Peru’s President Dina Boluarte has given in to protester’s demands and is sending Congress a bill to bring forward Peru’s general election to April 2024 amid violent clashes
ADVERTISEMENTThe new Peruvian President has given in to protester's demands and is sending Congress a bill that will bring forward Peru's general election to April 2024.
The move is an attempt to calm recent protests sparked by the former President's announcement to dissolve the government.
Dina Boluarte has also declared a state of emergency.
"I have decided to take the initiative to reach an agreement with the Congress to bring forward the general elections to April 2024," explained Boluarte. "I am announcing a state of emergency in high-conflict areas. I have arranged for internal order to be restored peacefully without affecting the fundamental rights of the population."
ANDEAN REGION AND STRIKE ACTION
One of the areas where there is most tension due to a series of serious clashes between demonstrators and police, is in Andahuaylas, a city in the Andean region, where two young people aged 15 and 18 have died.
Meanwhile, rural unions and organizations representing indigenous people have called for an "indefinite strike" starting Tuesday in support of former president Pedro Castillo.
Protester Jose Ramirez said they want rid of corruption. "We are not communists or anything like that. We are the organised people who want a nation free of corruption, that will allow us to get out of this underdevelopment, this colonialism in which we continue to live."
Elma Hilario, a protester, also demanded the release of Castillo. "First, the freedom of our president Pedro Castillo, second, that the Congress be closed, that this rotten, corrupt Congress be closed, that a Constituent Assembly is convened, third, that the State of Peru is declared an emergency."
PROTESTS IN CONGRESS
Violence also reached Congress in Lima. and outside riot police used tear gas to push protesters back in Lima.
A plenary session had to be suspended after clashes between supporters of the former president and members of the opposition - who demanded the resignation of Castillo.
Peru has been in chaos since last Wednesday when Castillo tried to dissolve the government to avoid a vote to impeach him.
This was condemned as an attempted coup d'état and Castillo was removed from office and remains in custody.
But the former president published a letter on Monday from his detention centre, to which he was transferred after his failed self-coup, in which he wrote that he considers himself to be "kidnapped" and called his ouster, Dina Boluarte, a "usurper".