Peru’s new government declared a state of emergency on Wednesday because it struggled to calm violent protests over the removal of President Pedro Castillo, suspending rights to “personal security and freedom” across the Andean nation for 30 days.
Vandalism, violence and highway blockades with 1000’s of Peruvians on the streets “demand a strong and authoritative government response,” said Defense Minister Luis Otarola Peñaranda.
The declaration suspends the rights of assembly and freedom of movement, and authorizes the police, backed by the military, to go looking people’s homes without permission or a court order. Otarola said it had not been determined whether a curfew could be imposed.
Peru has been devastated by almost a week of political crisis and unrest that has weakened stability.
![A police line heading towards a group of protesters in Arequipa, Peru Wednesday, Dec. 14.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/AP22348606368346.jpg?w=1024)
The troubles “are growing on such a scale that the very idea of order, the very idea of a power that may by some means rule a country, is being called into query,” said Jorge Aragón, a professor of political science on the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
He added that the decree is “a way of wanting to regain a certain minimal stability, a certain minimal functioning of the country, but of course it is usually a recognition that without this use of force it can’t be achieved.”
The pinnacle of the Ministry of National Defense said that the declaration had been accepted by the Council of Ministers. It didn’t mention Peru’s new president, Dina Boluartewhich was sworn in by Congress last week hours after lawmakers overthrew Castillo.
Boluarte pleaded for calm as demonstrations against her and Congress continued.
“Peru must not spill blood,” she said on Wednesday.
Referring to the demands for immediate elections, she implied that they may very well be held in a 12 months, 4 months before her earlier proposal, which has not appeased anyone.
![A currency exchange worker is surrounded by police in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday. December 14.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/AP22348855217076.jpg?w=1024)
Boluarte presented reporters with the likelihood of scheduling general elections for December 2023 just before the hearing to find out if Castillo would remain in prison for 18 months while the authorities are constructing a rebel case against him. The judge adjourned the hearing after Castillo declined to attend.
“The one thing I can let you know, sisters and brothers, is to remain calm,” Boluarte said. “We already had this experience within the 80s and 90s and I feel that we are not looking for to return to this painful history.”
Co-worker Castillo’s remarks recalled the ruinous years when the Shining Path insurgency presided over quite a few automobile bombings and assassinations. The group has been blamed for greater than half of the nearly 70,000 estimated deaths and disappearances attributable to various rebel groups and the government’s violent counter-insurgency response.
![Protesters near the capital Lima are calling for the immediate release of former President Castillo from national police custody before trial.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/AP22347597996052.jpg?w=1024)
Protesters blocked streets in Peru’s capital and lots of rural communitiesdemanding Castillo’s freedom, Boluarte’s resignation, and the immediate scheduling of general elections to decide on a new president and replace all members of Congress.
A minimum of seven people have been killed, including a teenager who died Wednesday from injuries during protests in Andahuaylas, a hospital director said.
All of them died in the identical kind of impoverished communities that voters led the leader of the agricultural teachers’ union to victory last 12 months after promising a populist approach to governance.
Castillo was removed by lawmakers on December 7 after he tried to dissolve Congress before his third impeachment attempt. His vehicle was intercepted as he was traveling through the streets of Lima together with his security. Prosecutors accused him of attempting to seek political asylum on the Mexican embassy.
In a handwritten letter shared with The Associated Press on Wednesday by his associate Mauro Gonzales, Castillo asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intercede for his “rights and the rights of my Peruvian brothers who’re crying out for justice.” The Commission investigates allegations of human rights violations and prosecutes some cases.
Last week, protesters burned police stations, seized a runway utilized by the armed forces and invaded the runway of Arequipa International Airport, the gateway to some of Peru’s tourist attractions. The passenger train that takes visitors to Machu Picchu has been suspended, and roadblocks on the Pan-American Highway have been stuck in a trailer for days, spoiling food going to the capital.
![Soldiers and a military vehicle in Arequipa, Peru, Wednesday. December 14.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/AP22348664530146.jpg?w=1024)
Otarola on Tuesday said the overall number of people “causing this commotion” is lower than 8,000 across the country, an estimate that significantly underestimates Castillo’s support, who took office in July 2021 with a meager 50.1% share of the vote.
Boluarte said on Wednesday that 200 policemen were injured within the protests. and met at the very least two of them within the hospital.
Talking to an officer with facial injuries, the president said the protests were led by “one group” she didn’t discover.
“That is a group that pulls an uninformed community because surely many come to this protest and do not even know what to protest for,” Boluarte said. “But this smaller group that’s behind them is encouraging them to return out with these violent attitudes.”
By Wednesday, members of the armed forces had already been deployed to Arequipa and other areas outside of Lima. Securing rural areas removed from the capital may take longer.
![Police riots surround the corner of Lima amid protests and suspensions by the new government](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/AP22348855068327.jpg?w=1024)
Five of the deaths occurred in Andahuaylas, an Andean community whose impoverished inhabitants had long felt abandoned by the government and sometimes rebelled against it. College student Luis Torres joined a protest of about 2,000 people on Wednesday as several white vans carrying soldiers rolled through the streets.
“This measure is disproportionate. This shows the political uncertainty of the government now held by Mrs. Dina Boluarte,” Torres said. “We’re all marching peacefully for something just that we’re demanding. A minimum of Andahuaylas will proceed to fight.