The Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (Corpac) announced this Sunday the closure of the airport in the southern Andean city of Andahuaylas, in the Peruvian region of Apurímac, due to the disorders and fire in part of its facilities by demonstrators protesting against the new president, Dina Boluarte, and ask for the advancement of general elections.
Through a statement shared by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Corpac explained that the terminal “has been suffering attacks and acts of vandalism” since Saturday afternoon, which have affected the runway and essential equipment to provide the air navigation service.
Likewise, “they have set fire to the transmitter room, the fuel room” and have surrounded the terminal, where 50 members of the National Police and Corpac workers are located, added the official source.
In this sense, the state company requested the reinforcement of the National Police in the place to safeguard the lives of the people who are “hostages.”
The company called for calm and good sense to the population involved in the attacks on the terminal because this fact, it indicated, delays the economic development of the region and truncates the transfer, by air, in the event of a health emergency.
Protest mobilizations broke out, in isolation, in Andahuaylas and other cities in the country on the same day that former President Pedro Castillo was removed from office by Congress, after ordering the dissolution of Parliament and the establishment of an emergency government.
On Saturday, protesters took two police officers hostage in a square in Andahuaylas in the middle of a day of marches, which led to clashes with the National Police that left around twenty injured.
The Ombudsman’s Office reported on Saturday that it was coordinating the medical care of all the injured, after having reported at least 20 injuries, including civilians and police officers.
According to the images shared by local media, a policeman was tied up near the Andahuaylas square and was prevented from leaving the place, hours after the protesters confronted the police in the streets of that city, located in the native region of Boluarte.
Precisely, the head of state spoke this Saturday about the demonstrations in different parts of the territory, after being informed of at least seven detainees and eight injured in the mobilizations.
Through his Twitter account, Boluarte declared that respect, dialogue and tolerance are essential in a democracy.
The Head of State made “a call for calm and serenity” and stressed that “dialogue and understanding is imperative.”
Demonstrations have also taken place in the center of Lima, a short distance from the Government Palace, where the protesters clashed with the National Police on Friday and the agents dispersed them with tear gas canisters.
