(CNN Spanish) — Peru continues to go through critical moments due to a recent crisis unleashed by the removal of today’s former president Pedro Castillo, who following trying to dissolve Congress, before facing a vacancy motion once morest him, was vacated from office and arrested last week , accused of the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy.
These events generated discontent in some of Castillo’s followers, who have taken to the streets in several provinces in the interior of the country demanding the resignation of the current president Dina Boluarte. The political crisis that looms over Peru has left several dead, dozens injured, and at least two major airports in the country remain closed due to attacks once morest their infrastructure.
This is what you should know regarding the crisis in Peru.
Protests and state of emergency in Peru
Various protests of hundreds or thousands of people have been held since last week in some cities in the interior of the country and in Lima, seeking to prevent Boluarte, 60, from fulfilling the current government mandate until July 2026, Archyde.com reported.
The demonstrations in Peru have left a balance of at least seven deadaccording to the Ombudsman’s Office, which added that there are also eight hospitalized patients due to the protests and another 30 people have already been discharged.
Demonstrators protest demanding the closure of Congress in Lima, on December 10, 2022. (Photo by ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP)
This Monday, the Government of Peru, through the Council of Ministers, reported that a supreme decree was issued declaring a state of emergency in the provinces of Abancay, Andahuaylas, Chincheros, Grau, Cotabambas, Antabamba and Aymaraes in the department of Apurímac. . The state of emergency was decreed for 60 days; During this time, the rights to “the inviolability of the home, freedom of transit through the national territory, freedom of assembly and personal freedom and security” are suspended. according to the decree.
In dozens of roads in at least eleven provinces of Peru there were roads blocked by demonstrations amid the worsening of the political situation in the country, according to the most recent information from the National Police. One of the provinces most affected by blockades is Arequipa, with at least 16 blockades in the entire region, as well as Cusco and Abancay.
#PNPinforma ????| This is the situation of the roads nationwide. Updated [12DIC2022/ 22:00 horas] pic.twitter.com/YpnngOAdSq
– National Police of Peru (@PoliciaPeru) December 13, 2022
The president of the Council of Ministers of Peru, Pedro Angulo, said Monday night that some ministers will travel to areas of social conflict to promote dialogue, promote peace and governability in Peru.
In Peru’s capital Lima, hundreds of protesters rallied outside Congress, setting barricades on fire and throwing objects, clashing with police, who responded by firing tear gas to disperse the protesters, Archyde.com reported.
Protests were intensifying on Monday over the blockade by a community in Cusco of a key road used by the Las Bambas copper mine, owned by China’s MMG Ltd, a source close to the company told Archyde.com. Peru is the world’s second largest copper producer.
Earlier, indigenous communities had announced an indefinite strike in Apurímac, where Las Bambas operates, which has suffered constant protests from communities demanding greater benefits from mining exploitation.
Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest on the Pan-American highway in the Northern Cone of Arequipa, Peru, on December 12, 2022. (DIEGO RAMOS/AFP via Getty Images)
airport closures
Within the framework of the demonstrations, one of the greatest moments of tension occurred this Monday before noon when dozens of protesters took over the Arequipa International Airport, evading security and setting fire to the control booth.
Dozens of protesters entered the Arequipa airport “destroying the security infrastructure and setting fire to the control booth,” Aeropuertos Andinos de Perú reported in a statement. Due to the events that occurred, the authorities evacuated all the people who were in the air terminal and the airport was closed. The authorities reported that they are working to regain control of operations in the short term “when the conditions exist that guarantee the safety of passengers, the team and the entire airport community.”
Meanwhile, the international airport in the city of Cusco, in southern Peru, was temporarily closed Monday night as protests calling for political change continue across the country. The Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (CORPAC) said the protesters tried to storm the airport terminal. They said that they had requested support from the Peruvian National Police to protect the premises.
So far, there have been no reports of injuries, arrests or damage at the airport, according to CORPAC.
Boluarte seeks early elections
Although President Dina Boluarte hoped to finish the presidential term in 2026, to complete Pedro Castillo’s five-year term, this Sunday night she announced that she will send to the Congress of the Republic a draft of early elections for April 2024.
However, early elections not only depend on the will of Boluarte, but also on Congress. For this, it is necessary to present a bill to Congress, since to carry out presidential elections it is necessary to modify the constitution, since the mandate in this country is that the presidential term lasts five years.
The current president indicated that before the early elections are held, her government will promote in Congress a reform of the political system that allows for a “more efficient, transparent and participatory government, free from the practice of corruption and legitimized by citizen participation”.
“The country is experiencing difficult times,” said the president.
Castillo reappears in prison and says that Boluarte is a “usurper”
After days of silence following being arrested for his attempt to shut down Congress on December 7, former President Pedro Castillo sent a message on social media requesting his immediate release, calling Boluarte a “usurper” and saying he would not resign from its functions.
“I speak to you at the most difficult moment of my humiliated, incommunicado, mistreated and kidnapped government, but still clothed in your trust and struggle…”, Castillo wrote on Twitter on Monday, adding that he will not resign or abandon his duties as president, and said that President Baluarte is a usurper who uses the same strategies as the “coup right.”
Dear great and patient Peruvian people: I, @PedroCastilloTe, the same person who 16 months ago all of you elected me to serve as constitutional president of the Republic. I speak to you in the most difficult moment of my government… (1/4)
— Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) December 12, 2022
Pedro Castillo’s lawyer, Ronald Atencio, confirmed to CNN that the letter is real and corresponds to his client.
The governments of Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia reaffirmed their support for Pedro Castillo, whom they recognize as president of Peru. In a statement released by the Colombian Foreign Ministry, the governments of these 4 countries expressed their concern regarding the situation of the ex-president and ask that Castillo’s rights be respected and that the judicial protection of the ex-president be guaranteed.
“Our governments call on all the actors involved in the previous process to prioritize the will of the citizens that was pronounced at the polls,” says the joint statement.
Castillo’s troubles with justice
The ex-president is detained at the headquarters of the National Division of Special Operations (Dinoes) following Congress approved his vacancy for having announced that it would dissolve that power.
This Tuesday Castillo will have an appeal hearing for the preliminary detention. The former president faces the crime of rebellion, for breaking the constitutional order by ordering the closure of Congress on December 7, and also for “conspiracy, to the detriment of the State,” reported the Public Ministry of Peru In the past week.
Castillo’s defense denied the accusations of rebellion and conspiracy once morest the president and rejected the accusations of the Prosecutor’s Office.
This Tuesday, the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office filed a constitutional complaint before Congress once morest former President Pedro Castillo and several of those who were officials of his Government.
According to the lawsuit document obtained by CNN, Benavides accuses Castillo of co-authoring the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy and author of the crimes of abuse of authority and serious disturbance of public peace. The document is addressed to the president of Congress, José Williams Zapata.
— With information from Ana Cucalón, Gerardo Lemos, Jimena de la Quintana from CNN en Español, and Archyde.com.
