(CNN Spanish) — At least two people have died and three more have ended up hospitalized during the demonstrations that take place in the department of Apurímac, the Peruvian Ministry of Health reported on Twitter this Sunday.
In that region, specifically in the city of Andahuaylas, at least one person died and a policeman was injured following clashes between protesters and police at the Huancabamba airport, as reported earlier by the Peruvian National Police in a statement.
According to the entity, the altercation occurred when “residents of the area” attacked the facilities.
The Police added that the officer was injured with “blunt objects” and limited himself to saying that “he has been receiving the necessary care.”
Regarding the deceased person, he only said that the Public Ministry is investigating the incident.
“The life of no Peruvian deserves to be sacrificed for political interests,” said the president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, expressing her condolences with a message posted on his Twitter account.
Hours earlier, the authorities had reported that at least 50 people, including police officers and workers at the Andahuaylas airport, in southern Peru, were being held “hostage” following a series of attacks and “acts of vandalism.” that had been registered once morest the air terminal since Saturday, the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation, SA, Corpac, indicated in a statement.
According to the Corpac statement, the incidents have “seriously affected the landing strip and equipment that is essential to provide air navigation services.” Corpac, a company attached to the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Peru, added that “they have also set fire to the transmission room, fuel room, encircling the terminal with acts of violence, where 50 members of the Peruvian National Police and collaborators of our company”.
People take part in a demonstration demanding the closure of Congress in Lima, on December 10, 2022. Credit: ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP via Getty Images
Corpac asked for support and reinforcements from the Police to “safeguard the lives of the people who are being held hostage,” although he did not provide more information regarding their condition.
The statement from the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation does not detail the reason for the attacks once morest the Andahuaylas airport, in the department of Apurímac, and limited itself to calling for the “calm and reasonableness of the population that comes attacking –he says– our terminal for no reason”.
Local media, such as RPP, reported that the incidents at the airport began when protesters tried to prevent police officers, who arrived from Lima, from traveling as reinforcements to the city of Andahuaylas, where this Saturday at least 20 people were injured. , including four police officers, in clashes between law enforcement and groups of protesters.
In its statement this Sunday, the National Police said that it has sent reinforcements to the area to “guarantee public order and social tranquility.”
CNN is trying to get more details from the Peruvian National Police, the Public Ministry and Corpac.
Andahuaylas is one of the regions that has seen demonstrations this week prompted, among other things, by support for the former president of Peru Pedro Castillo, who was vacated by Congress this week and later arrested. According to local media, other of the protesters’ slogans are the call for general elections, the closing of Congress and the call for the creation of a constituent assembly.
This Sunday, the Police indicated in its statement that it “guarantees the right to peaceful protests, categorically rejects violence in any of its forms and urges the population to remain calm.”
