holding of elections.

One of the wounded civilians had a bullet with entry and exit in his right arm. The rest suffered bruises and tear gas poisoning, according to a statement from the Rafael Ortiz hospital in Juli, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Juli is located in the Puno region, where in January a police response to a demonstration left 18 civilians dead.

TV stations showed videos of army soldiers firing into the air for several minutes after being surrounded by protesters calling on the military to leave the city.

At another point, a police helicopter threw tear gas canisters at the demonstrators. The helicopter attempted to land but was prevented from doing so by protesters.

Later, the Juli police station and court were set on fire, according to videos shown on public television.

At the same time, in the Peruvian capital several peaceful demonstrations were repressed with tear gas and beatings by the police.

The protests in Lima increased their frequency since mid-week in middle-class areas after the conservative mayor of the Lima municipality, Rafael López, prohibited demonstrations in the capital’s historic center in mid-February.

The mobilizations in Peru began on December 7 when Boluarte assumed power after his predecessor Pedro Castillo, of whom he was vice president, was dismissed by Parliament because he tried to dissolve Congress.

The protests expanded to Lima in January with settlers arriving from the Andes, mainly from the south, although the demonstrations have subsided since mid-February.

Boluarte assures that he will not resign until his successor is chosen in early elections and Congress has filed four projects to advance elections, including one from the government. The last two proposals set the call to the polls for October and December but were rejected.

The protests add up to a total of 60 deaths, mostly protesters, according to the Ombudsman’s Office. Of this total, 48 are victims of direct clashes with the security forces.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and instagram the Voice of America.