Protests move into Peru’s capital amid smoke and tear gas

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Thousands of protesters poured into Peru’s capital Thursday, clashing with police amid tear gas and smoke and demanding the ouster of President Dina Boluarte. Many of them came from the remote Andean region, where 55 people died. unrest since Peru’s first president from a rural Andean background Was removed from office last month.

The protests have seen Peru’s worst political violence in more than two decades and highlighted deep divisions between the country’s urban elite, largely concentrated in Lima, and poor rural areas. Eduardo Castillo, the former President of Peru, has been in detention He was likely to be tried for rebellion after being impeached following a failed attempt by Congress to dissolve it.

The day was quiet except for a few clashes and teargas. The government asked everyone to work from home. The violence escalated and, late Thursday night, a massive fire broke out at a nearby building. Although no connection was immediately established to the protests, it was a sign of the rising tensions.

Anger at Boluarte was the common thread Thursday as protesters chanted calls for her resignation and street sellers hawked T-shirts saying, “Out, Dina Boluarte,” “Dina murderer, Peru repudiates you,” and “New elections, let them all leave.”

Peru’s ombudsman said at least 13 civilians and four police officers were injured in the Lima protests Thursday. A total of 22 police officers and 16 civilians were injured Thursday throughout the country, Interior Minister Vicente Romero Fernández said.

Protesters blamed Boluarte for the violence. “Our God says thou shalt not kill your neighbor. Dina Boluarte is killing, she’s making brothers fight,” Paulina Consac said as she carried a large Bible while marching in downtown Lima with more than 2,000 protesters from Cusco.

Many Lima residents also joined today’s protests, with strong presences from students and union members.

“We’re at a breaking point between dictatorship and democracy,” said Pedro Mamani, a student at the National University of San Marcos, where demonstrators who traveled for the protest were being housed.

The university was surrounded by police officers, who also deployed at key points of Lima’s historic downtown district — 11,800 officers in all, according to Victor Zanabria, the head of the Lima police force.

Boluarte was defiant Thursday night in a televised speech alongside key government officials in which she thanked police for controlling the “violent protests” and vowed to prosecute those responsible for violence. Boluarte stated that she supports the plan to hold elections in 2024 for Congress and president, which is two years earlier than originally planned.

The president also criticized the protesters for “not having any kind of social agenda that the country needs,” accused them of “wanting to break the rule of law” and raised questions about their financing.

Protests were a cat-and mouse game for most of the day. Demonstrators threw rocks at police officers in an attempt to break through the lines. Officers responded with tear gas that sent protesters running, and rags with vinegar to soothe the pain.

“We’re surrounded,” said Sofia López, 42, as she sat on a bench outside the country’s Supreme Court. “We’ve tried going through numerous places and we end up going around in circles.” Lopez came from Carabayllo, around 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital.

Protests transformed key roads in Lima into large pedestrian areas by the early afternoon.

Protesters expressed frustration at not being able to march to Miraflores District, an emblematic area of the economic elite, eight kilometers away from downtown.

“We’re surrounded,” said Sofia López, 42, as she sat on a bench outside the country’s Supreme Court. “We’ve tried going through numerous places and we end up going around in circles.” Lopez came from Carabayllo, around 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital.

A large number of police officers separated protestors from those expressing support for law enforcement in a Miraflores Park. To disperse the demonstrators, police also used tear gas.

Demonstrators brought the protest to Lima in an attempt to add weight to the movement, which began on December 7, when Boluarte was elected to replace Castillo.

“When there are tragedies, bloodbaths outside the capital it doesn’t have the same political relevance in the public agenda than if it took place in the capital,” said Alonso Cárdenas, a public policy professor at the Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University in Lima.

Protests were also held elsewhere and video posted on social media showed demonstrators trying to storm the airport in southern Arequipa, Peru’s second city. They were blocked by police and one person was killed in the ensuing clashes, Peru’s ombudsman said.

That was one of three airports that suffered attacks from protesters Thursday, Boluarte said, adding it wasn’t “a mere coincidence” they were stormed on the same day.

As the sun set, flames flared in downtown Lima. Protesters hurled rocks at officers who used so much teargas it was difficult for them to see.

“I’m feeling furious,” said Verónica Paucar, 56, coughing from the tear gas. “We’re going to return peacefully.”

Clashes escalated after dark, and late Thursday evening, a raging inferno broke out in an old building near the protests that were taking place in Plaza San Martín in downtown Lima, but its relationship to the demonstrations was not immediately clear. Images show people running to get their belongings outside the building which is close to many government offices.

Activists have dubbed Thursday’s demonstration in Lima as the Cuatro Suyos March, a reference to the four cardinal points of the Inca empire. It’s also the name given to a massive 2000 mobilization, when thousands of Peruvians took to the streets against the autocratic government of Alberto Fujimori, who resigned months later.

But there are key differences between those demonstrations and this week’s protests.

“In 2000, the people protested against a regime that was already consolidated in power,” Cárdenas said. “In this case, they’re standing up to a government that has only been in power for a month and is incredibly fragile.”

Protests of 2000 had a central leadership, and were also led by political parties.

The latest protests have largely been grassroots efforts without a clear leadership, a dynamic that was clear Thursday as protesters often seemed lost and didn’t know where to head next as their path was continually blocked by law enforcement.

The protests have grown to such a degree that demonstrators are unlikely to be satisfied with Boluarte’s resignation and are now demanding more fundamental structural reform.

Protesters said that they wouldn’t be cowed on Thursday

“This isn’t ending today, it won’t end tomorrow, but only once we achieve our goals,” said 61-year-old David Lozada as he looked on at a line of police officers wearing helmets and carrying shields blocking protesters from leaving downtown Lima. “I don’t know what they’re thinking, do they want to spark a civil war?”

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Associated Press journalist Mauricio Muñoz contributed.