Peru’s new government declared 30-day national emergency on Wednesday amid violent protests following the ouster of President Pedro Castillo, suspending the rights of people to gather and move freely across the Andean nation.
“The National Police with the support of the Armed Forces will ensure the control throughout the national territory of personal property and, above all, strategic infrastructure and the safety and well-being of all Peruvians,” Defense Minister Luis Otarola Peñaranda announced.
Otarola said the declaration “means the suspension of the rights of assembly... freedom of movement”. He said the government has not determined whether a curfew will be imposed.
Peru’s new President, Dina Boluarte, pleaded for calm as demonstrations continue against her and the Congress that ousted her predecessor. Answering demands for immediate election, she suggested they could be held a year from now, four months before her earlier proposal, which placated no one.
“Peru cannot overflow with blood,” Boluarte said as she floated the possibility of sheduling general elections for December 2023 to reporters, just before a hearing to determine whether Castillo will remain jailed for 18 months while authorities build a rebellion case against him.
The judge then postponed the hearing because Castillo refused to participate.
“The only thing I can tell you sisters and brothers(is) to keep calm,” Boluartesaid. “We have already lived through this experience in the80s and 90s, and I believe that we do not want to return to that painful history.”
The remarks of Castillo’srunning mate, installed by Congress just a week ago to replace him, recalled the ruinous years between 1980 and 2000 when the Shining Path insurgency presided over numerous car bombings and assassinations. The group was blamed for more than half of the nearly 70,000 estimated deaths and disappearances caused by various rebel groups.
Protesters have blocked streets in Lima and many rural areas, demanding Castillo’s freedom, Boluarte’s resignation and the scheduling of general elections to pick a new President and replace all members of Congress.
