‘They don’t see us as humans.’ In Peru, protests over racism and neglect spill from the Andes (Los Angeles Times - 2/2/2023)

‘They don’t see us as humans.’ In Peru, protests over racism and neglect spill from the Andes (full article)

Villagers block a bridge during antigovernment protests in rural Peru. (Angela Ponce)

Kata Linthicum

ANTA, Peru - As antigovernment protests spread across the Peruvian highlands last month, Remo Candia Guevara, a 42-year-old community leader in this rural farming town, grew increasingly anguished.

National police had repeatedly shot into crowds of unarmed protesters, killing dozens. Candia blamed President Dina Boluarte.

“She’s an assassin,” Candia said in a video interview with a local journalist on Jan. 10. “Many young people have died, cut down by her bullets.”

The next day, Candia and thousands of others marched through the streets of Cusco, a nearby city known for its Inca ruins and narrow, colonial-era streets. As they clashed with police, gunfire erupted and Candia fell to the ground, bleeding from his stomach. He died at a hospital that night.

His death and others have further fueled the protests, which in recent days have spilled from the impoverished, largely Indigenous Andes to the cosmopolitan, coastal capital, Lima. With South America’s fifth-largest economy paralyzed by highway roadblocks, the country finds itself at an agonizing political impasse. (more)

Tags: #Peru #Protests #Racism

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