PERU: Peru’s newly elected government declared a national emergency on Wednesday as it struggled to contain violent protests over President Pedro Castillo’s ouster. It suspended the rights to “personal security and freedom” throughout the Andean nation for 30 days.
Peru declares national emergency as protests errupt
Defense Minister Luis Otarola Pearanda stated that highway blockades, vandalism, and acts of violence, while thousands of Peruvians are on the streets require a strong response from the government.
The declaration grants the police, aided by the military, the authority to search individuals’ homes without permission or judicial order and the suspension of the rights to assembly and freedom of movement. Otarola stated that whether there would be a night-time curfew is still undecided.
Jorge Aragón, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, who teaches political science, said that the issues have been increasing in a manner that questions the state of law and order in the country.
He said that the decree is a way of grabbing back certain minimum stability for the proper functioning of the country. He added that “the emergency is also the recognition that the government cannot achieve the desired stability without that use of force.”
The defence minister stated that the council of ministers approved the declaration. It did not mention Dina Boluarte, Peru’s new president, sworn in by Congress just hours after lawmakers removed Castillo. As demonstrations against her and Congress continued, Boluarte pleaded for calm.
Boluarte floated the possibility of scheduling general elections for December 2023 to columnists not long before a conference to decide if Castillo would stay imprisoned for quite some time while specialists fabricate a disobedience body of evidence against him.
After Castillo refused to participate, the judge moved the hearing forward. Officials expelled Castillo on December 7th after he tried to dissolve the Congress ahead of their third impeachment attempt.
As he and his security team drove through the streets of Lima, the Peruvian police stopped their vehicle and took him into custody. The prosecution accused him of attempting to get political asylum at the Mexican Embassy.
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