The protests in Peru, live | Protesters demand early elections

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The protests against the president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, arrive this Thursday in Lima after a month and a half of social unrest that has left more than 50 dead.

The protesters, who came mainly from the south of the country, spent the night on some university campuses and are seeking to march to the center of the capital while security forces have closed their perimeter.

The crisis began on December 7, when former President Pedro Castillo, now detained, tried to carry out a self-coup by dissolving Congress, the most discredited institution in Peru.

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EFE

A deceased in southern Peru brings to 54 the death toll in protests

A man died this Thursday in a hospital in the Peruvian town of Macusani, in the southern region of Puno, where he was being treated after clashes that took place yesterday in this town between protesters and law enforcement.

The death brings to 54 the fatalities of the protests against the government of President Dina Boluarte, which began on December 7 after the failed self-coup by former president Pedro Castillo, today arrested.

The victim is a 30-year-old man.  

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 20:04

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AFP

More than 11,000 police officers, the number of agents for the protests

The Peruvian authorities deployed a massive security operation in Lima before the arrival of thousands of inhabitants of rural areas who plan to protest on Thursday against the country's president, Dina Boluarte, amid an atmosphere of tension after the death of a second protester in the south of the country.

The police deployed "11,800 troops in the streets to control riots, we have more than 120 trucks and 49 military vehicles, and also the participation of the armed forces," reported the head of the Lima Police Region, General Víctor Zanabría.

"The police are on high alert," he added.

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 19:43

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Peruvians begin to take to the streets of Lima

The photography collaborator of EL PAÍS, Audrey Córdova, closely follows a demonstration that began from the National University of Engineering.

The main call had set for 5:00 p.m. (local time) as the start of the protests.

The arrival points will be Kennedy Park and the Palace of Justice.

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 19:26

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EFE

The Minister of Defense condemns the burning of a judicial headquarters

The Peruvian Minister of Defense, Jorge Chávez, condemned this Thursday the fire that occurred on Wednesday in a judicial headquarters and a police station in Macusani, in the region of Puno, southeastern Peru, by protesters demanding the resignation of the president of the country, Dina Boluarte.

Chávez told Channel N that he had to "deplore and condemn the incident that took place in the Judiciary and the Macusani police station," acts that he described as "extreme violence."

Hundreds of protesters gathered on Wednesday in the square of the city of Macusani, in the province of Carabaya, in Puno, to join the protests calling for the resignation of Boluarte and, when the Police arrived, there was a confrontation with the mobilized.

As a result of that clash, the death of a woman in Macusani was reported, which inflamed the protesters, who went, at the end of the afternoon, to the judicial headquarters and the police station to set fire to both premises.

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 19:13

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Demonstrations begin in Lima

A contingent of peasants has begun to demonstrate this Thursday in the streets of Lima.

Mauricio Morales, photography collaborator of EL PAÍS, shares the first images

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 19:08

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EFE

Arequipa airport suspends operations due to protests

The Alfredo Rodríguez Ballón international airport in Arequipa, Peru's second largest city, has suspended its operations from 11:00 a.m. (local time) "to safeguard the integrity of the citizenry" and in the presence of anti-government protests, reported the Ministry of Transportation and communications.

The closure of the airport was announced on the ministry's Twitter account, where it specified that "this action is carried out to safeguard the integrity of citizens and the safety of aeronautical operations."

The southern region of Arequipa was the scene this Thursday of a confrontation between protesters and the Peruvian National Police (PNP), at the beginning of a national day of protests that aims to march in Lima to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte .

Civil construction workers blocked one of the accesses to the city of Arequipa, at the height of the San Isidro bridge, and clashed with the Police when the agents arrived to clear the area with the use of tear gas canisters, according to the RPP radio station.

As a result of the confrontation, three protesters were injured and were referred to the Arequipa regional hospital, the outlet added.

The great national march called "the takeover of Lima" has triggered a series of protest actions in different parts of the country and, so far, the number of deaths has risen to 54, after confirmation of the death of a 51-year-old woman. years and a baby who died in the womb of his teenage mother, according to the Ombudsman's Office.

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 19:01

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Jose Sotomayor / AP

symbol of protests

The main symbol of the protests that have swept Peru for a month and a half was the burial of the 17 protesters who died at the hands of security forces last week in Juliaca, in the southern region of Puno.

The image left by the day of repression, in which a policeman also died, is that of the coffins lined up on public roads.

You can read here the chronicle of Renzo Gómez Vega about that day of violence. 

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 19:00

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Peruvian agents are concentrated near the University of San Marcos.

/ CRIS BOURONCLE / AFP

Riot police arrive in Lima

The capital of Peru begins to fill with police officers to try to dissuade the protesters who have gathered this Thursday against the Government of Dina Boluarte and to demand elections. 

Check the photo gallery here

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 18:43

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POLITICAL CRISIS IN PERU

The protests against the president of Peru arrive in Lima with the call for a great march

Renzo Gomez Vega

On the day of its anniversary, Lima, the capital that often lives on the margins of what is happening in the rest of the country, received thousands of Peruvians who demand to be heard.

The arrival, throughout Wednesday, was not easy: in recent days, the Police reinforced its controls on the highways, preventing the protesters from various regions, mainly from the mountains.

The purpose: to weaken the protest that has been set for this Thursday baptized as the Great March of the Four Theirs, alluding to the social mobilization that put an end to the Alberto Fujimori regime at the beginning of the 2000s. encircle the capital, founded as the City of Kings in January 1535.

Read the complete chronicle of Renzo Gómez from Lima here

(Photograph: A protester who was hit with a baton when the police tried to disperse a protest, this Wednesday in Lima. Credit: Martín Mejía | AP)

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 18:14

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"Urgent Constituent Assembly"

The demonstrators are not only demanding an electoral advance, which the Government and the majority of Congress have refused for the moment, but the installation of a Constituent Assembly.

Photograph by Martín Mejía (AP). 

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 17:10

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The country

"We are concerned about Peru: if there is no dialogue there will be more violence"

Stuardo Ralón, vice president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, observes a deterioration in public debate and a stigmatization towards a sector of the population.

You can read here the interview with this envoy of the multilateral organization, who traveled to Peru from January 11 to 13, visiting the regions most affected by the repression such as Juliaca, Ayacucho and Cusco.

The mission: listen to all voices —from the president, Dina Boluarte, to the families of the victims— and prepare a diagnosis to put an end to the climate of violence that has claimed the lives of more than 50 Peruvians. 

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 17:03

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The country

The reasons for the crisis

The crisis in Peru began on December 7, when former President Pedro Castillo, now detained, tried to carry out a self-coup by dissolving Congress, the most discredited institution in the country.

The almost immediate inauguration of Dina Boluarte and the refusal of the parliamentary majority to advance elections were the breeding ground for a wave of mobilizations and roadblocks.

The repression by the police did not stop the demonstrators, who managed to reach Lima amid enormous tension.   

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 16:57

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The country

The great march of Lima

Hello.

The protests against the president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, have reached Lima after a month and a half of social unrest that has left more than 50 dead, mainly at the hands of the security forces.

The protesters, who came from the southern provinces of the country, spent the night on some university campuses and this Thursday afternoon they will try to march to the center of the capital while the security forces have surrounded their perimeter. 

ACT.19 JAN 2023 - 16:49

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