Teachers affiliated with the Single Union of Education Workers of Peru (Sutep) were involved in a violent confrontation this afternoon with members of the National Police at the precise moment that the Council of Ministers session was taking place at the Government Palace.
The teachers, led by the union’s general secretary Lucio Castrothey reached the Plaza de Armas. There, the leader tried to chain himself to one of the posts, which motivated the immediate reaction of the police officers who, carrying chains and sticks, beat him to the point of making him fall to the ground where they continued to attack him.
Even the protests of some journalists failed to convince the police officers, who even attacked a woman who was part of the group of protesters. After several minutes of confrontation, Castro and other leaders were arrested and taken to the Monserrate police station, from where they were released hours later.
As is known, teachers affiliated with Sutep were on their sixth day of hunger strike today, demanding that the government address a series of demands. Among them, a plan to improve educational infrastructure, the payment of 400 soles per tuition fee for more than 73,000 newly appointed teachers, and compliance with the law that establishes a raise for educational assistants.
After his release, Castro arrived at the union headquarters where he announced the suspension of the strike, which, he said, led to the evacuation of 15 teachers, some of whom were transferred to hospitals over the course of the days with signs of anemia.
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The leader explained that they went to the Plaza de Armas in hopes that the Council of Ministers would address their claims. “In return, the police’s response has been aggression and violence, several leaders have been subjected to mistreatment, but we are going to insist on raising awareness among the president so that she addresses the problem of education,” he indicated.
“I have been hit all over my body, but this situation does not defeat us, we are right, we hope that the law will work; we are teachers, not criminals, and they have to treat us as such,” he said.
He also announced the suspension of the hunger strike to preserve, he said, the health of his colleagues, and added that they will wait until the draft law of the general budget of the Republic for 2025 is known.
“If our demands are not met in this project, the teachers will have only one response: a national strike,” he stressed.
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