Twelve dead in anti-Boluarte mobilizations in southern Peru

A young injured protester is rescued in Juliaca (Peru), January 9, 2023. REUTERS - STRINGER

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In Peru, a month after the failed coup and the arrest of President Pedro Castillo, the political crisis is getting bogged down.

For the past week, protests have resumed in the south of the country where around fifty roads are again blocked.

In particular, in Juliaca, where on Monday, 12 people died and 38 injured during clashes between demonstrators and police.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Lima,

The toll is indeed growing in Peru.

Last month, 22 people died in the protests.

For a week, and after a truce, the mobilizations have resumed.

They take place mainly in the south of the country.

With the epicenter: Puno and the neighboring town of Juliaca where the roads are blocked, the businesses closed and the airport out of service.

On Monday, thousands of demonstrators marched there.

Aymara indigenous communities had notably made the trip. 

According to the Defender of the People, demonstrators died during an attempted invasion of the airport, repressed by the police.

There had already been about fifteen demonstrators injured this weekend, after tear gas and firearms were fired. 

The demands in the street have always been the same for a month: new parliament, immediate elections and resignation of President Dina Boluarte.

Dina Boluarte for her part asserts that her government is not responsible for the violence.

She also says that she does not understand the demands of the demonstrators. 

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

• Peru