The southern vote that made Castillo president squeezes the new Government of Peru

Southern Peru refuses to lose the only time they have won.

Protests demanding early elections and the closure of Congress are increasing in the regions that made Pedro Castillo president a year and a half ago.

The image of a triumphant Castle, with its arms raised like a prophet, puts a face to the flags that are seen in the street.

For many he has already become a martyr.

The story of the coup that never was is seen from this side backwards: for them the victim is the rural teacher.

Victims of the elites, of power, of Congress, of Lima.

The Peru that the capital had never heard until the last elections roars from the Andes to deny the new Government of Dina Boluarte, whom they consider a traitor, a sellout.

The new president has begun to be aware that hers will be a transition government, shorter than she thought.

If a week ago, just a few hours after the failed self-coup and arrest of the president, she was sworn in as head of state until 2026, Boluarte already knows that there is no chance of surviving for long in the midst of the crisis opened by her predecessor.

Earlier this week she proposed holding the presidential elections in April 2024, but this Wednesday she has already talked about December 2023. Times are getting shorter as the protests grow.

Eight days after Castillo's political suicide, there are eight dead in clashes between protesters and police, three airports closed to traffic and dozens of roadblocks.

Thousands of people are threatening to arrive in Lima to hold a huge mass protest, but so far in the capital the marches are not very numerous.

This Wednesday, hundreds of police shielded public buildings and the central Plaza de San Martín.

There were more uniformed than protesters.

They limited themselves to surrounding the square several times peacefully shouting slogans such as: "Dina assassina."

New protests are expected this Thursday and a national strike has been announced.

In the south the situation is more chaotic.

The Government has declared a state of emergency throughout the country for 30 days so that the armed forces can take charge of security.

The protesters for now refuse to back down.

They do not want this new chapter of the Peruvian political crisis to end with Castillo imprisoned and the rest remain the same.

They want immediate elections and that all the congressmen go home.

The rejection of Parliament, moreover, is not just a regional issue, 86% of Peruvians distrust him, according to November surveys, a greater rejection than Castillo himself aroused.

In regions like Cusco, today set on fire by protests, 80% of the voters voted for him in the last elections.

They saw in the rural teacher a person like them, the first real opportunity to achieve power.

Opposite was Keiko Fujimori, a representative of the most traditional Lima politics.

The professor gave them hope that they are not willing to lose, although Castillo wasted a year and a half in office in a constant crisis and was never able to take the political initiative.

Now the former president faces a judicial future that could take him five decades in prison, but recent events have emboldened him.

Protests within the country and external support, such as that of the presidents of Colombia and Mexico, encourage the rural teacher, who from prison continues to proclaim himself the head of state.

In the next few hours, the judge must decide if he accepts the request of the Prosecutor's Office for 18 months in pretrial detention, one month more than his government lasted.

Follow all the international information on