The state of emergency has been declared throughout Peru, announced the power, which wants an “authoritative” response to the violence which has already left seven dead and more than 200 injured. At the same time, Lima proposes to bring forward the general elections once once more.
On the judicial level, the deposed president Pedro Castillo, who hoped to be released from prison on Wednesday, remains incarcerated.
“The state of emergency has been declared throughout the country for thirty days (…). We need a forceful response with authority” in the face of the violence, Defense Minister Alberto Otarola said on Wednesday, stressing that the measure includes “suspension of freedom of movement and assembly” with “possibility of curfew”.
“The police with the support of the armed forces will have control of the whole territory”, he specified, the state of emergency allowing in particular the army to intervene in the maintenance of order. The government had already declared a state of emergency on Monday in several provinces, then extended it on Tuesday.
Concessions
Overwhelmed by the demonstrations which continue, the power tries to get out of the crisis blowing hot and cold.
At the same time, President Dina Boluarte – who was Castillo’s vice-president until her failed attempt to dissolve parliament – announced that she wanted to advance the electoral calendar once more.
She said the government, parliament and the electoral body were making “adjustments” to “bring the elections forward to December 2023”, adding that “before that date, it doesn’t work legally. We have to stay within the legal framework”.
Ms. Boluarte, who crystallizes part of the discontent in her person, had already pledged on Sunday to advance them from 2026 to April 2024, without stopping the protests. She is herself affected by the measure: her mandate theoretically runs until 2026, Mr. Castillo having elected in 2021 for five years.
In addition to the release of Mr. Castillo, the demonstrations which continued on Wednesday demand the resignation of the president – from the same radical left party as him – and the dissolution of Parliament.
Extended events
The mobilization remained strong on Wednesday with many roads blocked, according to local television images. The police had counted rallies in 14 of the 24 regions of the country on Tuesday evening. The southern part of the country and the northern part remain the areas most affected by the protests.
The train linking Cuzco and the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, Peru’s tourist gem, has been suspended since Tuesday due to the situation, operator Peru Rail announced.
Many tourists are stranded on the site, according to the mayor of Machu Picchu, Darwin Baca, who is asking for assistance to evacuate them.
Juliaca airport (south) was closed on Wednesday “as a precaution”.
In Lima, like the last few days, scuffles took place Tuesday evening between police and demonstrators near Parliament.
– Legal battle –
The former president will remain in prison in his barracks located east of the capital. Judge Juan Checkley, who was to rule on Wednesday on a request for 18-month preventive detention filed by the prosecution overnight, granted a deadline to the defense, which assured that it did not have all the necessary documents. But he kept the president in custody for another 48 hours.
The Supreme Court had ordered on December 7 the provisional detention of Mr. Castillo for seven days. It was supposed to go out on Wednesday at 1:42 p.m. local time (early evening in Switzerland).
The ex-president, who had sworn “I will never give up” the day before during a previous hearing, had called on his supporters to welcome him on his release from prison.
Determination
“Enough! The outrage, humiliation and ill-treatment continue. Today, they are once more depriving me of my freedom for 18 months. I ask the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) to intercede for my rights and those of my Peruvian brothers and sisters who seek justice,” he wrote on his official Twitter account.
“I hold you, judges and prosecutors, responsible for what is happening in the country. ‘Only the people save the people’,” he concluded.
In front of the barracks where he is being held in Até, a hundred people were chanting slogans in his favour.
“We will stay here until our president comes out and returns to his presidential chair at the Palace,” promises Roxana Figueroa, 59, a social worker.
On December 7, Mr. Castillo, 53, ordered the dissolution of Parliament, which shortly following voted by a large majority for his dismissal for “moral incapacity”. He had tried to find refuge in the Mexican Embassy before being arrested.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp
