Several thousand protesters, a place to make their voices heard: Lima. “We are going to the capital to raise our voice of protest,” said Jimmy Mamani, an Aymara indigenous leader from the Puno region.
The mayor of the village of San Isidro wants to believe that this march will be of the ilk of the demonstrations of July 2000 against the former autocrat Alberto Fujimori. Since Monday, hundreds of peasants like him have swallowed the 1,350 kilometers that separate them from the capital to organize a “peaceful” demonstration.
Overnight, dozens of protesters marched to San Martin Square, the historical epicenter of social movements in Lima. Since the protests began five weeks ago, at least 42 people have died in clashes between protesters and police, according to the Peruvian Ombudsman’s office.
Boiling situation since the dismissal of Pedro Castillo
At the heart of the demands: the resignation of Dina Boluarte, who replaced the deposed ex-president Pedro Castillo, the immediate holding of elections and the convening of a Constituent Assembly. Many, like Jimmy Mamani, believe that the government is “turning a deaf ear” after seeing all these requests rejected.
The situation has still not calmed down since the dismissal on December 7 of Pedro Castillo, whom Parliament accuses of an attempted coup. The former president had notably tried to dissolve Congress and govern by decree. Facts qualified as rebellion for which he is still detained.
In the south of the country, where Pedro Castillo has many supporters, some 200 residents of Andahuaylas were blocked by the police on their way to the capital.