The protests unleashed in Peru after the removal and arrest of former President Pedro Castillo – who tried to dissolve Congress and establish an emergency government – have left at least 18 dead, according to figures from the Ministry of Health.
Since Castillo’s departure on December 7, protests have spread throughout Peru, but have been especially violent in some areas of the interior of the country. In other cases they expressed themselves peacefully.
The situation led to the first resignations in the cabinet of Dina Boluarte.
The Minister of Education, Patricia Correa, presented her resignation on Friday, arguing that the death of compatriots in social protests “has no justification.”
Shortly after, the resignation of the Minister of Culture, Jair Pérez Brañez, followed for the same reasons.
This same Friday, after a long session that had started on Thursday, Congress did not approve the bill to advance the elections.
Although 49 congressmen voted in favor of the constitutional reform project that proposed the electoral advance, 33 did so against and 25 abstained, so it did not go ahead.
Tension in Ayacucho and stranded tourists
Protesters tried Thursday to seize the airport of Ayacucho, an Andean city located about 390 kilometers southeast of Lima, after the government of Dina Boluarte declared a state of national emergency on Wednesday.
The clash between the military and the police with the demonstrators left eight dead and 52 injured on that day alone, according to the Ayacucho Regional Health Directorate.
Also on Thursday, the Boluarte government decreed mandatory social immobilization for five days in 15 provinces of the country and, on the same day, a judge ordered 18 months of preventive detention for Castillo, accused of the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy.
In addition, some 5,000 tourists were stranded in Cusco, Darwin Baca, the mayor of Machu Picchu, told the AFP agency, whose visitors base themselves in Cusco.
Cusco airport was closed on Monday after protesters wanted to storm the terminal.
The train service that goes from Machu Picchu to Cusco was suspended since Tuesday and some 800 tourists were stranded in the ancient Inca city, Baca added.