Shortages and inflation are worsening in several regions of southern Peru due to numerous roadblocks set up by protesters, who continue to tirelessly demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte.
Fresh clashes erupted on Wednesday during yet another national day of protest, as the crisis entered its sixth week.
In the region of Ica, 250 km south of Lima, a pitched battle opposed protesters who were blocking the Pan-American highway and the police who were trying to disperse them.
The hooded protesters threw stones at the police, who fired tear gas, according to television footage.
In the morning, several dozen demonstrators gathered calmly in front of the United States Embassy in Lima to protest against Washington's support for the government of Dina Boluarte.
"We are the people, not terrorists," protesters protested.
On Tuesday, the capital had been the scene of the most violent demonstrations since the start of the unrest.
The demonstrators demand the resignation of the president, the dissolution of Parliament, the organization of new elections despite the advance of these to 2024, and the creation of a Constituent Assembly.
In six weeks of crisis, the clashes left 46 dead, including a policeman.
“I will not capitulate to authoritarian groups who want to impose solutions that are not part of our constitutional order or the democratic tradition,” insisted Dina Boluarte on Wednesday during a virtual intervention before the Organization of American States ( AEO).
No more LPG
According to the authorities, 85 roadblocks were identified overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in nine of the 25 regions of Peru.
The airport in Cuzco, the country's tourist capital, was closed on Tuesday evening but was able to reopen on Wednesday.
Those of Puno and Arequipa remain closed.
The impossibility of exchanges of goods, particularly in the southern regions, the epicenter of the protest, have begun to cause shortages and price increases.
There is no more liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the main vehicle fuel in Peru, in the service stations of Arequipa, Tacna and Puno.
"The LPG has run out in Arequipa," Alexander Cornejo, representing taxi drivers, told RPP radio, expressing alarm at the situation of 7,000 local drivers.
"All this is harming ourselves, not the government, not the deputies, because they have salaries. I have to feed my family," complained Luis, a driver to AFP. taxi driver from Cuzco who refused to give his last name, also complaining of a lack of fuel.
In the region of Puno, 1,350 km south of Lima and scene of the most violent demonstrations which left 18 dead, the prices of tomatoes and potatoes, staple foods, have tripled.
"The prices of fruits and vegetables have increased. Everything has become more expensive. It seems to me that they should let the vehicles that supply us pass," Jacqueline Flores, a resident of Puno, told AFP.
"Complex situation"
On Wednesday in Geneva, before the Human Rights Council (HRC) where representatives of several States deplored the "excessive use of force" by the authorities during the demonstrations, the Minister of Justice José Andrés Tello said be "convinced that we are acting appropriately to defend democracy and human rights" in the face of a "complex situation".
The Peruvian government protested to the Chilean ambassador in Lima on Wednesday after statements by Chilean President Gabriel Boric at a Latin American summit in Buenos Aires.
The latter had claimed that protesters in Peru "are being shot at by those who should be defending them".
With AFP
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