Peru: Protester killed as anti-government violence spreads to tourist city
CNN
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One protester is dead and at least 19 Peruvians police officers were injured in anti-government clashes in Cusco as officials in City tourism put medical facilities on red alert.
A statement by the Interior Minister said protesters tried to enter Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport during a curfew on Wednesday. The injured officers suffered head injuries and bruises, it added.
A member of the Anansaya Urinsaya indigenous community Ccollana de Anta was later said to have been killed in the city, bringing the death toll across the country to 48 since protests began in December following the ouster. former leftist President Pedro Castillo, according to the Peruvian newspaper. Report of the Ombudsman.
“We demand an immediate investigation to find those responsible for the death and take corresponding sanctions,” the Ombudsman said in a statement, according to Reuters news agency.
The Interior Department reports that the Cusco Regional Health Administration has placed all medical facilities on red alert.
Thousands of people paid their respects to the dead by marching coffins through the streets of Juliaca, the city where nearly half of the people died, before burying them with photos of the victims. , Reuters reported.
Peruvians carrying black flags also marched through the streets of the Puno region, some shouting “The bloodshed will never be forgotten!”
Peru’s top prosecutor’s office opened an investigation Tuesday into New President Dina Boluarte and senior cabinet ministers over the deadly clashes that swept the country following the overthrow of Castillo.
Protesters is demanding that Boluarte resign, dissolve Congress, change the constitution, and release Castillo.
However, the new government won a vote of confidence in Parliament by a large margin on Tuesday night. A loss would lead to a cabinet reshuffle and the resignation of Prime Minister Alberto Otárola.
The vote of confidence, a constitutional provision after the new prime minister took office, was passed with 73 votes in favor, 43 against and six abstentions.
The investigation comes after at least 18 people have died since Monday night during protests in the southern Puno region, including a Peruvian policeman who was burned to death by protesters.
Police confirmed to CNN Espanol on Tuesday that Peruvian officer Jose Luis Soncco Quispe died Monday night after being attacked by “unidentified subjects” while on patrol in Puno.
“We regret the sensitive death of José Luis Soncco Quispe. We extend our condolences to his family and closest friends. Rest in peace, policeman!” The Peruvian National Police wrote on Twitter.
A curfew will be imposed from 8pm to 4am local time “to protect the lives, integrity and freedoms of citizens” following the conflicts in Puno, the Council of Ministers tweeted. on Tuesday.
The recent unrest proved to be the worst violence in Peru since the 1990s as the country saw clashes between the state and the Shining Path rebel group. That violence left 69,000 people dead or missing over a two-decade period, according to Reuters.