Protests against the new president, Dina Boloart, grow in Peru – News

Protests against Peru’s new government escalated Sunday in the interior of the country, with demonstrations and a call for a national strike to demand the resignation of President Dina Boloart and call for new elections.

Mobilization has grown in cities north and south of the Andes for the fourth day, rejecting Congress and demanding the release of former leftist President Pedro Castillo, who was overthrown in the last seventh.

Thousands of people gathered in Cajamarca, Arequipa, Tacna, Andahuaylas, Huancayo, Cusco and Puno, according to images broadcast by local television stations. And in Andahuaylas, where protests left 16 civilians and four police officers injured on Saturday, clashes between demonstrators and police have resumed.

Indefinite shutdown

Agricultural unions, peasant and indigenous organizations have announced an indefinite strike starting next Tuesday, in addition to calls for a closure of Congress, early elections and a new constitution, according to a statement from Peru’s Agricultural and Rural Front. The collective also calls for Castillo’s “immediate release”.

In Lima, the left-wing party of Peruvian Livre has called for a demonstration this afternoon in San Martin Square, the epicenter of political demonstrations in Peru. Lima has always turned its back on Castillo, while Andean regions have agreed with him since the 2021 elections.

Congress, which is dominated by the right, has announced that it will meet this afternoon to analyze the situation.

“Until now, the president has not been clear about the big question: Are we in a transitional government or are we facing a power that intends to stay until 2026?” political analyst Giovanna Pinaflor told AFP. “It must make it clear that its role is to facilitate the new general elections, and that this is the path that will herald that it has some stability that will allow the current government not to be like the previous ministries and end up regressing.”