Re: South America
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2023 4:28 pm
Thousands of Outraged Peruvians Continue to Arrive in Lima
Police attack citizens in the streets of Lima, Peru. | Photo: Twitter/ @ElTequeno
Published 19 January 2023 (22 hours 29 minutes ago)
"The protesters, who mostly come from the poorer regions, vent their anger against Lima's political elite," Reuters reported.
Despite the obstacles that the Peruvian security forces have tried to set, thousands of workers, farmers, and students from various regions of the country continue to arrive in Lima.
Outraged by a State terrorism that has left at least 52 dead, they will join the "March of the Four Nations," which demands the resignation of Dina Boluarte, whom Congress appointed as president on Dec.7, 2022.
"Her administration has more deaths than days in power," is what people repeat in protests, as they also demand the closure of Congress and early general elections in 2023.
"The Peruvian political establishment is corrupt and classist. They do not accept elections in 2023 because mining concessions expire this year and there is a lot of money at stake in commissions," explained Fidias Roldan, a Latin American intellectual.
"The clashes mark the worst violence Peru has seen in over two decades," the Reuters agency reported from this South American country.
The tweet reads, "At this time protesters are marching through the streets of Andahuaylas. Some are preparing to travel to Lima to join the strike."
"The protesters, who mostly come from the poorer regions, vent their anger against Lima's political elite," it added, commenting that this copper-rich country's democracy is currently being put to the test.
Meanwhile, the head of the Lima Police Region, Victor Zanabria, reported that 11,800 agents will take to the streets to "guard" the popular mobilizations, which will have San Martin Square as their epicenter and are expected to go through the main avenues.
On Wednesday, snipers fired at citizens who were protesting in Macusani city, in the Puno region, where a 35-year-old woman died from a gunshot wound to the head.
A few hours later, the Ombudsman's Office informed that Salomon Valenzuela also died. This citizen was also shot in what people are beginning to call the "Macusani massacre."
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Tho ... -0012.html
Peru: Protests in Arequipa Leave One Dead and 10 Injured
Groups of people participate in the march called the "taking of Lima" today, in Lima (Peru). | Photo: EFE/ Paolo Aguilar
Published 19 January 2023 (13 hours 59 minutes ago)
One person was killed and ten injured Thursday in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa in clashes amid anti-government demonstrations, the Ombudsman's Office said on Twitter.
"Arequipa: We regret the death of a person during clashes on the Añashuayco bridge, a road located in the north of the city. We ask the Peruvian Prosecutor's Office for a prompt investigation of the facts to determine responsibilities," the entity said.
It added that ten people were injured and taken to health centers in the area.
Protests were taking place in several cities of the country following a call for a national strike.
In the country's capital, Lima, thousands of people were protesting for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and several clashes with the police were reported.
Since December 10, several social protests have been taking place in Peru by citizen groups and organizations, demanding the resignation of Boluarte, appointed after the Congress dismissed her predecessor, Pedro Castillo (2021-2022), as well as the immediate call for early elections.
Until Wednesday afternoon, the Ombudsman's Office reported the death of 50 civilians in clashes with security forces, traffic accidents and blockades linked to the mobilizations, and one policeman who reportedly died as a result of violence by demonstrators.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Per ... -0020.html
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Snipers Shoot Peruvians and Kill a Woman in Macusani City
The sign reads,"Constituent Assembly Now." | Photo: Twitter/ @LaJornadaMaya
Published 19 January 2023
Outraged by State terrorism, citizens set fire to the judicial headquarters and a police station in the Puno region.
On Wednesday, the Carabaya Health Network confirmed the death of a 35-year-old woman from a gunshot wound to the head.
This took place during the protests against President Dina Boluarte in the city of Macusani, in the Puno region, where police snipers recorded themselves shooting at citizens.
The most recent victim of State terrorism was Sonia Aguilar Quispe, who was transported to the San Martin de Porres Hospital. Another citizen identified as Salomon Valenzuela was taken to the hospital, where he remains with a "reserved prognosis" due to open chest trauma.
The military and the police have caused the death of 52 people since Dec. 7, 2022, when Congress dismissed Pedro Castillo and appointed his vice president as President of the Republic.
