2023-07-19 02:12:33
LIMA (AP) — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte issued a statement of rejection on Tuesday as a prelude to the protests that will demand her resignation and that of Congress on Wednesday in a march called in the capital and in which forecasts suggest that There is a massive turnout.
Without specifying any possible consequences, the president declared in a warning tone that violent demonstrations will not be allowed since they pose “a threat to democracy.”
His government officials had already instructed in previous days regarding the legitimate use of force that the police will make if necessary and the possible responsibility that they will attribute to the organizers of the protest in case of destruction.
Boluarte, who came to power in December 2022 following the removal by Congress of then-President Pedro Castillo, said Tuesday that his government “still” has “a long way to go” as a way of reaffirming his decision to govern. until 2026.
Castillo’s maneuver of trying to dissolve Congress to avoid a vote once morest him led to an outbreak of protests that lasted from December to February, mainly in the south but also reached the Peruvian capital, and left 67 dead and 1,900 injured. . Castillo is in pretrial detention on charges of alleged rebellion.
At least 30 of the 47 civilians who died directly in a clash with the police during the days of mobilizations at the beginning of the year died from bullet wounds, according to the autopsies.
“We do not understand why they are once once more waving their war flags and announcing that they are going to Lima… wanting to take over the entire country from the center,” Boluarte said at a press conference surrounded by his ministers. “This is a threat to democracy, to the rule of law, to institutionality and we as a democratic government are not going to allow or accept it,” he warned.
Although the government sent proposals to advance elections, taking into account the virulence of the demonstrations, all the initiatives -including that of the ruling party- were archived by the Legislature.
The march on Wednesday once more demands the departure of members of the government and legislators. Various unions, student federations and neighborhood organizations, especially in the south of the country, called for protests in at least two dozen cities, including Lima.
Boluarte commented that the protests from December to February, which he described as violent, generated chaos with a “political demand” that contained five points and, among them, were the closure of congress, the advancement of the presidential elections, the call to a constituent assembly, the promulgation of a new constitution and the freedom of his imprisoned predecessor Pedro Castillo.
Although the president did not mention any provision for law enforcement in case there are incidents during the new social call, her prime minister, Alberto Otárola, did say on Friday that the police will legitimately use force to guarantee public order.
In addition, on Monday the Minister of the Interior, Vicente Romero, warned that the soldiers might use their firearms in case their lives were in danger, that they have identified the leaders of the protest and that they will be held responsible if they “set the prairie on fire once more , to burn public and private entities.” On Tuesday, the minister added that they will not allow protesters to enter the airports.
The police also intensified the review of identity documents of travelers arriving in Lima. On Friday, more than a thousand agents marched through the streets of the capital next to anti-demonstration cars while they were observed by passers-by. International human rights organizations considered on Tuesday the police action as an “intimidating effect on those who planned to participate in the protests.”
Non-governmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs (WOLA), the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and the Due Process Foundation (DPLF) jointly demanded on Tuesday Boluarte to respect the right to protest and asked him to send a clear message to security forces that excessive use of force once morest protesters will not be tolerated.
The UN and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed their concern regarding the excessive use of force by the security forces between December and January.
Boluarte is being investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office for genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries in relation to the demonstrations at the beginning of the year due to the dead protesters.
The president this time asked Peruvians “not to be surprised and deceived because those who have their political agenda.” She did not allude to anyone in particular but attributed that there are those who seek to create chaos and sell “an inappropriate image of the country abroad”, as well as “prevent investments from coming to the country”.
According to the government, previous anti-government demonstrations generated losses of around $1.1 billion, three times the losses caused by tropical cyclone Yaku, which in March brought heavy rains to Peru’s northern Pacific coast.
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