Anti-government protests continue in Peru. 300 people were arrested in the invasion of the Arequipa airport. The figures advanced by the police and the government still indicate one death.
Some 300 people were detained by police officers after they invaded the Arequipa airport, in Peru’s second largest city, an action that left one dead and 38 injured and in the context of anti-government demonstrations.
The numbers are those advanced by the police and the government of Peru, after another day of riots in various regions of the country, with protesters demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, who took office after the removal of former President Pedro Castillo.
Peru: President accuses protesters of wanting to “break the rule of law”
This Friday, the Peruvian Minister of Interior Administration, Vicente Romero, announced the death of a civilian when, this Thursday, a group of protesters tried to invade the Alfredo Rodríguez airport, in Arequipa, in southern Peru. According to Romero, the fatality was identified as Carlos Condori Arcana, 30, who was shot in the abdomen.
Protests continue as Peru gathers this Friday for a one-day general strike against the current Peruvian government and congress.especially in the main cities of the country, such as Lima, La Libertad, Puno, Cuzco, Iça, Arequipa and Lambayeque, according to the local newspaper La República.
Among the injured, 22 are members of the Peruvian National Police, while the remaining 16 are civilians who participated in the protests.
Romero noted that although the demonstrations began peacefully, they were “evolving violently with physical and verbal attacks against the police, which led to the use of force”. In addition, he estimated that there is material damage at the airports of Cuzco, Puno and Arequipa.
Protesters stormed the Arequipa airport after tearing down the perimeter metal fences of the air terminal, and the police responded with tear gas.
Previously, the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Peru had announced the closure of the airport “to prevent the integrity of citizens and the safety of aeronautical operations.”
So far, at least 54 people, including a police officer, have been killed during the protests, which began in December. and that he took a break at Christmas to resume in the first days of January.
The demonstrators, coming from the poorest areas of the country, demand the resignation of Boluarte, the dissolution of congress and the immediate calling of elections for a constituent assembly.
They also want the punishment of the police and military involved in the bloody repression of the protests and the release of former President Pedro Castillo, accused of promoting a constitutional “coup” and in pretrial detention.
On Tuesday, Boluarte – who replaced then-president Pedro Castillo at the beginning of December – declared that the roads occupied by the protesters would be unblocked by the police and military forces, and said he hoped that in the Lima protests, social demands would be expressed, but not politically, in reference to the various slogans that were echoed in the protests and that included his immediate resignation.
Source: Observadora
