The Peruvian government on Saturday declared a state of emergency in the capital Lima and several other regions due to protests against President Dina Boluarte which have left at least 42 people dead in the country for five weeks.
This measure, in force for 30 days, authorizes the army to intervene to maintain order and leads to the suspension of several constitutional rights such as freedom of movement and assembly and the inviolability of the home, according to a decree published Saturday evening in the official newspaper.
In addition to the capital, the departments of Cusco and Puno (south) are notably subject to a state of emergency, as is the port of Callao, next to Lima.
More than a hundred roadblocks blocked traffic across Peru on Saturday, mainly in the south, the epicenter of the protest, but also around Lima. The authorities, however, reopened on Saturday the international airport of Cusco, of vital importance for the Peruvian tourist sector.
Dina Boluarte refuses to resign
The protests erupted after the dismissal and arrest on December 7 of socialist President Pedro Castillo, accused of having tried to carry out a coup d’etat by wanting to dissolve the Parliament which was preparing to oust him from power.
Dina Boluarte, who was Castillo’s vice-president, succeeded him in accordance with the Constitution and came from the same left-wing party as him. But the demonstrators, who see her as a “traitor”, demand her departure as well as immediate elections. For the moment, Dina Boluarte refuses to resign.