In an attempt to stem the violence, a three-day curfew was decreed on Tuesday, January 10, in the Puno region, announced the Peruvian Prime Minister, Alberto Otarola, during a plenary session of Parliament.
Anti-government protests continued on Tuesday with roadblocks in six departments. The epicenter of the protests, however, remains the department with the most Aymara (Amerindian people), that of Puno, on the border with Bolivia, where looting of shops and attacks on police vehicles have taken place in the night from Monday to Tuesday.
At least eighteen people have been killed since Monday in Jualica during clashes between the police and demonstrators, according to the defender of the people (local ombudsman). The victims have gunshot wounds, said an official at Carlos Monge Hospital in Juliaca, where they were taken.
“genocide, aggravated homicide and serious injuries”
State Attorney Patricia Benavides “decided to open a preliminary investigation against President Dina Boluarte, President of the Council of Ministers Alberto Otarola, Interior Minister Victor Rojas, Defense Minister Jorge Chavez”announced the prosecution on Twitter.
This investigation concerns facts of “genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries, committed during the demonstrations of December 2022 and January 2023 in the regions of Apurimac, La Libertad, Punon, Junin, Arequipa and Ayacucho”he added.
The demonstrators demand the resignation of Dina Boluarte, who arrived at the head of the country after the dismissal of Mr. Castillo. They also demand a new Parliament and the immediate holding of elections, already brought forward from 2026 to April 2024.
Tensions with Bolivia
The department of Puno, bordering Bolivia, is the epicenter of protests in the country. An indefinite strike has been taking place there since January 4. It is also the starting point of a march organized by several collectives of citizens and peasants, whose arrival in the capital, Lima, is scheduled for around January 12.
On Monday, Peru banned former Bolivian President Evo Morales from entering its territory for his « intervention » in the internal political affairs of the country. The latter has been active in Peruvian politics since Pedro Castillo came to power in July 2021 and until his ousting on December 7, 2022.
Since then, Mr. Morales has expressed his support for the demonstrations demanding the departure of Dina Boluarte, in particular those taking place in the department of Puno, which he visited last November. The Peruvian right accuses him of pushing the south of the country to secede in order to be annexed by Bolivia. Dina Boluarte is the sixth person to hold the presidency in five years, in a country that is experiencing a permanent political crisis punctuated by suspicions of corruption.