Peru death toll rises to 46 amid extraordinary violence

"What happened yesterday was really a massacre", said a human rights activist.
LIMA, Peru - At least 17 people were killed in southern Peru within hours on Monday amid ongoing protests over the ousting of the former president, a spasm of extraordinary violence that has led to criticism of excessive force by the military and police.< /p>
The deaths have heightened concerns about the continued growth of protests.
< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Peru, the fifth most populous country in Latin America, has been the scene of violent protests since mid-December, when the country's leftist President Pedro Castillo, who promised to tackle longstanding issues of poverty and inequality, attempted to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. The move was widely condemned as unconstitutional, and Mr. Castillo was arrested and replaced by his vice president.
Mr. Castillo's supporters, many of whom live in poor rural areas, quickly took to the streets to demand new general elections, with many saying they had been denied the right to be ruled by the man they elected a year earlier.
The violence in the southern town of Juliaca near the border with Bolivia on Monday marked the deadliest clash between civilians and armed actors in Peru for at least two decades, when the country emerged from a dictatorship as well as a long and brutal fight with violent guerrillas, a conflict that left at least 70,000 dead, many of them civilians.
Tuesday, Jennie Dador, executive secretary of the National Human Rights The coordinator of the dr oits of Peru, an accountability group, blamed "indiscriminate 'What happened yesterday was truly a massacre,'" she said. "These are extrajudicial executions."
ImageRiot police clashed with protesters at Puno Monday. Credit...Juan Carlos Cisneros/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Peru's Interior Minister Victor Rojas said protests in Juliaca had started peacefully but turned violent around 3 p.m. when around 9,000 protesters attempted to take control of the airport and people armed with improvised weapons and explosives attacked the police.
Mr. Rojas claimed security forces acted within legal limits to defend themselves. "It became impossible to control the crowd," he said.
The country's protests began shortly after authorities arrested Mr. Castillo for rebellion on December 7. last month some protests were peaceful; in other cases, protesters have used slingshots to throw rocks, set up roadblocks on vital highways, torched government buildings and taken over airports.
When the new president, Dina Boluarte, a former ally of Mr. Castillo, declared a state of emergency in December, the military took to the streets to maintain order.
Monday's violence takes national toll since Mr. Castillo's ouster to at least 46 people,

World Jan 10, 2023 0 30 Add to Reading List

Peru death toll rises to 46 amid extraordinary violence

"What happened yesterday was really a massacre", said a human rights activist.

LIMA, Peru - At least 17 people were killed in southern Peru within hours on Monday amid ongoing protests over the ousting of the former president, a spasm of extraordinary violence that has led to criticism of excessive force by the military and police.< /p>

The deaths have heightened concerns about the continued growth of protests.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Peru, the fifth most populous country in Latin America, has been the scene of violent protests since mid-December, when the country's leftist President Pedro Castillo, who promised to tackle longstanding issues of poverty and inequality, attempted to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. The move was widely condemned as unconstitutional, and Mr. Castillo was arrested and replaced by his vice president.

Mr. Castillo's supporters, many of whom live in poor rural areas, quickly took to the streets to demand new general elections, with many saying they had been denied the right to be ruled by the man they elected a year earlier.

The violence in the southern town of Juliaca near the border with Bolivia on Monday marked the deadliest clash between civilians and armed actors in Peru for at least two decades, when the country emerged from a dictatorship as well as a long and brutal fight with violent guerrillas, a conflict that left at least 70,000 dead, many of them civilians.

Tuesday, Jennie Dador, executive secretary of the National Human Rights The coordinator of the dr oits of Peru, an accountability group, blamed "indiscriminate 'What happened yesterday was truly a massacre,'" she said. "These are extrajudicial executions."

ImageRiot police clashed with protesters at Puno Monday. Credit...Juan Carlos Cisneros/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Peru's Interior Minister Victor Rojas said protests in Juliaca had started peacefully but turned violent around 3 p.m. when around 9,000 protesters attempted to take control of the airport and people armed with improvised weapons and explosives attacked the police.

Mr. Rojas claimed security forces acted within legal limits to defend themselves. "It became impossible to control the crowd," he said.

The country's protests began shortly after authorities arrested Mr. Castillo for rebellion on December 7. last month some protests were peaceful; in other cases, protesters have used slingshots to throw rocks, set up roadblocks on vital highways, torched government buildings and taken over airports.

When the new president, Dina Boluarte, a former ally of Mr. Castillo, declared a state of emergency in December, the military took to the streets to maintain order.

Monday's violence takes national toll since Mr. Castillo's ouster to at least 46 people,