Peru | Two dead in protests against new president

(Lima) Protests multiplied in Peru on Sunday, with demonstrations demanding the release of the former head of state and new elections, and a call for a national strike against the new president, Dina Boluarte. The authorities drew up a provisional toll of two dead and five injured in the early evening of Sunday.

These mobilizations, which took place in several cities in the north and south of the Andes for the fourth consecutive day, demand the resignation of M^me Boluarte and new elections after the failed coup and the arrest of former President Pedro Castillo, as well as his release.

Thousands of people mobilized in the streets of Cajamarca, Arequipa, Tacna, Andahuaylas, Cusco and Puno, according to images broadcast by local television channels.

In Andahuaylas, where the demonstrations resulted in a death toll of 20 injured (16 civilians and 4 police officers) on Saturday, violent clashes between demonstrators and police resumed.

Agrarian unions and peasant and indigenous social organizations called Sunday for an “indefinite strike” starting Tuesday, rejecting Congress and demanding early elections and a new constitution, according to a statement from the Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru.

The collective, which also calls for the “immediate release” of Mr. Castillo, believes that he “did not perpetrate a coup” when he tried to dissolve Parliament and establish a state of emergency.

In Lima, the left-wing Peru Libre party called for a protest on Sunday afternoon from historic San Martin Square, the epicenter of political protests in Peru.

Lima has always turned its back on Castillo, a rural teacher and union leader disconnected from the elites, while he was supported by the Andean regions since the 2021 elections.

For its part, the Congress, dominated by the right, announced that it would meet on Sunday afternoon to analyze the situation.

Castillo was arrested by his own bodyguard on his way to the Mexican Embassy to seek political asylum. He is accused of “rebellion”.

jail letter

M^me Boluarte, vice-president until her inauguration on Wednesday after the dismissal of Pedro Castillo, formed a government on Saturday with an independent and technical profile, with a former prosecutor, Pedro Angulo, as prime minister.

“So far, the president has not been clear on the big question: is it a transitional government or a government that intends to stay until 2026? said political analyst Giovanna Peñaflor.

“She should be clear that her role is to allow new general elections. This is the path that augurs a certain stability that will allow this government not to end up like the previous ones,” she added.

The demand for new elections is associated with a massive rejection of Congress: according to November polls, 86% of Peruvians disapprove of Parliament.

Friday, M.^me Boluarte had not ruled out calling early elections in order to find a peaceful way out of the political crisis. She urged people to remain calm.

At the same time, the theory, put forward by the former chief of staff and Mr. Castillo’s lawyer that the former president was drugged without his knowledge during his failed coup attempt, is exciting the country.

In a letter that Mr. Castillo allegedly wrote in prison, he claims that a “camouflaged” doctor and nurses and a “faceless” (hooded) prosecutor “forced” him to take blood samples without his consent Friday and Saturday.

According to Mr. Castillo, he refused to cooperate because he feared for his safety and indicated that the toxicology test was part of a “machiavellian plan” of the presidency, the prosecutor and Congress.

The president of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Francisco Brizuela, confirmed that the ex-president “refused to submit to a blood test and a urine sample, so the test [visant à déterminer s’il a été drogué] could not be performed”. He added that Mr Castillo had refused “a psychological and psychiatric test”.