Lima, March 2. Two journalists denounced this Thursday the attacks which would have been committed by the Police during an anti-government march organized in the historic center of Lima at the call mainly of Peruvians from the south of the country to demand the resignation of the president, Dina Boluarte .
The National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP) pointed out on its Twitter account that photojournalist Juan Zapata of the Wayka store was attacked by a policeman while recording protesters being evacuated from the intersection of two streets in the center of the city.
This collected the testimony of Zapata, who indicated that “agents made fun of him before hitting him on the neck with a stick”, and the organization accompanied the information with a photo of him with a injury.
For her part, the journalist of La República, Vanessa Trebejo, denounced having been attacked by this same agent with a stick while she was broadcasting the march live on social networks for the media.
During the peaceful march this Thursday, the police threw tear gas canisters in the central square of San Martín and, according to the national coordinator for human rights, the security forces fired pellets.
“We denounce the illegal use of rubber balls against Aymara demonstrators in La Molina. According to the directive (…), the Peruvian police can only use them against those who commit acts of vandalism”, declared the organization in its network profile. with images of injured people.
This week, Peruvians coming mostly from the departments of the south of the country arrived in Lima to take part this Saturday in the march entitled “Second takeover of Lima”, in reference to the large demonstration which took place on the 19 January and in which thousands of people participated to demand the resignation of Boluarte among other demands.
The protests, which began in December after former President Pedro Castillo’s failed self-coup (2021-2022), demand, in addition to the resignation of the president, the closure of Congress, the advancement of elections to 2023 and the convening of a Constituent Assembly.
According to the Ombudsman, 48 people died in clashes with the security forces during the demonstrations, while a policeman lost his life after being burned alive and 11 other people died because of roadblocks erected by protesters.
President Boluarte also confirmed another death from the same causes, that of a patient who was due to travel to Lima but was held up in the blockades, and Unicef reported the death of a baby to to be born, in addition to the death of a woman in the northern region of La Libertad, reported by the police.
Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otárola confirmed on January 19 the death of four Haitian citizens in Desaguadero, and a few days later the UNHCR raised the number to seven.
UNHCR said the seven Haitians were stranded, exposed to climatic adversity and limited access to basic services. EFE
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