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Lima (AFP) – Thousands of protesters, who came especially from the Andes Mountains, demonstrated Thursday followingnoon in the center of the capital, Lima, to demand the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Polarte, and violent clashes broke out between the demonstrators, amid a large deployment of police officers.
One person was killed in clashes between demonstrators and police in Makosani, in southern Peru.
“At six thirty in the evening (23:20 GMT), a 35-year-old woman arrived at the emergency department without any Signs that she is alive.
On Thursday, a source at the mediator’s office said that a second protester died of a bullet he sustained during Wednesday’s clashes between police and demonstrators in the same area.
In Arequipa, Peru’s second-largest city, violent clashes around the airport left a man in his 30s dead and ten injured, according to the Office of the Ombudsman.
This brings to 45 the death toll since the beginning of the crisis on December 7.
In Lima, a large number of protesters marched quietly. However, violent clashes took place in the city center, where demonstrators threw stones, gravel and bottles at the police. In several places, the security forces were forced to retreat under pressure before they regained their positions, according to AFP journalists.
The security forces used tear gas extensively. An AFP journalist saw at least two injured people, while the police made several arrests.
A building in the city center near Plaza San Martin, the epicenter of the protests in Lima, caught fire for reasons still unknown just before 8pm (0100 GMT). “We have 11,800 policemen on the streets to control the riots. We have more than 120 transport vehicles and 49 military vehicles, and the armed forces will also participate” in the situation control operations, said district police chief General Victor Zanabria in the morning.
“Change the constitution”
Protest groups calling for Pollarte’s resignation and early elections in Peru have called for a nationwide strike and also for a massive rally in Lima, where thousands of Andean peasants have begun to congregate in recent days. Many of them seemed preoccupied with preparing for this event, preparing banners and writing slogans, while some were distributing food and water bottles to those present in the place.
“We do not accept the government of Dina Polwarti, first we demand her resignation, and we also want to change the constitution because because of it there is a lot of corruption in our country,” said student Lydia Huahuasoxo, 20.
On Wednesday evening, Jeronimo López, Secretary General of the General Union of Peruvian Workers, who called for the strike, said in a press conference, “The struggle of the Peruvian people will not end tomorrow. The struggle will continue if Dina Polarte does not listen to the people and act arrogantly.”
– ‘Popular civil strike’ –
“This is a civil, popular, national strike with the peaceful mobilization of organizations in different regions, and avoiding any act of sabotage,” Lopes added.
He pointed out, “This is a democratic mobilization of citizens coming from the provinces, but also from here, from Lima. They are calling for the immediate resignation of Dina Polwarti, and they are calling for new elections in 2023 and the dissolution of Congress.”
While the government declared a 30-day state of emergency on Sunday in Lima, Cusco, Callao and Puno (where Makosane is located), López said organizers did not seek permission.
And while the state of emergency allows the army to intervene to maintain order and restrict freedom of assembly and movement, Lopes said, “There is no permission from the police. We never ask for a permit for a social demonstration. This is not obligatory.”
The protests erupted following the arrest of radical leftist President Pedro Castillo on December 7, on charges of attempting to carry out a coup by announcing the dissolution of the parliament he was regarding to overthrow.
The crisis also reflects the huge gap between the capital and the impoverished provinces that support President Castillo, who is indigenous.
Polwarty, for her part, called for calm on Monday. “We know that they want to come to Lima, because of everything that is published on (social) networks on the 18th and 19th (Wednesday and Thursday). They can come to Lima, but in peace and quiet,” she said.
Bolarte, who was Castillo’s vice president, took over the presidency following his ouster, according to the constitution. She belongs to Castillo’s party, but the protesters see her as a “traitor”.
© 2023 AFP