The demonstrations have intensified in several cities of the country as well as in the capital to request the dissolution of the congress and the convening of new elections.
by Amanda Chaparro (Special Envoy to Lima)
On the Pan -American road, the main one that crosses the country from north to south, tires were burned and barricades erected. On the deployed banners, these same messages: “dissolution of the congress”. While protests are intensifying at the four corners of the country, in particular in the southern provinces where several road axes have been blocked, the new president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, appointed after the dismissal of Pedro Castillo, revealed on Saturday 10 December, the composition of his government under pressure from part of the opinion.
The demonstrators require the convening of anticipated general elections. A wish that the population has been expressed for several months already – there were more than 87 % to decide in their favor, during the last survey of the Institute of Peruvian Studies (IEP) in November – and which has not been weakened since the Departure of the former president, Pedro Castillo.
Wednesday, December 7, Pedro Castillo had violated the Constitution by dissolving the Congress (a possible measure only if the Parliament rejects twice a “question of confidence”) and by wanting to take control of several judicial institutions, before being Damaged two hours later by the congress.
“Congress is also responsible for this crisis”
The photo of the portrait of the head of the state was burned by the demonstrators, gathered in the center of the capital, in Lima, Friday and Saturday evening. “Boluarte does not represent us. Neither did Congress, he is also responsible for this crisis, he had to leave immediately,” protested Maria Verocal, Friday evening, within the procession, Peruvian flag in his hands. “They [the deputies] are there to defend their own interests, they don’t care about the people, this congress is dominated by large economic groups and mining companies,” fulminates Liliana Laos, quarantine. In the city of Andahuaylas, in the south of the Andes, two police officers were taken hostage by demonstrators and around twenty people were injured, including several seriously.
Security forces are positioned against demonstrators in Lima (Peru), Saturday December 10, 2022. (Reuters/Sebastian Castaneda) Sebastian Castaneda/Reuters The new government, whose announcement An long-awaited one has eight women out of the seventeen ministers (two ministries have not yet been filled) and is mainly composed of technicians, and personalities on the left and right. It was one of the commitments of President Boluarte, who had promised, after taking oath, a government of “wide base” in an attempt to mitigate the polarization. But that immediately raised criticism, recalling that the population had elected a left -wing president. Especially since the exemplarity required in these circumstances does not seem to be up to par. Investigative journalists have revealed that the freshly appointed Prime Minister Pedro Angulo, a former prosecutor specializing in the fight against corruption, and also a lawyer, has thirteen judicial investigations open against him and several complaints for sexual assault.
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