January 4, 2023, 4:00 AM
January 4, 2023, 4:00 AM
The smell of burning, tires, broken glass, gas casings, rubble and other materials that serve as a barricade, They show the scene of terror that has been lived for a week in the surroundings of the emblematic monument to Christ the Redeemer, epicenter of the protests to demand the release of Governor Luis Fernando Camacho.
Like it’s a war zone soot has covered the streets and all environments in the area, while in the Public Ministry there are still some charred vehicles.
The damage to ornamentation and public lighting are also evident, so much so that not even the monument that embraces the civic struggles of the region is spared from damage because its base is stained by soot.
Yesterday’s rain washed a little of the soot from the tires that were burned in the last week and the footsteps of the people scattered the black passage that is being written in history with numerous detainees and injuries that leave Santa Cruz families anguished. In the surrounding streets, the remains of barbed wire, tires, bags, sheet metal and other elements used as barricades also dawn. during the clashes, between protesting citizens and the Police who end up repressing them. Vinegar containers accumulate in the streets, because it is one of the main antidotes used to withstand tear gas.
The violence did not even respect the temple of La Santa Cruz, where a group of young people sought refuge, but the uniformed officers did not stop and went in to look for them. They also invaded the home and school of the Church’s Missionary Crusades sisters.
Father Raúl Arrázola recounts that on the night of the first day of the year, a group of young people entered the temple from all sides to take refuge, because they were being persecuted by the Police with tear gas.
The parish priest recalls that temples are places of refuge, but “the Police did not respect that.” It was a group of about 80 young people who arrived at the temple and there were people who had to make tourniquets because they suffered injuries with the iron bars of the gate.
He comments that once the gases calmed down, the Police launched the drones to discover where the protesters had hidden.
Monday night until the roof of the María Goretti high school became a battlefield and the sisters, who are all older, did not know what to do.
The neighbors who live in the surroundings assure that during the nights they cannot sleep due to the explosions of the gases and firecrackers that are heard until hours of the morning. They question the way in which the Police attack young people who gather to protest in the Cristo and many are forced to open their doors to give them refuge and others try to record the attacks from their balconies and terraces with cell phones.
Yesterday, several neighbors were washing their sidewalks to remove the black from the soot and some businesses placed calamine protectors to prevent damage, like those suffered by an automobile dealership, which was left with broken glass and damage inside.
People assure that they live in shocks, to the extent that they avoid identifying themselves when approached by the press. A neighbor says that what is lived in the area occurs because there are intentions to subdue and destroy Santa Cruz. “They don’t respect anything, they release gases even in homes without measuring the consequences, we have a sick person who has recently undergone surgery and we suffer every night from stress,” says the woman who, with the help of a broom and hose, washes your sidewalk.
Fortunately, the house has air conditioning, but it takes away their peace of mind to see from the windows how the young people run in terror to seek refuge when they are chased by police on motorcycles and trucks.
“To the boys they have gassed them even in the church The Holy Cross, which is a sacred place”, he protests.
ensures that one of the most tense nights was lived on Monday, when the Police surprised people who were keeping a vigil in front of the Police Command. “Some 30 trucks came out and chased the people who were protesting peacefully,” the woman said.
A doctor who lives in a condominium near the Police Command told that in the early morning of January 1 he had to help a young man who was drowning in gases. many de those who live in their condominium prefer not to participate in the mobilizations, but that does not mean that they are on the margins of the Cruceña demand, nor that they have to help those who take to the streets to protest.
The neighbors They also report damage to public lighting and they ask that those who cause blackouts in the surroundings of the Christ and in the center be identified.
