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The Peruvian authorities were confident on Sunday that the violent protests have ousted the president Pedro Castillo begin to surrender, and Pope Francis called for dialogue and for the United States to undertake reforms to protect democracy.
“The information we have is that the measures we have taken are working, that is, that roads are being recovered, airports are being established and the violence of the people demonstrating in the streets is also decreasing,” said the prime minister on Sunday. . , Pedro Angulo, to state television TV Peru.
The protests – more intense in the southern Andes, a region plagued by poverty, inequality and deferred social demands – demand that Castillo be released, jailed and investigated for rebellion, after his failed coup attempt.
They also demand the resignation of his successor, Dina Boluarteclosure of Parliament and immediate general elections.
Boluarte has already announced that he will remain “firm” in office and demanded that the Congress accelerate the approval of the general elections, a demand of 83% of citizens with which the crisis could be alleviated.
Parliament must vote again this Tuesday, December 20, on the project to advance the elections from 2026 to 2023, which last week did not reach the necessary votes.
The conflict occurs because the Congress sector, especially the sector that supports Castillo, wants to include the demand for a General Assembly to draw up a new Magna Carta instead of 1993, a possibility that does not reach a consensus.
According to Ombudsmanthe protests leave at least 19 dead and 569 were injured in clashes with security forces. This Sunday there were still some clashes between protesters and police in the north-west of the country.
“We count on Peru’s democratic institutions to make the necessary reforms during this difficult time,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter on Sunday about his conversation with Boluarte on Friday.
Blinken assured that Washington will continue to support the Peruvian presidency and the country.
Meanwhile, at his Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis prayed for Peru to “end the violence” and “take the path of dialogue to overcome the political and social crisis”.
humanitarian corridors
This Sunday, representatives of the Peruvian Ombudsman in Aguaytia, Ucayali (northwest, Peruvian jungle), coordinated with authorities to promote dialogue with protesters, where clashes left 5 civilians and 6 police officers injured.
In some cases, for example in Ayacucho (south), the deaths last Friday were the result of clashes with the army, authorized to control internal security within the framework of a state of emergency.
Then, the Ombudsman asked for a criminal investigation, due to reports that soldiers were going directly to the body. Among the victims were minors.
On Saturday, relatives of some of those who died in Ayacucho took the coffins of their loved ones to the main square in Huamanga, the capital, demanding punishment for those responsible.
This Sunday, the Ombudsman asked the government to put in place humanitarian corridors to move people stranded or isolated as a result of road closures during the protests, many of them patients in need of medical treatment.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said on Sunday that it “recognizes the openness to building channels of dialogue as a way to address social conflict” and announced a visit to Peru on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“good way”
The demonstrations at the beginning of last week showed the closure of a hundred roads and several airports, in some cases with damage caused by vandalism.
However, since Friday, these have been cleared after the intervention of the police and military.
“I think we are on the right track, as the president (Dina Boluarte, Castillo’s successor) has already indicated, the measures taken are helping to reduce conflict,” said the minister who sent interview him. Radio RPP.
He explained that some ministers traveled to the conflict zones “to stimulate dialogue and reach a consensus.”
This Sunday, the Minister of Transport, Paola Lazarte, said that airport operations will resume on Monday in Juliaca (southeast) and on Tuesday in Ayacucho. On Friday, the airport of Cusco reopened.
“In the case of Arequipa (to the south), the airport is still closed. However, we have carried out restoration and repair work on the perimeter fence, which we will finish tomorrow (Monday),” he told a radio station.
The Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in Cusco, where 200 tourists were evacuated due to road closures on Saturday, had been closed since last week “until further notice,” the Ministry of Culture reported.
KG