Two dead and four injured in Peru protests to demand elections

A demonstrator gestures next to a bonfire during a protest demanding the dissolution of Congress and to hold democratic elections rather than recognize Dina Boluarte as Peru’s President, after the ouster of Peruvian leader Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru December 11, 2022. REUTERS

LIMA — Two teens were killed and four people injured in Peru on Sunday during protests demanding the country hold general elections following the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo, police and local authorities said.

President Dina Boluarte was sworn in last week after Castillo was sacked by Congress and arrested for attempting to dissolve the legislature in an effort to prevent an impeachment vote against him.

Demonstrators, many of them Castillo supporters, have for days demanded that Peru hold elections rather than allow Boluarte to stay in power until Castillo’s term ends in 2026. Some protesters also call for Congress to be shuttered.

The head of Peru’s ombudsman’s office, Eliana Revollar, told local radio station RPP that a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old died during clashes with police in the city of Andahuaylas, in the Andean region of Apurimac, “possibly as a result of gunshot wounds.”

Baltazar Lantaron, governor of the Apurimac region, told local television station Canal N that “four injuries are reported, treated at the health center, three of them (with wounds) to the scalp, with multiple injuries”.

The Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation, which manages the country’s airports, reported the closure of the Andahuaylas airport following attacks and acts of vandalism since last Saturday.

Protesters had set fire to the transmitter room, which is crucial for providing navigation services, it added.

The ombudsman’s office on Saturday said two police officers were held for hours by protesters in Andahuaylas, but were later released. Clashes on Saturday left 16 civilians and four policemen injured, it said.

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