The tweet reads, "Macusani, Puno. The police record themselves moments before shooting from a window in Carabaya. A sniper would have caused the death of 35-year-old Sonia and seriously injured another citizen who is in ICU. This It is irrefutable proof of the Carabaya massacre."
On Wednesday afternoon and evening, the Macusani district was the scene of strong protests. Outraged by the repression that the Boluarte regime has allowed, the citizens set fire to the judicial headquarters and a police station.
Despite the brutal repression they have experienced in the last month, thousands of Peruvians continue to head towards Lima to participate in "The March of the Four Nations" (La Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos).
This symbolic act seeks the resignation of Boluarte, the dissolution of Congress, the immediate call for general elections, and holding a Constituent Assembly.
To support these citizen demands, the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) and the National Assembly of the Peoples (ANP) called a national strike this Thursday. Meanwhile, Boluarte maintains that she will not resign from office.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Sni ... -0001.html
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More Police Repression as Thousands March in Lima & Demand Boluarte Resign
JANUARY 20, 2023
Protest banner showing a caricature of Boluarte holding a machine gun next to a caption that reads "Dina Balearte." Photo: Twitter/@renato_2026.
Caracas, January 19, 2023 (OrinocoTribune.com)—This Wednesday, for the second edition of the historic “March of the Four of Them” that, in 2000, with an unprecedented popular mobilization, demanded the departure of Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, thousands of demonstrators continued to arrive in Lima, the capital of the country, to demand the resignation of Dina Boluarte, de facto head of state after the overthrow of President Pedro Castillo.
Impressive images show the mobilization from the south of the country to the capital on the Pacific coast. The march occurs in the face of militarization country, marked by the attempt of security forces to create a perimeter around Lima, an action that has been denounced by the demonstrators joined by trade unions, campesinos, and social movements.
In just six weeks—two of them relatively calm due to a Christmas truce—more than 50 Peruvians have been killed by police and military forces, most of them murdered with live ammunition. Almost 30 of these lives were lost in massacres carried out by the coup regime in Ayacucho and Juliaca.
It is worth noting that the appointment of Boluarte, who was vice president of Pedro Castillo, as interim head of state, is being condemned by protesters as a stratagem perpetrated by the right-wing Fujimorismo that dominates Congress, widely repudiated by the majority of Peruvians who elected Castillo in 2021 as the first president not belonging to the power elites.
Castillo was deposed by the same Congress that appointed Boluarte, after torpedoing his administration even before he took office. During Castillo’s 18 months in office, Congress moved to vacate his presidency four times, with the final attempt occurring on December 7, the day President Castillo was overthrown and imprisoned.
Castillo’s arrest is classified as illegal and his ousting was labeled by several governments in Latin America as a coup. The Peruvian Judiciary has agreed to review a request for habeas corpus for Castillo, who has been imprisoned for 18 months without trial for alleged sedition.
National strike until Boluarte steps down
The General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) organized a general strike starting Thursday, January 19. It has called for mobilizations every Thursday until Boluarte resigns.
Intimidation from the government
CGTP stated that on Monday, the Police arrived at the headquarters of the telephone workers union, where the National Assembly of the Peoples (ANP) had been convened, and “intimidated those attending the assembly, and imprisoned the leader, Teresa Yamile Natividad Villegas Montoya, for an indictment in Cajamarca, a place he does not know.”
They also repudiated the arrest, last weekend, of Henry Mena, general secretary of the CGTP San Martín, alongside 14 leaders in a protest against the de facto government. Subsequently, it was announced that Mena was released.
Andahuaylas is already in Lima
The mobilization to Lima brought thousands of protesters from Andahuaylas, a city about 700 kilometers away from the capital, who complained of being intimidated before arriving in the capital. The buses that transported them were requisitioned by the police and the military, but they finally passed the militarized checkpoints after showing that they did not bring weapons to cause violence.
Security forces attempted to prevent the arrival of demonstrators at the historic “March of the Four of Them.” Another tactic used was the demand for drivers and occupants of the buses provide documentation before passing military checkpoints.
