The president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, surprisingly established this Monday night the “State of emergency” in the province of Lima and its neighbor Callao for this Tuesday, in the midst of a political crisis that threatens his presidency after a truckers’ strike that has been going on for a week and left four dead during the strike.
The measure began this Tuesday at 2 a.m. local time (4 p.m. in Argentina) without any arrests or breaches being reported.
It was adopted by the Council of Ministers in response to the strike of transporters that complied a week this Monday, a day during which specific and temporary cuts were experienced on some of the country’s roads.
“The Council of Ministers has approved declare citizen immobility (curfew) from 2 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5, to protect the fundamental rights of all people, which will not prevent the supply of essential services,” President Castillo said in an address minutes before midnight.
Fights between carriers and police (Photo Gian Masko/ AFP)
It also decreed a state of emergency in Lima and Callao, “suspending constitutional rights relating to liberty and personal security, the inviolability of the home and the freedom of assembly and transit”.
The governor’s announcement surprised the 10 million people of Lima and even much of the public did not know of the measure immediately, since, when he communicated it, many people were already resting.
The rule only exempts health service personnel, water, sanitation, electricity, fuel, telecommunications, cleaning, funeral services, freight and merchandise transport from immobilization.
What’s more, only pharmacies are allowed and the work of the duly accredited press, as well as the mobilization for medical emergency care.
“Workers in the public and private sectors only carry out remote work, in accordance with the regulations on the matter,” he concluded.
Congressional rejection
The measure immediately generated a majority rejection, among them from the president of Congress, the opposition María del Carmen Alva, who stated on Twitter that Castillo “cannot impede the functioning of Congress” according to the Constitution.
He announced that, for this reason, the Legislature “will continue with its scheduled agenda for today, Tuesday, April 5.”
Even Congresswoman Sigrid Bazán, from the Together for Peru coalition, a regular ally of the Government, addressed the president to point out that “being practically midnight, an unabated measure does not make sense, that does not respond to any solution and that rather it will affect all workers who will soon get up early for their daily activities”.
The Executive’s decision was made in the midst of a wave of rumors on social networks about possible demonstrations and looting in Lima this Tuesday, after the stoppage that carriers have been carrying out for a week due to the increase in fuel prices.
Protests in the streets of Peru (Photo Ernesto Benavides/ AFP)
During the protest of the carriers, and to which other unions of workers have joined, four people died due to circumstances arising from the blockades, while another twenty people were detained.
Although the Peruvian Executive decided to exempt gasoline and diesel from the selective consumption tax until next June, Castillo justified the curfew due to the “acts of violence that some groups have wanted to create” with the blockade of free transit at the entrances to the provinces of Lima and Callao.
The president made “a call for calm, for serenity” and clarified that social protest is a constitutional right, but that it must be done “within the framework of the law, respecting the integrity of people, as well as public property and private”.
With information from EFE