The standoff continues Saturday in Peru where President Dina Boluarte has ruled out resigning as demanded by protesters after demonstrations that have killed at least 42 people in five weeks in the Andean country.
“Some voices from supporters of violence and radicals demand my resignation, inciting the population to chaos, disorder and destruction. To them, I say to them in a responsible way: “I am not going to resign, my commitment is with Peru”, affirmed Ms. Boluarte in a message to the nation broadcast on Friday by state television.
Three members of Mrs. Boluarte’s government resigned in two days: the Minister of Labor, Eduardo Garcia, in disagreement with the management of the demonstrations by the government, that of the Interior, Victor Rojas, and the Minister of Women and Populations vulnerable, Grecia Rojas. Their successors were sworn in on Friday.
Since the start of the crisis, clashes between demonstrators and the police have left at least 42 dead, including a policeman burned alive by the crowd, according to the Defender of the People (ombudsman).
The protests also injured at least 531 people, including 176 police officers, and 329 people were arrested, according to the prosecution.
In Juliaca, a city in the south of the country where clashes left 19 dead earlier this week, the funerals of the victims follow one another.
“My daughter earned her living while pursuing her studies. We went shopping. We were two blocks away from the protests and this is what happens, we came home without her, ”laments Demetrio Aroquipa, whose daughter, a 17-year-old psychology student, was shot and killed.
” I ask forgiveness “
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.
Ms. Boluarte, who was Mr. Castillo’s vice-president, succeeded him in accordance with the Constitution and is 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.
“I cannot stop repeating my condolences for the deaths of Peruvians in the protest actions. I apologize for this situation,” Ms. Boluarte said in her message to the nation.
But she refused to convene a constituent assembly, as the demonstrators are also demanding. “We can’t do this overnight,” she pleaded.
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”. .
The Peruvian prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for “genocide” against Ms. Boluarte and several other senior officials.
Demonstrations and blockades continued on Friday in several regions of Peru, notably in the capital, Lima.
New marches also took place in Tacna, 1,220 km southeast of Lima, near Chile. In a statement, Chilean authorities said Thursday they had temporarily closed the border “due to protests near the Peruvian border complex of Santa Rosa”.
Arequipa, the second city of the country, was for its part completely stopped. Roadblocks cut it off from the neighboring regions of Cusco and Puno.
Regional governors and several professional associations in Peru have joined the call for the resignation of President Boluarte.
42 dead
“How many additional deaths will keeping Dina Boluarte in the presidency cost? All Peruvians, left or right, should ask themselves this question. No function can be above human life,” the governor of Puno (south), Richard Hancco, told reporters.
The authorities of the Andean regions of Apurimac and Cusco, as well as 12 departmental bars and the National College of Teachers expressed themselves in the same direction.
The northern regions of the country, the heart of the Peruvian economy where most industries are located, have so far been spared the protests.
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.