A significant number of those mobilized are concentrated at the University of San Marcos, the oldest on the continent, where the students offered shelter to those arriving in the capital, while the university authorities, it transpired, are requesting the eviction of the protesters.
Resignation of Boluarte, early elections, new Constitution, and dissolution of Congress
Everardo Cadillo, general secretary in Lima of the national union organization, stated that the union also demands the closure of Congress and immediate elections, the Peruvian press reported on Wednesday.
Cadillo stated that the national assembly of delegates of the CGTP, held on Saturday the 14th, with the agreement of the board of directors, approved the national strike as a measure to demand the resignation of Dina Boluarte and the closure of Congress, which, they say, must be changed and its new members elected by consensus. He is also part of the protest demanding a consultation with the population, during the elections that must be held as soon as possible, on the possibility of rewriting the Constitution (one of the central promises of Castillo’s campaign). Meanwhile, grassroots movements continue to demand the immediate release of President Castillo.
Support in Lima for the “March of the Four of Them”
“The national assembly of delegates (from the General Confederation of Workers of Peru) agreed to hold vigils to collect resources to support brothers from the south or any compañero who comes to Lima, because they are coming in large numbers and every Thursday of each week we will mobilize,” explained Cadillo in an interview with the Regional Communication Network (RCR) of Peru.
“When Dina Boluarte convened the CGTP, we went to the Government Palace to tell her that she should evaluate her resignation [and] call new elections as soon as possible, so that in these elections the population can be asked if they want a new Constitution,” he added. “We told her face to face. She told us that she was going to think about it.”
More deaths in Puno
A second protester who was seriously injured after being shot with live ammunition on Wednesday during the protests in Macusani, in the Puno region, in southern Peru, died this Thursday, reported the Ombudsperson’s Office, according to AFP.
“After serious injuries, Salomón Valenzuela died this morning (Thursday, January 19) after not surviving an operation at the Macusani hospital,” a source from the Ombudsperson’s Office told AFP. His death marks the second fatality of the police repression against a road block in Macusani , capital of the province of the same name in the department of Puno, in the southeast of Peru.
Demonstrators received with more repression
More demonstrators arrived in Lima on Thursday and were met with armored vehicles deployed by the de facto authorities all over the Peruvian capital. Kawsachun News reported in a tweet: “Peru’s coup regime has deployed armored vehicles against protesters in Lima.”
During the night hours of Thursday, Wayka Peru also reported, on its social media accounts, how the police repression was launched against ordinary Peruvians tired of being neglected by the elite of Lima and the oligarchy. Wayka posted several photos showing demonstrators being subjected to extreme violence.
A few minutes later, Kawsachun News posted a video showing protesters still marching in the streets of Lima despite police repression. “Despite repression, anti-coup protesters in Lima, Peru, continue in the streets calling for the fall of the regime,” the Bolivian news outlet wrote.
Almost simultaneously, Telesur journalist Nacho Lemus reported a fire in a building near Plaza San Martín in Lima. He explained that protesters claimed the demonstration had been sabotaged. Other posts on social media platforms refer to the fire as an incident replicating the tactics used against protesters by Vladimiro Montesinos and Alberto Fujimori.
Many were expecting a televised address by Dina Boluarte and the Peruvian de facto authorities, hoping for Boluarte’s resignation but analysts remain doubtful.
In a very suspicious move, the US embassy in Peru published, on Thursday night, a statement calling on the Peruvian de facto government to respect human rights and the right to protest. Many analysts are skeptical of this type of statement issuing from the US embassy, and some believe this may be an indication of a new US strategy.
Dina Boluarte, at the end of the night, did present a televised address, with the arrogant and supremacist tone she has been using for several weeks, accusing protesters of being “financed” to take the streets. Once again, Boluarte refused to perceive reality: that ordinary Peruvians are fed up with a political system that is anything but democratic.
