Regions show solidarity with victims of the massacre in Puno (SERVINDI [Spanish] - 1/11/2023)

Regions show solidarity with victims of the massacre in Puno (Spanish)

Cusco and Cajamarca declared a period of regional mourning, while mobilizations were registered in Ayacucho and Huancavelica. In Lima, a new sit-in were announced for January 10.

Servindi, January 10, 2023.- Various regions of Peru expressed solidarity with the victims left behind by police repression in the demonstrations on January 9, in the city of Juliaca, Puno region.

Cusco and Cajamarca declared a regional duel, while mobilizations were registered in Ayacucho and Huancavelica. In Lima, a new sit-in is announced for tonight.

They Mourn

Solidarity from Cusco came through a declaration of regional mourning issued by the Regional Government on the night of January 9, after learning of the deaths of seventeen civilians in the protests in Puno.

"We declare January 10 as the Cusco Regional Mourning Day for the people of Puno to lay the firm foundation that authoritarianism and repression are at odds with our laws," they said.

Likewise, residents of the province of Canas and Canchis, in the city of Cusco, took to the streets again to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the closure of Congress.

A similar gesture came from Cajamarca, where the Regional Government also declared mourning in the region on January 10, with a photo wearing a black headband and the phrase "No more deaths!".

“In the name of God, stop the deaths; loot and rifles have never prospered,” Cajamarca regional governor Roger Guevara later said in an interview.

For their part, from Ayacucho and Huancavelica, mobilizations and concentrations are reported in the main squares where they pay a symbolic tribute to the victims of repression and demand justice.

Sit-in in Lima

In Lima, the capital of Peru, on the night of January 9, various groups called for a sit-in in front of the Palace of Justice to express their repudiation for the deaths in the protests.

"Enough of killing the people", "More than 40 Peruvians dead" and "Dina murderess, resign now" were some of the phrases that were read on the signs placed next to lighted candles on the ground.

Sit-in held in front of the Palace of Justice after the death of 17 civilians and a police officer in Puno. Photo: Servindi/Renzo Anselmo

There were also posters with the names of the victims and others that said, "How many deaths do you get angry at?", alluding to the little mobilization that there is in Lima in the face of deaths in the regions.

The latter, in comparison with the protests unleashed in 2020, after the death in downtown Lima of two young people who were protesting the usurping government of Manuel Merino.

For this January 10, another sit-in has been called in the same place in Lima, at 6:00 pm The Police maintain their deployment in the surroundings of the Palace of Justice and Plaza San Martín.

Tags: #PunoMassacre #Cusco #Cajamarca #Lima #Mourning