Peru News and Links

Dina Boluarte remains silent during interrogation by the Prosecutor's Office for crimes in protests ( La Republica [Spanish] ) President only replied to a general question from the Prosecutor's Office and avoided new questions. Nor did she answer the 47 questions from the defense of family members and the Attorney General's Office. Dina Boluarte is being investigated for crimes in citizen protests. (photo: The Republic) Wilber Huacasi President Dina Boluarte appeared this morning before the Public Ministry to participate in an expanding investigation into killings by law enforcement during citizen protests earlier this year. However, the interview did not last more than ten minutes because the President decided to avail herself of the right to remain silent. The proceedings started at 9:12 in the morning, with the participation of the Prosecutor of the Nation, Patricia Benavides, and Prosecutor Carlos Huamán. The latter read out two prosecution provisions to expand the inve...

‘Third takeover of Lima’: Peru declares national road network emergency due to planned protests ( La República [Spanish] - Full Story] ) Prior protests against President Boluarte have led to blockades on highways and the assassination of protesters by Peru's armed forces and National Police.  Measure seeks to prevent protesters from using roads during upcoming protests against the government of President Dina Boluarte. The declaration of emergency covers Peru’s national roads prior to the planned start of the “Third takeover of Lima”, that will bring together citizens from various regions to protest against President Dina Boluarte.  This measure was taken after a Council of Ministers meeting. Prime Minister Alberto Otárola stated that the extension of the state of emergency to the national road network will be for a period of one month.  The president of the PCM maintained: “This (declaration of emergency is) in order to guarantee free movement for National Holidays and a...

Transport carriers threaten to park units on public roads if there is a roadblock in Cusco (Spanish) Dario Tisoc, President of the Association of Transporters of the South (ATRASUR), stated that they will generate "another protest" in the city. They seek to resume their economic activities The President of ATRASUR stated that the interprovincial transporters of Cusco will take their own protest measures if a road blockade is carried out in the region. He pointed out that they will make 'another protest' with their vehicles and that they will be parked on public roads in Cusco. The Association seeks to resume its economic activities after previous blockades. 'In the southern road network, in this case Sicuani, neither the Army nor the Police, nor Provías nor the prefecture have given the interest, the importance of the case, since the road has been closed for almost three months. We are carriers, we need to work,' Tisoc told the media. He added that there is in...

Peru: National Association denounces police violence against journalists during protests (Spanish) They pushed Paola Ugaz against the wall and hit her in the chest with their fist; Paty Condori was arrested at the Peruvian National Police (PNP) Counter-Terrorist Directorate (DIRCOTE), despite identifying herself as a journalist. Walter Hupiu was hit on the back with a shield and already on the ground they paid him to prevent him from taking photos of police mistreatment of a protester. Reprehensible: Walter Hupiu is one of the 146 journalists attacked. The police were merciless with him for wanting to photograph the mistreatment of a protester. Pamela Palacios, La República The work of national and foreign press media has been fundamental since the current political and social crisis began in the country and has been expressed in the streets with demonstrations. Their records have made it possible to capture the unstoppable mobilizations and the repression of the forces of order agains...

Silences and half-truths in Peru's session on human rights with the United Nations (Spanish) President Dina Boluarte's regime avoids giving clear answers about the Peruvian Army's role in the Ayacucho Massacre . 'They also did not provide requested information on the police raids in San Marcos and the Campesino Confederation. Evasive: Justice Minister José Tello was only there at the beginning and then withdrew from the virtual meeting without giving clear answers to the UN (photo diffusion) Wilber Huacasi - La República Peruvian authorities and officials yesterday avoided responding clearly to the Committe of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights on specific issues related to the excessive use of force and crimes committed against civilians within the State of Emergency decreed by Dina Boluarte's regime. There were only generalities, silences, and half-truths. All this occurred during the first of the three sessions carried out by the UN Committee in...

Today marks start of transport carriers strike to demand resignation of President Dina Boluarte (Spanish) The strike of transport carriers to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte begins Thursday, March 2, and runs through Wednesday, March 8. In an interview with Exitosa, Javier Corrales, spokesman for the National Front of Carriers of Peru, spoke about the strike that transport carriers and drivers will carry out nationwide, from March 2 to 8. He stated that the country is facing a political and social crisis, and that citizens "cannot be oblivious to the pain of our Peruvian brothers."  Likewise, the National Front considers that the demonstrations that take place in various parts of the country are a response to acts of corruption by State entities and to demand that the authorities work for the benefit of Peru's citizens.  "We listen to the population. The people are tired of Congress. It has been noticed, for the first time in the history of Peru, th...

Yarita Lizeth Yanarico: protesters in Juliaca support Peruvian folk music artist in Prosecutor's investigation (Spanish) A preliminary investigation by the Public Ministry against the popular folk singer for supporting protesters has prompted citizens of the highlands to demonstrate support for the puneña artist. Puno: Yarita Lizeth receives support from protesters in Juliaca (photo La República) With information from Kleber Sánchez/URPI-LR Dozens of people took to the streets of Juliaca today to support Yarita Lizeth Yanarico in the face of a preliminary investigation that has been opened against her in Lima. The case revolves around her alleged support for the social demonstrations that demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte. The citizens of Juliaca are outraged after learning that the Public Ministry opened a preliminary investigation against the folklore singer. Faced with this possibility, they went out to protest as a sign of support for Yarita Lizeth. Protesters v...

