Reportage
Peru: President Dina Boluarte rules out resigning despite protesters' anger
A demonstrator holds up a sign calling for the resignation of Dina Boluarte during a demonstration in Lima, January 12, 2023. REUTERS - ALESSANDRO CINQUE
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3 mins
Peru's President Dina Boluarte, whose country is plagued by protests that have killed around 40 people in five weeks, ruled out on Friday resigning as protesters demanded.
Several ministers have resigned in recent days over the heavy toll as protesters express general discontent with the government.
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Place Tupac-Amaru, in the center of Cuzco, Friday January 13, some tents and pots were installed to supply the demonstrators after ten days of mobilization and unlimited strike.
Some, from rural communities several hours away, sleep on the spot.
Rosa, a 26-year-old peasant, traveled from Calca.
“
Some have been there for two, three days or more... They come here to town to fight.
We want the president to resign, the dissolution of Congress and a new Constitution
, ”she explains at the microphone of our special correspondent in Cuzco,
Juliette Chaignon
.
► Also to listen: Political crisis in Peru: "There is a feeling (…) of betrayal by part of the population"
Beyond politics, peasants in rural communities are demanding more social justice.
As Jade, a farmer, explains.
“
The leaders do not take care of us, the Andean people, we who work for them,
she is indignant.
The money from tourism is for them.
The money from agriculture is for them.
We never get anything back.
They don't listen to us.
It's as if there was no state for us.
»
And
the repression of the forces of order
amplifies the feeling of the demonstrators of being despised by the authorities.
Forty people died in a month.
"
It's not possible to let these deaths continue,
" Edgar gets angry.
We are disgusted and fed up with these corrupt people.
Let them radiate power!
»
"
I'm not going to quit
"
On Friday,
President Dina Boluarte ruled out resigning
.
“
Some voices from supporters of violence and radicals demand my resignation, inciting the population to chaos, disorder and destruction.
To them I tell them responsibly: I will not resign, my commitment is with Peru
,” Ms. Boluarte said in a message to the nation broadcast by state television.
Three members of Dina Boluarte's government resigned in two days: the Minister of Labor, Eduardo Garcia, in disagreement with the government's management of the demonstrations, that of the Interior, Victor Rojas, and the Minister of Women and Populations vulnerable, Grecia Rojas.
The mobilizations have been going on for ten days already.
The protests erupted after the dismissal and arrest on December 7 of left-wing President Pedro Castillo, accused of having tried to carry out a coup d'etat by wanting to dissolve the Parliament which was about to oust him from power.
Dina Boluarte, who was Pedro Castillo's vice-president, succeeded him in accordance with the Constitution.
But the demonstrators, who see her as a "
traitor
", demand her departure as well as immediate early elections.
And they say they are ready to continue for an unlimited period.
(
And with
AFP)
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Peru
Dina Boluarte
Social issues