January 9, 2023, 10:40 PM
January 9, 2023, 10:40 PM
At least 12 people died this Monday in southern Peru during clashes between the police and protesters who demanded the calling of new elections and the release of the ousted ex-president Pedro Castillo.
The deaths occurred near the airport in the city of Juliaca, located in the department of Puno.
Initially, the Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office reported 9 deaths, a figure that was later increased to 12 by local health services.
with these deaths increased to 34 the number of deaths during the protests unleashed in Peru since the impeachment and detention of castle, who is currently in prison under a preventive detention order for 18 months while facing trial for the crime of rebellion.
Castillo was removed by the Peruvian Congress on December 7 through a presidential vacancy motion for “moral incapacity.”
Hours before his dismissal, the president had decreed the dissolution of Congress and the installation of an emergency government that, as he announced in a televised address, would govern by decree.
“Proportional use of force”
“We ask law enforcement to make a legal, necessary and proportional use of force and we urge @FiscaliaPeru to carry out a speedy investigation to clarify the facts,” the ombudsman wrote in a Twitter message on Monday, after reporting on the 9 deaths during the protests.
Subsequently, the San Román Health Network, an entity belonging to the Puno Health Department, released a statement in which brought the death toll to 12 occurred this Monday during the protests and counted about 38 injured.
Castillo’s removal sparked a wave of protests that subsided during the festive weeks of December but resumed after the new year.
Among their demands, the protesters also demand the resignation of the new president, Dina Boluarte, the closure of Congress and changes to the Constitution.
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