Roadblocks continued on Sunday in Peru and new mass demonstrations were organized, the day after the extension of the state of emergency in several regions of the country plagued by a protest movement by President Dina Boluarte.
This measure, decreed on Saturday and in force for 30 days, authorizes the army to intervene to maintain order and leads to the suspension of several constitutional rights such as freedom of movement and assembly and the inviolability of the home.
Clashes between police and demonstrators have killed at least 42 people in five weeks.
In addition to Lima, the departments of Cusco and Puno (south) are notably subject to a state of emergency, as is the port of Callao, next to the capital.
A state of emergency was declared in mid-December across the country, for 30 days.
On Sunday, more than a hundred roadblocks continued to block traffic in 11 of the 25 regions of Peru, particularly in the south, the epicenter of the protest.
Among these regions are Puno, Arequipa and Cusco, said the authority in charge of land transport, adding that there had never been so many roadblocks during the current crisis.
In Arequipa, dozens of people blocked the Panamericana Sur highway which serves the Tacna region, on the border with Chile.
The authorities, however, reopened the international airport of Cusco, of vital importance for the Peruvian tourist sector, on Saturday, after having closed it on Thursday.
On the other hand, trains to Machu Picchu, the only way to access the famous site, were still suspended, and local unions say the tourism sector is losing up to seven million soles (about 1.7 million euros). euros) per day due to the crisis.
The protests erupted after the dismissal and arrest on December 7 of socialist President Pedro Castillo, accused of having tried to carry out a coup d’etat by wanting to dissolve the Parliament which was preparing to oust him from power.
Mme Boluarte, who was Mr. Castillo’s vice-president, succeeded him in accordance with the Constitution. She comes from the same left-wing party as him. But the demonstrators, who see her as a “traitor”, demand her departure as well as immediate elections. For now, M.me Boluarte refuses to resign.
Mass for the dead
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which completed an inspection mission in Peru on Friday, called for an impartial investigation into the crackdown on the protests, saying there were signs pointing to “excessive use of force”. .
Dozens of people participated in a mass in the cathedral in central Lima on Sunday in memory of the protesters killed but also of the policeman who was burned alive in the town of Juliaca, on the Bolivian border.
Many were dressed in white T-shirts symbolizing peace and carrying pictures of the dead.
The Archbishop of Lima, Carlos Castillo, led the mass in Spanish and Quechua. The violence is concentrated in the southern Andes, where the Quechuas and Aymaras live. The CDIH advocated for better integration of these communities into Peruvian society to end the unrest.
Deputy Minister of Territorial Governance, Jose Muro, told TV Peru on Sunday that the government would establish “spaces for dialogue” throughout the territory to discuss various social demands.
“Tell our brothers that this week we intend to establish spaces for dialogue to respond to these requests,” he assured.
Take “control” of Lima
Massive protests are set for Monday in the marginalized regions of the southern Andes and in Lima, where groups of protesters began arriving on Saturday evening to take “control of the city”.
“We made the decision to go to Lima” from Monday, announced Julio Vilca, a leader of the protest from the province of Ilave, in the region of Puno, in the south of the country.
The government blames the unrest on “professional agitators funded by illegal money”.
Police announced the arrest of a trade union leader from the Ayacucho region, Rocio Leandro, accused of financing the protests and recruiting protesters. According to a police spokesman, General Oscar Arriola, Ms Leandro belonged, under the nom de guerre of “Comrade Cusi”, to the defunct Maoist armed group Shining Path.
Dina Boluarte is the sixth person to occupy the Peruvian presidency in five years, in a country which is experiencing a permanent political crisis punctuated by suspicions of corruption.