Additionally, Boluarte dared to say that the agenda of the protesters is not the social agenda that Peru needs, and that the situation in Lima was “under control.” Not surprisingly, many Peruvians have begun referring to Boluarte as “Balearte,” which means “someone shouting at you” in Spanish.
https://orinocotribune.com/more-police- ... te-resign/
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Police attack citizens in the streets of Lima, Peru. | Photo: Twitter/ @ElTequeno
Published 19 January 2023 (22 hours 29 minutes ago)
"The protesters, who mostly come from the poorer regions, vent their anger against Lima's political elite," Reuters reported.
Despite the obstacles that the Peruvian security forces have tried to set, thousands of workers, farmers, and students from various regions of the country continue to arrive in Lima.
Outraged by a State terrorism that has left at least 52 dead, they will join the "March of the Four Nations," which demands the resignation of Dina Boluarte, whom Congress appointed as president on Dec.7, 2022.
"Her administration has more deaths than days in power," is what people repeat in protests, as they also demand the closure of Congress and early general elections in 2023.
"The Peruvian political establishment is corrupt and classist. They do not accept elections in 2023 because mining concessions expire this year and there is a lot of money at stake in commissions," explained Fidias Roldan, a Latin American intellectual.
"The clashes mark the worst violence Peru has seen in over two decades," the Reuters agency reported from this South American country.
The tweet reads, "At this time protesters are marching through the streets of Andahuaylas. Some are preparing to travel to Lima to join the strike."
"The protesters, who mostly come from the poorer regions, vent their anger against Lima's political elite," it added, commenting that this copper-rich country's democracy is currently being put to the test.
Meanwhile, the head of the Lima Police Region, Victor Zanabria, reported that 11,800 agents will take to the streets to "guard" the popular mobilizations, which will have San Martin Square as their epicenter and are expected to go through the main avenues.
On Wednesday, snipers fired at citizens who were protesting in Macusani city, in the Puno region, where a 35-year-old woman died from a gunshot wound to the head.
A few hours later, the Ombudsman's Office informed that Salomon Valenzuela also died. This citizen was also shot in what people are beginning to call the "Macusani massacre."
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Tho ... -0012.html
Peru: Protests in Arequipa Leave One Dead and 10 Injured
Groups of people participate in the march called the "taking of Lima" today, in Lima (Peru). | Photo: EFE/ Paolo Aguilar
Published 19 January 2023 (13 hours 59 minutes ago)
One person was killed and ten injured Thursday in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa in clashes amid anti-government demonstrations, the Ombudsman's Office said on Twitter.
"Arequipa: We regret the death of a person during clashes on the Añashuayco bridge, a road located in the north of the city. We ask the Peruvian Prosecutor's Office for a prompt investigation of the facts to determine responsibilities," the entity said.
It added that ten people were injured and taken to health centers in the area.
Protests were taking place in several cities of the country following a call for a national strike.
In the country's capital, Lima, thousands of people were protesting for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and several clashes with the police were reported.
Since December 10, several social protests have been taking place in Peru by citizen groups and organizations, demanding the resignation of Boluarte, appointed after the Congress dismissed her predecessor, Pedro Castillo (2021-2022), as well as the immediate call for early elections.
Until Wednesday afternoon, the Ombudsman's Office reported the death of 50 civilians in clashes with security forces, traffic accidents and blockades linked to the mobilizations, and one policeman who reportedly died as a result of violence by demonstrators.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Per ... -0020.html
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Snipers Shoot Peruvians and Kill a Woman in Macusani City
The sign reads,"Constituent Assembly Now." | Photo: Twitter/ @LaJornadaMaya
Published 19 January 2023
Outraged by State terrorism, citizens set fire to the judicial headquarters and a police station in the Puno region.
On Wednesday, the Carabaya Health Network confirmed the death of a 35-year-old woman from a gunshot wound to the head.
This took place during the protests against President Dina Boluarte in the city of Macusani, in the Puno region, where police snipers recorded themselves shooting at citizens.
The most recent victim of State terrorism was Sonia Aguilar Quispe, who was transported to the San Martin de Porres Hospital. Another citizen identified as Salomon Valenzuela was taken to the hospital, where he remains with a "reserved prognosis" due to open chest trauma.
The military and the police have caused the death of 52 people since Dec. 7, 2022, when Congress dismissed Pedro Castillo and appointed his vice president as President of the Republic.
