Mother of God, Peru (TV Peru)
(CNN Spanish) --
The governor of the Madre de Dios department, in the Amazon region of Peru, fired at a group of protesters who allegedly tried to enter his home this Friday morning.
In various videos broadcast on social networks, it is observed how Luis Otsuka Salazar shoots several times with a long weapon from the window of his house towards the protesters who are throwing objects from the streets at his house.
Later, the governor explained in statements to the state channel TV Peru that around a thousand people tried to enter his house with flammable and sharp objects.
According to Otsuka, only six National Police officers were deployed to deal with this situation, and they did not have weapons to defend him.
“If I don't use my weapon right now I would have to regret it with my life.
If they came here they set me on fire, they burned me, because that was their purpose, ”explained Otsuka while members of the National Police and the Prosecutor's Office carried out the collection of evidence in his home.
Peru's embattled president, Dina Boluarte, may have eased the crisis, but instead made it worse.
What happened?
The governor called on the national government of President Dina Boluarte to seek a way out of the social and political crisis that the country is experiencing, including the closure of roads nationwide.
"I did not cause this strike, it is beyond my control, but the consequences of this irresponsibility I have to pay," said Otsuka.
advertising
Sources from the Ministry of the Interior confirmed to CNN that there was only material damage after the event and that, although 8 officers were deployed to protect the governor's house, in the large presence of the protesters the officers withdrew tactically.
The demonstrations in Madre de Dios take place only 24 hours after the national government announced that the Armed Forces and the National Police will begin to unblock the roads that have been declared in a state of emergency due to the blockades used as a protest against the government of the President Boluarte.
Madre de Dios has been one of the regions most affected by strikes nationwide.
According to the most recent report from the Ombudsman's Office, 29 provinces of the country register roadblocks.
Otsuka was elected governor in the municipal elections last October, representing the coalition of the Social Integration Party and Avanza País.
He had already been regional governor between 2015 and 2018.