Around 47 people have been killed in violent clashes between police and supporters of former President Pedro Castillo in Peru. Seventeen of those deaths occurred in a single clash on Monday.
Castillo, a leftist, attempted to dissolve Congress last month ahead of an impeachment vote in what has been widely described as an attempted coup. The military refused to back Castillo, and that led to his ousting and arrest hours after his proclamation.
As his rebellion trial goes on, his supporters have taken to the streets with a list of demands: Castillo’s release, new elections, and the disbandment of the right-wing Congress.
Many of the protests have turned violent, and police and the military have retaliated with lethal force. On Monday alone, 17 protesters were killed, the New York Times reported.
The killings occurred in the southern mining region of Puno — an impoverished area that served as a bastion of support for Castillo, Reuters reported.
EX-PERUVIAN PRESIDENT CHARGED WITH REBELLION AND CONSPIRACY AFTER FAILED COUP
“In the south [Castillo] always had support and approval, so there is a sector that genuinely feels that they have removed the politician who represented them,” Jeffrey Radzinsky, director of political consultancy Grupo Fides Peru, told the outlet.
Interior Minister Victor Rojas said violence erupted Monday afternoon when 9,000 protesters attempted to storm an airport with makeshift guns and explosives. He maintains that police acted within their legal rights and committed no wrongdoing. Activists called the incident a massacre.
“What happened yesterday was really a massacre,” Jennie Dador, executive secretary of the National Human Rights Coordinator of Peru, told the New York Times. “These were extrajudicial killings.”
The killings have increased calls for President Dina Boluarte to resign. Several protesters stormed into Peru’s Congress on Tuesday with signs denouncing the police’s use of violence and demanding Boluarte’s resignation.
Hoy es un día trágico para el Perú por los más de 40 fallecidos, este gobierno tiene más muertos que días en el cargo, es imposible otorgarle el voto de confianza. ¡Otárola Ministro de la muerte! ¡Dina Boluarte renuncia! pic.twitter.com/4UjU7UCrKM
— Bancada Cambio Democrático – Juntos por el Perú (@BancadaCD_JP) January 10, 2023
Boluarte’s government has doubled down on its denial of any wrongdoing by security forces.
“We will not cease in our defense of the rule of the law,” Prime Minister Alberto Otarola said in a televised address while surrounded by ministers, the Guardian reported.
He alleged that the violence was carried out by violent groups funded by foreign interests and dark money that are working to “destroy the country.”
Doubling down on blaming foreign interests, the government banned leftist former President of Bolivia Evo Morales from entering the country, claiming he had a role in the violence.
Morales tweeted that he was being persecuted for simply asking the Peruvian government to stop the genocide of indigenous people.
Después de expulsar al embajador de México por defender la vida del presidente @PedroCastilloTe y su familia, la derecha del Perú nos prohíbe el ingreso a ese país hermano por hablar de la Asamblea Constituyente y pedir que paren el genocidio de nuestros hermanos indígenas pic.twitter.com/wUXhzXhDO3
— Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) January 9, 2023
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Of the 47 killed in the recent unrest, seven were the result of traffic accidents resulting from the erection of barricades by protesters who were able to shut down several key roads.
