Today, Wednesday, the new government of Peru imposed an emergency in response to the violent protests that occurred after the removal of President Pedro Castillo. The 30-day declaration of a national emergency suspends the rights to “security and personal liberty” throughout the Andean nation.
Defense Minister Alberto Otárola said that the declaration was agreed by the Council of Ministers. He did not mention Peru’s new president, Dina Boluarte, sworn in by Congress hours after lawmakers ousted Castillo.
The declaration suspends assembly rights and freedom of movement. And it empowers the police, supported by the Peruvian army, to search people’s homes without permission or court order. Otarola said he has not determined if a curfew will be imposed.
Boluarte pleaded for calm while the demonstrations against her and the Congress that removed her predecessor, Pero Castillo, continue. “Peru cannot overflow with blood,” she said early today, Wednesday. Responding to demands for immediate elections, she suggested that they could be held a year from now, four months before her earlier proposal, which she appeased no one.
Peru inaugurates government while protests continue in the streets
Boluarte raised the possibility of scheduling general elections for December 2023, just ahead of a hearing to determine whether Castillo will remain jailed for 18 months while authorities prepare a rebellion case against him. A judge postponed the hearing after Castillo refused to participate.
“The only thing I can tell you, sisters and brothers, is to remain calm,” said the president. “We already lived this experience in the 80s and 90s, and I think we don’t want to go back to that painful history.”
The declarations of Castillo’s running mate, installed by Congress barely a week ago to replace him, recalled the years in which Sendero Luminoso carried out numerous attacks with car bombs. The group was blamed for more than half of the nearly 70,000 deaths and disappearances, caused by various rebel groups and a brutal government counterinsurgency response.
Now protesters have blocked streets in the capital and in many rural communities demanding the release of Castillo, the resignation of Boluarte and the immediate scheduling of general elections to elect a new president and replace all members of Congress. At least seven people have died, including a teenager after being injured during protests in Andahuaylas.
Castillo was overthrown by legislators on December 7 when he tried to dissolve congress before his third attempt at impeachment. His vehicle was intercepted when he was traveling through the streets of Lima with his security team. Prosecutors accused him of trying to request political asylum at the Mexican embassy.
In the last week, among other actions, the protesters they burned police stations, They took over an airstrip used by the armed forces and invaded the runway of the Arequipa international airport, the gateway to some of Peru’s tourist attractions.
