Violent protests in Peru evoke memories of darkest days of civil war (The Guardian - 12/18/2022)

Violent protests in Peru evoke memories of darkest days of civil war

At least 20 people have been killed in demonstrations against the ousting of Pedro Castillo, a flashback to a past many hoped they had left behind. 

Huamanga, a picturesque Andean city of cobbled streets and whitewashed plazas, was eerily silent. Shop doors were bolted, and the tiny taxis known as ticos were absent in the aftermath of the worst violence it has seen in decades.

A day earlier, soldiers had opened fire on stone-throwing protesters, who tried to storm the local airport’s runway, killing at least eight and injuring more than 70 in running battles, as helicopters rained teargas canisters and bullets over the city.

For many, it was a flashback to a past they had hoped to have left well behind. Huamanga is the capital city of Ayacucho, the Andean region that was brutalised by the state’s conflict with the Mao-inspired Shining Path rebels, suffering half of all the nearly 70,000 deaths between 1980 and 2000.

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