LIMA (Reuters)Jan,13 – Weeks of bloody clashes following the ouster of former president Pedro Castillo erupted in the Peruvian capital on Wednesday, with peaceful protests against the new government and president. At least 42 people died.
“Why are you turning your back on the people? There are so many deaths. For God’s sake please stop this massacre,” said protester Olga Espejo, former vice president of Castillo He called on President Dina Bolarte to resign.
Demonstrators shouted “Dina Asesina!” (Dina is a killer.) They carried cardboard coffins, pictures of victims, and anti-government slogans through the streets of Lima in the capital’s first mass protests since the New Year.
A march organized by unions and left-wing groups passed without incident. Clashes that began in early December mark Peru’s worst riots in more than two decades.
While Thursday’s protest was underway, Labor Minister Eduardo Garcia announced his resignation on Twitter, saying the country needs an apology for the deaths and urged the government to recognize that “mistakes have been made that must be corrected.”
Garcia said the situation could not wait until April 2024, when elections have been proposed, two years earlier than required.
The crisis has touched tourist hub Cusco, which again closed its airport on Thursday, and the country’s key mining sector, which saw a large copper mine struck by attackers and a tin mine shuttered in solidarity for the dead.
Prime Minister Alberto Otarola said earlier on Thursday that Boluarte would not resign, citing constitutional requirements to consolidate the succession, “not because she does not want to.”
“Leaving the presidency would open a very dangerous floodgate for anarchy and misrule,” he said.
Peru’s top prosecutor’s office on Tuesday launched an inquiry against Boluarte and some top ministers. The same day, Peru’s Congress – which fiercely opposed leftist former leader Castillo – passed a vote of confidence in the new government.
