A protester died on Saturday after clashes with security forces during a protest against President Dina Boluarte in Ilave, southern Peru, the local Ombudsman said.
“One person died in Ilave after the demonstrations on Friday. He is a resident who was injured and was being taken to the hospital in Puno, but he arrived there lifeless,” Ilave Ombudsman Jacinto Ticona told AFP. .
“We urge the police not to use disproportionate force,” he added.
The police response to Friday’s protests in Ilave sparked anger among residents who torched the police station early Saturday morning, television footage showed. Clashes between Aymara residents and the police in this town have also left 10 injured, according to hospital sources.
Another police station in this region of Puno, in Zepita, was also set on fire on Friday, without causing fatalities.
Peru has also decided to close Machu Picchu, an Inca tourist gem and the country’s top attraction, due to the unrest.
“The closure of the Inca Trail Network (land access, Inca Trail) and the Llaqta (Citadel) of Machu Picchu has been ordered due to the social situation and to preserve the integrity of visitors,” said the Ministry of Culture in a statement. Press release. .
46 dead since December 7
Demonstrations demanding the resignation of Dina Boluarte and the suspension of Congress have claimed 46 lives (45 civilians and one police officer) since December 7, after the impeachment and arrest of President Pedro Castillo.
This left-wing leader had been accused of having attempted a coup by wanting to dissolve Congress, controlled by the right, which was about to remove him for alleged corruption. He was replaced by Dina Boluarte, his vice president and a member of the same party as him.
The government extended a 30-day state of emergency in Lima, Cusco, Callao and Puno on Sunday to limit protests, authorizing the army to intervene together with the police to restore public order.
On Thursday, the northern regions of Amazonas and La Libertad and that of Tacna, in the south, were included in the state of emergency, so that about a third of the country is under this regime, until mid-February.
The crisis also reflects the enormous social gap between the capital and the poor provinces that support Pedro Castillo, of indigenous origin, and who saw in his election a form of revenge against the contempt they have for Lima.
Source: BFM TV
