Peruvian President Dina Boluarte asked Parliament on Friday to approve an advance of the general elections for December 2023 to appease the protests that have left almost 60 dead.
Boluarte had initially proposed that the elections be held in April 2024 in a project that Congress approved in a first vote but that needs a second approval. Boluarte acknowledged that the advance for 2023 has no conditions on his part and “it will get us out of the quagmire.”
“The protest marches continue, there are more blockades and violence,” added Boluarte. “I am here because I assumed a responsibility and I will be here until Congress sets a date. For this reason I ask: agree, say the elections on such a day and that moment we will be calling elections, ”he specified.
the protests have multiplied in Peru since Boluarte assumed the presidency on December 7 after Parliament dismissed the then president Pedro Castillo, who had earlier tried to dissolve Congress.
Demonstrations demanding the resignation of Boluarte and members of Congress have so far left 57 dead, one of whom was a policeman He was found dead in a burned-out patrol car.
The protests, which began in the interior of the country, They moved last week to Lima where the day before a group of more than a thousand protesters marched for the first time along the main avenue that connects the northern part of the capital with the historic center.
According to the report of the Ombudsman’s Office, protesters clashed with the police in the Amazonian region of Madre de Dios where they stoned the regional government building as well as a municipal police station. There were also blockades at 89 points and mobilizations in 17 areas of the country, almost all in the south.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and instagram.
