People perform during a demonstration against the government of Peru’s President Dina Boluarte on February 9, 2023, in Lima. Thousands of people marched in several Peruvian cities, in new demonstrations for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and in commemoration of the deaths of 18 civilians a month ago in Juliaca (south), in a violent protest. (Photo by ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP)
Lima, Peru — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Friday called for a multiparty dialogue to help resolve her country’s political crisis, saying two months of sometimes deadly anti-government protests had left the nation a “fragile democracy.”
Boluarte became president on December 7, after her predecessor Pedro Castillo was impeached and arrested after attempting to dissolve Congress and rule by decree.
But since that day she has faced calls to resign by protesters also demanding fresh elections.
Demonstrations have at times turned violent and officials on Friday announced a new death, bringing the total number of people killed in clashes between security forces and protesters to 49.
“We are living in a fragile democracy,” said Boluarte, who has refused to resign and failed in a bid to convince Congress to bring forward elections slated for 2026.
“I think it is the most fragile in Latin America, but it is within Peruvians, within us, to strengthen democracy,” Boluarte told reporters at a press conference alongside her cabinet ministers.
Boluarte is Peru’s sixth president since March 2018 and the first woman to hold the role.
She was Castillo’s vice president before he was ousted and charged with rebellion.
Demonstrations against her rule have been fiercest in poor southern regions with large Indigenous populations who view Castillo as one of their own.
Among their other demands are the dissolution of Congress and the formation of a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution, something roundly rejected by the right-wing opposition.
“In search of peace, I openly call all political leaders of every single party, but also the leaders of social and labor organizations, everyone in general so that we can meet and put the country’s agenda on the table,” said Boluarte.
In December, Boluarte called on Congress to bring forward elections but parliament rejected the idea in five separate votes — despite an initial vote in favor, which was subsequently never ratified.
During the press conference Boluarte noted the latest protester death, a 22-year-old who was shot Thursday in Apurimac, the region where she herself was born.
“I am very sorry for the death of the citizen in Apurimac yesterday, in that confrontation in which an interprovincial transport bus was set on fire, the toll booth set on fire. My condolences from here to the family,” Boluarte said.
But she noted that some of the street protests rocking the nation “are not peaceful. They come out with sticks, slingshots, rocks, which are also projectiles that cause damage.”
“Not all are marching peacefully. They are coming out to generate violence, chaos and terror.”