Clashes between security forces and demonstrators protesting in the south of the Peru have caused the death this Monday to 17 people in the city of Juliaca, several of them from gunshot wounds, with which those who died in the mobilizations against the Government of Dina Boluarte rose to 46.
According to information from the Ministry of Health and the Ombudsman’s Office, most of the 17 demonstrators died in the clashes that occurred in the vicinity of the Juliaca airportepicenter of the protests that demand the resignation of Boluarte, the closure of Congress, new elections this year and a constituent assembly.
The Ombudsman, Eliana Revollar, has pointed out to Canal N that among the victims there are a minor under 17 years of age and has regretted that the mobilization this Monday in Juliaca “has become very violent.”
In this sense, he has mentioned that the protesters use “homemade weapons” and has urged them to act peacefully without “these levels of violence”. “The solution to this problem is political. That is why we call on Congress and the Government to find a real way out,” he concluded.
For his part, the director of the Regional Health Directorate (Diresa) in Puno, Ismael Cornejo, explained to the same outlet that the first deceased on Monday died of a gunshot wound to the head and the second for one gunshot wound to the lungwhich destroyed that organ.
In addition to the people killed in direct clashes with law enforcement, the Ombudsman’s Office has reported one death from “facts related to the road blockade” in the district of Chucuito, also in Puno.
Is about a 35 week old baby that he died in the ambulance that was taking him to a regional hospital, where he had been referred to a specialist due to respiratory failure and sepsis.
So far, President Boluarte has not ruled on the 17 deaths on Monday, with which they already add 46 people who lost their lives in a month with her in office.
Of this total, 36 died in confrontations and another 7 “due to traffic accidents and events related to the blockade” of roads, according to the Ombudsman’s Office.
Boluarte blames the “radical left”
Hours before the deaths were confirmed, the president declared that the sectors of extreme left who supported the ousted former president Pedro Castillo in the failed coup they are now asking for a series of demands that are only “a pretext to continue generating chaos in the cities.”
The head of state has said that the “radical left has already changed its message”, after initially demanding the release of Castillo in the protest demonstrations, and that “now they are saying” that she wants to “stay until 2026”.
However, Boluarte recalled that he has already asked Congress to “early elections” for 2024 and Parliament approved it in its first required vote, so it must be ratified in a second round.
“They are deceiving them, they are lying to them, it is not in my hands. (…) If they want to win the next elections, do not lie, do not cheathave the courage to tell the truth”, said Boluarte during the installation of a session of the national agreement, which brings together the representatives of the powers of the State, political forces and regional governors in the Government Palace.
after one truce for Christmasthe protests in the south of the country, where Cuzco, Puno and Apurímac are, have resumed since last Wednesday and some regions announce indefinite strikes and mobilizations, which has generated the closure of terminals and transportation since the biggest clashes with the Police have been recorded in the vicinity of these places.
Source: Lasexta
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
