Peru’s new government on Wednesday declared a national emergency as it struggled to quell violent protests over the ousting of President Pedro Castillo, suspending rights to “personal security and freedom” across the Andean nation for 30 days.
The acts of vandalism, violence and highway blockades while thousands of Peruvians are on the streets “demand a forceful and authoritarian response from the government”, Defense Minister Luis Otarola Peñaranda said.
The declaration suspends the rights of assembly and freedom of movement and authorizes the police, backed by the army, to search people’s homes without authorization or court order. Otarola said it has not been determined whether a nighttime curfew will be imposed.
Peru has been ravaged by nearly a week of political crisis and unrest that have undermined stability.
The unrest has “increased to such a magnitude that the very idea of order, the very idea of authorities capable of governing the country in one way or another is called into question”, said Jorge Aragón, professor of political science at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
The decree, he added, is “a way of wanting to find a certain minimum of stability, a certain minimum functioning of the country, but obviously it is also the recognition that without this use of force this cannot be done. “.
The defense minister said the statement had been approved by the cabinet. He didn’t mention The new president of Peru, Dina Boluartewho was sworn in by Congress last week hours after lawmakers ousted Castillo.
Boluarte pleaded for calm as protests continued against her and Congress.
“Peru cannot overflow with blood,” she said earlier on Wednesday.
Referring to demands for immediate elections, she suggested they could be held within a year, four months before her previous proposal, which appeased no one.
Boluarte raised the possibility of scheduling a general election for December 2023 to reporters just before a hearing to determine whether Castillo would remain imprisoned for 18 months while the authorities are building a case of rebellion against him. The judge postponed the hearing after Castillo refused to participate.
“The only thing I can tell you, brothers and sisters (is) to keep calm,” Boluarte said. “We already had this experience in the 80s and 90s, and I believe that we don’t want to go back to this painful history.”
Castillo’s running mate’s remarks recalled the ruinous years when the Shining Path insurgency presided over numerous car bombings and assassinations. The group has been blamed for more than half of the estimated 70,000 deaths and disappearances caused by various rebel groups and a brutal government counter-insurgency response.
Protesters blocked the streets of the Peruvian capital and many rural communitiesdemanding the freedom of Castillo, the resignation of Boluarte, and the immediate scheduling of general elections to choose a new president and replace all members of Congress.
At least seven people have been killed, including a teenager who died Wednesday after being injured during protests in Andahuaylas, a hospital director said.
All perished in the same kind of impoverished communities whose voters propelled rural teachers’ union leader to victory last year after promising a populist approach to government.
Castillo was ousted by lawmakers on Dec. 7 after seeking to dissolve Congress ahead of their third impeachment attempt. His vehicle was intercepted while driving through the streets of Lima with his security service. Prosecutors accused him of attempting to seek political asylum at the Mexican embassy.
In a handwritten letter shared Wednesday with The Associated Press by his associate Mauro Gonzales, Castillo asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intercede for his “rights and the rights of my Peruvian brothers who seek justice.” The commission investigates allegations of human rights violations and litigates them in some cases.
Last week, protesters torched police stations, took over an airstrip used by the armed forces and invaded the runway at Arequipa International Airport, the gateway to some tourist attractions in the Peru. The passenger train that carries visitors to Machu Picchu has suspended service and roadblocks on the Pan-American Highway have blocked tractor-trailers for days, spoiling food bound for the capital.
Otarola said on Tuesday that the total number of people “causing this disruption” was no more than 8,000 nationwide, an estimate that grossly understates support for Castillo, who took office in July 2021 after obtained nearly 8.8 million votes to win the second round of the presidential election by a low share of 50.1% of the votes.
Boluarte said Wednesday that 200 police officers were injured during the protests. and she met at least two of them in a hospital.
Addressing an officer injured in the face, the president said “a group”, which she did not identify, is leading the protests.
“It is a group that attracts the uninformed community because surely many come to this demonstration and do not even know why they are coming out to protest,” Boluarte said. “But this small group behind them encourages them to come out with these violent attitudes.”
As of Wednesday, members of the armed forces had already been deployed to Arequipa and other areas outside Lima. Securing rural areas far from the capital could take longer.
Five of the deaths were in Andahuaylas, an Andean community whose impoverished residents have long felt abandoned by the government and at times rebelled against it. University student Luis Torres joined a protest of around 2,000 people there on Wednesday as a few white vans carrying soldiers moved through the streets.
“This measure is disproportionate. It shows the political precariousness of government that Ms. Dina Boluarte now has,” Torres said. “We are all marching peacefully, for something just that we demand. At least Andahuaylas will keep fighting.
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