The tweet reads, "Macusani, Puno. The police record themselves moments before shooting from a window in Carabaya. A sniper would have caused the death of 35-year-old Sonia and seriously injured another citizen who is in ICU. This It is irrefutable proof of the Carabaya massacre."
On Wednesday afternoon and evening, the Macusani district was the scene of strong protests. Outraged by the repression that the Boluarte regime has allowed, the citizens set fire to the judicial headquarters and a police station.
Despite the brutal repression they have experienced in the last month, thousands of Peruvians continue to head towards Lima to participate in "The March of the Four Nations" (La Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos).
This symbolic act seeks the resignation of Boluarte, the dissolution of Congress, the immediate call for general elections, and holding a Constituent Assembly.
To support these citizen demands, the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) and the National Assembly of the Peoples (ANP) called a national strike this Thursday. Meanwhile, Boluarte maintains that she will not resign from office.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Sni ... -0001.html
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More Police Repression as Thousands March in Lima & Demand Boluarte Resign
JANUARY 20, 2023
Protest banner showing a caricature of Boluarte holding a machine gun next to a caption that reads "Dina Balearte." Photo: Twitter/@renato_2026.
Caracas, January 19, 2023 (OrinocoTribune.com)—This Wednesday, for the second edition of the historic “March of the Four of Them” that, in 2000, with an unprecedented popular mobilization, demanded the departure of Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, thousands of demonstrators continued to arrive in Lima, the capital of the country, to demand the resignation of Dina Boluarte, de facto head of state after the overthrow of President Pedro Castillo.
Impressive images show the mobilization from the south of the country to the capital on the Pacific coast. The march occurs in the face of militarization country, marked by the attempt of security forces to create a perimeter around Lima, an action that has been denounced by the demonstrators joined by trade unions, campesinos, and social movements.
In just six weeks—two of them relatively calm due to a Christmas truce—more than 50 Peruvians have been killed by police and military forces, most of them murdered with live ammunition. Almost 30 of these lives were lost in massacres carried out by the coup regime in Ayacucho and Juliaca.
It is worth noting that the appointment of Boluarte, who was vice president of Pedro Castillo, as interim head of state, is being condemned by protesters as a stratagem perpetrated by the right-wing Fujimorismo that dominates Congress, widely repudiated by the majority of Peruvians who elected Castillo in 2021 as the first president not belonging to the power elites.
Castillo was deposed by the same Congress that appointed Boluarte, after torpedoing his administration even before he took office. During Castillo’s 18 months in office, Congress moved to vacate his presidency four times, with the final attempt occurring on December 7, the day President Castillo was overthrown and imprisoned.
Castillo’s arrest is classified as illegal and his ousting was labeled by several governments in Latin America as a coup. The Peruvian Judiciary has agreed to review a request for habeas corpus for Castillo, who has been imprisoned for 18 months without trial for alleged sedition.
National strike until Boluarte steps down
The General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) organized a general strike starting Thursday, January 19. It has called for mobilizations every Thursday until Boluarte resigns.
Intimidation from the government
CGTP stated that on Monday, the Police arrived at the headquarters of the telephone workers union, where the National Assembly of the Peoples (ANP) had been convened, and “intimidated those attending the assembly, and imprisoned the leader, Teresa Yamile Natividad Villegas Montoya, for an indictment in Cajamarca, a place he does not know.”
They also repudiated the arrest, last weekend, of Henry Mena, general secretary of the CGTP San Martín, alongside 14 leaders in a protest against the de facto government. Subsequently, it was announced that Mena was released.
Andahuaylas is already in Lima
The mobilization to Lima brought thousands of protesters from Andahuaylas, a city about 700 kilometers away from the capital, who complained of being intimidated before arriving in the capital. The buses that transported them were requisitioned by the police and the military, but they finally passed the militarized checkpoints after showing that they did not bring weapons to cause violence.
Security forces attempted to prevent the arrival of demonstrators at the historic “March of the Four of Them.” Another tactic used was the demand for drivers and occupants of the buses provide documentation before passing military checkpoints.