 Opinion: two photos, two interpretations of events in Puno, show Peru is a very divided country. Two images, two worlds, and two paradigms, illustrate the current social conflict in Peru's Puno Region. The images were featured in two articles on Monday, February 20 about social and political unrest in the city of Puno by two major Peruvian newspapers. Aymaras marching in Puno, Peru (source La República) In the first image, appearing in the Lima-based La República , men are lined up in rows, walking down a street dressed smartly in their best black suits wearing ties and black dress hats. Many have long white scarves around their necks. Behind them are women wearing matching long red dresses and blankets of the same color. They are also wearing matching black hats under Puno’s midday sun. These are Indigenous Aymara who are protesting what they see as racism and oppression by the national government in Lima led by President Dina Boluarte and the national Congress. Peruvian Army col...

Ronderos returning to Puno affirm protests will not stop, but strategies will be reformulated (Spanish) "We are going to rethink the strategies of struggle, we are going to return, but in Lima the citizens will continue protesting "(photo Pachamama Radio) President of the Central Única Regional de Rondas Campesinas of the Puno Region Josué Guzmán, reported that the Puno delegations that traveled to Lima to protest against the government of President Dina Boluarte, returned on Sunday to raise awareness among citizenship and continue with the actions of struggle Guzmán pointed out that Saturday was their last demonstration in Lima, The Ronderos are returning to Puno to raise awareness among the population and resume the protest measures with greater force. “We are going to rethink the strategies of the fight, we are going to return, but in Lima the citizens are going to continue protesting,” he said on Pachamama radio. He indicated that the population of Puno cannot continue to...

From a secret safehouse, Peru’s Indigenous revolt advances (full article) Joshua Goodman LIMA, Peru (AP) — In an industrial corridor of Peru’s capital, a dingy stairwell leads to a second-floor safehouse. Dozens of Quechua and Aymara activists lie on mattresses strewn on the floor, resting up for more anti-government demonstrations as volunteers cook a breakfast of donated rice, pasta and vegetables. Among the makeshift refuge’s occupants is Marcelo Fonseca. The 46-year-old watched as a a friend was shot and killed in December as they battled security forces in the southern city of Juliaca. Within hours, Fonseca joined a caravan of demonstrators that descended on the capital, Lima, to demand the resignation of interim President Dina Boluarte. “Our Andean blood burns when we become furious,” Fonseca, whose native language is Quechua, said in a halting Spanish. ”It runs faster. That’s what brings us here.” Two months into Peru’s angry insurrection, emotions have hardened. While the unres...

Families destroyed in Ica: illegally detained farmworkers face prison (Spanish) Relatives of farmworkers arrested on January 25 in the town of Expansión in Ica denounce arbitrary arrests during a police raid during protests against President Dina Boluarte. The Defensoría del Pueblo (Ombudsman) and Ica Human Rights Commission (CODEHICA) confirmed that the Peruvian National Police (PNP) violated the human rights of the detainees with physical mistreatment, restrictions on the entry of food and the denial of access to lawyers. Police in Expansión, Ica, where troops can be seen throwing stones at houses (photo La Lupa) Ghiomara Rafaele Yoni Mendoza Llamocca left his home in Ica at approximately three in the afternoon to pick up her eight-year-old daughter who was at his mother-in-law's house, three blocks from the Panamericana Sur highway. From her home, she heard people's screams and smelled tear gas. The sound of shots alerted the citizens of Expansión that the PNP had entered th...

Amnesty accuses Peruvian authorities of ‘marked racist bias’ in protest crackdown (full article) By Tara John and Claudia Rebaza, CNN Relatives and friends of victims of recent clashes with the Peruvian police -- within protests against President Dina Boluarte -- carry pictures of their loved ones during a march commemorating one month of their death on February 9, 2023, in Juliaca, Puno region. Amnesty International has accused Peruvian authorities of acting with “a marked racist bias” in its crackdown on protests that have roiled the country since December, saying “populations that have historically been discriminated against” are being targeted, according to a report released on Thursday . Drawing on data from the Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office, Amnesty says it “found that the number of possible arbitrary deaths due to state repression” were “disproportionately concentrated in regions with largely Indigenous populations.” Amnesty also says that areas with majority indigenous population...

Peru: Army identifies patrols that acted in Ayacucho Massacre (Spanish) Two captains, twelve sergeants, nine non-commissioned officers, twenty-two corporals and seven soldiers of the Voluntary Military Service (SMV) , who served in the areas where the ten citizens were murdered on December 15, 2022, according to information provided by the General Commander of the Second Wari Infantry Brigade Brigadier General Jesús Vera Ipenza. The Prosecutor's Office is investigating the deaths of ten people during protests in Ayacucho (photo diffusion)   Maria Elena Hildago The members of the Army patrols that were in the areas of the city of Huamanga, where ten citizens were shot to death during the anti-government protests on December 15, were identified and will soon be questioned by the office of prosecutor Karen Obregón Ubaldo, responsible for the proceedings of the case. It was the General Commander of the Second Wari Infantry Brigade Brigadier General Jesús Vera Ipenza who communicated ab...

Massacre in Ayacucho: civilians did not die during attempt to take over Ayacucho Airport (Spanish) Investigation and video from IDL-Reporteros reconstruct how six of the ten victims of the December 15, 2022, protests were shot dead by soldiers who chased them after evicting them from the landing field. The Prosecutor 's Office has made advances in identifying those responsible. An investigation by IDL Reporters reveals that six of the ten victims of the protests on December 15 in Ayacucho died after being hit by bullets fired by the military (photo AFP) It had already been reported in La República that most of the citizens shot dead in the city of Ayacucho did not receive the bullets while they were trying to take over the airport. Investigative reporting and a video published last night by IDL-Reporteros consolidates that version. Journalists Rosa Laura and César Prado reconstructed how six of the ten people who died on December 15 were murdered: Josué Sañudo , Edgar Prado, Cle...