Peru’s President Dina Boluarte, along with several senior officials, faces an investigation into the crackdown on anti-government protests that have killed 40 people since December in the Andean country.
State Prosecutor Patricia Benavides “decided to open a preliminary investigation against President Dina Boluarte, President of the Council of Ministers Alberto Otárola, Interior Minister Victor Rojas, Defense Minister Jorge Chávez “, announced Tuesday the prosecution on Twitter.
This investigation concerns acts of “genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries committed during the demonstrations of December 2022 and January 2023 in the regions of Apurímac, La Libertad, Puno, Junín, Arequipa and Ayacucho”, he said. added.
The investigation also targets former Prime Minister Pedro Angulo and former Interior Minister César Cervantes, who were part of Dina Boluarte’s government from December 7 to 21. A total of 22 people died in protests during those two weeks.
At least 40 people have died and more than 600 have been injured in protests following the December 7 impeachment and arrest of Socialist President Pedro Castillo, accused of a coup attempt for attempting to dissolve parliament, which was about to oust him from power.
The United States on Wednesday called for “restraint” and “minimal” use of force against protesters in Peru, and said it supports an investigation into the crackdown that left dozens dead .
“We recognize everyone’s right to peaceful protest and air their grievances through democratic channels, and call for calm, dialogue and for all parties to show restraint and non-violence,” said one. spokesperson for the US State Department.
“We encourage the government to use minimal force as it strives to protect citizens, private property, freedom of movement of people and goods,” he added.
Unlimited Strike
The demonstrators demand, among other things, the departure of Mme Boluarte, who succeeded Mr. Castillo, and the immediate holding of early elections, already brought forward from 2026 to April 2024.
Although from the same Marxist-inspired party (Perú Libre) as Mr. Castillo, Dina Boluarte is considered a “traitor” by the protesters.
The epicenter of the protest is the Aymara (indigenous people) region of Puno, located on the border with Bolivia and on the shores of Lake Titicaca, where an indefinite strike has been in effect since January 4 and where serious clashes, looting and looting.
The authorities decreed a three-day curfew in this region on Tuesday, after the death of 18 people in demonstrations since Monday.
In Juliaca, 1300 km south of Lima, dozens of families of victims dressed in black lined up at the morgue to receive the body of a loved one, after deadly clashes near the airport of this city of the Puno region. “My brother died because he was shot, he was killed by the police,” a man told La Decana radio.
In the midst of a political and institutional crisis, the Peruvian government obtained the confidence of Parliament on Tuesday evening with 73 votes for, 43 votes against and 6 abstentions. He should have resigned if he had lost this vote, imposed by the Constitution.
Peru is due to receive a mission from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Wednesday, dispatched to the country to investigate the protests and the response of law enforcement.
Protests continued on Tuesday with road blockades in six regions of the country. In the region of Ayacucho, in the southern Andes, thousands of people marched through the streets of the town of Huamanga.
In a statement on Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Office said it was “very concerned about the escalation of violence in Peru”. He called on “protesters to show restraint” and the police to “ensure that force is only used when strictly necessary”.
“We are in the hands of barbarism”, denounced the cardinal and archbishop of Huancayo, Pedro Barreto, on RPP radio, while the people’s ombudsman, Eliana Revollar, considered that “the violence is really reaching unsuspected levels “.