A significant number of those mobilized are concentrated at the University of San Marcos, the oldest on the continent, where the students offered shelter to those arriving in the capital, while the university authorities, it transpired, are requesting the eviction of the protesters.
Resignation of Boluarte, early elections, new Constitution, and dissolution of Congress
Everardo Cadillo, general secretary in Lima of the national union organization, stated that the union also demands the closure of Congress and immediate elections, the Peruvian press reported on Wednesday.
Cadillo stated that the national assembly of delegates of the CGTP, held on Saturday the 14th, with the agreement of the board of directors, approved the national strike as a measure to demand the resignation of Dina Boluarte and the closure of Congress, which, they say, must be changed and its new members elected by consensus. He is also part of the protest demanding a consultation with the population, during the elections that must be held as soon as possible, on the possibility of rewriting the Constitution (one of the central promises of Castillo’s campaign). Meanwhile, grassroots movements continue to demand the immediate release of President Castillo.
Support in Lima for the “March of the Four of Them”
“The national assembly of delegates (from the General Confederation of Workers of Peru) agreed to hold vigils to collect resources to support brothers from the south or any compañero who comes to Lima, because they are coming in large numbers and every Thursday of each week we will mobilize,” explained Cadillo in an interview with the Regional Communication Network (RCR) of Peru.
“When Dina Boluarte convened the CGTP, we went to the Government Palace to tell her that she should evaluate her resignation [and] call new elections as soon as possible, so that in these elections the population can be asked if they want a new Constitution,” he added. “We told her face to face. She told us that she was going to think about it.”
More deaths in Puno
A second protester who was seriously injured after being shot with live ammunition on Wednesday during the protests in Macusani, in the Puno region, in southern Peru, died this Thursday, reported the Ombudsperson’s Office, according to AFP.
“After serious injuries, Salomón Valenzuela died this morning (Thursday, January 19) after not surviving an operation at the Macusani hospital,” a source from the Ombudsperson’s Office told AFP. His death marks the second fatality of the police repression against a road block in Macusani , capital of the province of the same name in the department of Puno, in the southeast of Peru.
Demonstrators received with more repression
More demonstrators arrived in Lima on Thursday and were met with armored vehicles deployed by the de facto authorities all over the Peruvian capital. Kawsachun News reported in a tweet: “Peru’s coup regime has deployed armored vehicles against protesters in Lima.”
During the night hours of Thursday, Wayka Peru also reported, on its social media accounts, how the police repression was launched against ordinary Peruvians tired of being neglected by the elite of Lima and the oligarchy. Wayka posted several photos showing demonstrators being subjected to extreme violence.
A few minutes later, Kawsachun News posted a video showing protesters still marching in the streets of Lima despite police repression. “Despite repression, anti-coup protesters in Lima, Peru, continue in the streets calling for the fall of the regime,” the Bolivian news outlet wrote.
Almost simultaneously, Telesur journalist Nacho Lemus reported a fire in a building near Plaza San Martín in Lima. He explained that protesters claimed the demonstration had been sabotaged. Other posts on social media platforms refer to the fire as an incident replicating the tactics used against protesters by Vladimiro Montesinos and Alberto Fujimori.
Many were expecting a televised address by Dina Boluarte and the Peruvian de facto authorities, hoping for Boluarte’s resignation but analysts remain doubtful.
In a very suspicious move, the US embassy in Peru published, on Thursday night, a statement calling on the Peruvian de facto government to respect human rights and the right to protest. Many analysts are skeptical of this type of statement issuing from the US embassy, and some believe this may be an indication of a new US strategy.
Dina Boluarte, at the end of the night, did present a televised address, with the arrogant and supremacist tone she has been using for several weeks, accusing protesters of being “financed” to take the streets. Once again, Boluarte refused to perceive reality: that ordinary Peruvians are fed up with a political system that is anything but democratic.
Additionally, Boluarte dared to say that the agenda of the protesters is not the social agenda that Peru needs, and that the situation in Lima was “under control.” Not surprisingly, many Peruvians have begun referring to Boluarte as “Balearte,” which means “someone shouting at you” in Spanish.
https://orinocotribune.com/more-police- ... te-resign/
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