Anti-Government Protests in Southern Peru To Resume in October

According to the Departmental Federation of Workers of Cusco, protests in Peru against the government will resume in October, as agreed by several social organizations. 

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Peruvian President Boluarte to Testify on Deaths in Protests

The secretary general of one of the Federation's factions Juan Castillo said that "future measures of force will be approved next weekend, for now there is the proposal to abide by a 48-hour strike, mobilizations and others that will be implemented." 

Castillo urged the population to join the mobilization as "we cannot continue to put up with indifference and abuse of power. We have to assert our rights and defend our natural resources," the secretary general said. 

Social leaders from the regions of Apurimac, Puno, Tacna, Moquegua, Arequipa and Ayacucho confirmed their support for the strike. Among their demands are the rejection of the high cost of living and the defense of gas.

The tweet reads, "Cusco. The prefecture developed a series of aberrations in a resolution requesting guarantees for a protest. For example, it qualifies a social protest as a "public spectacle" and a "public concentration of a social character." Protests do not need a permit."

On Tuesday, the Departmental Federation of Workers of Cusco, the Civil Construction union, the Association of Agricultural Producers, teachers, merchants and farmers marched against the Government of President Dina Boluarte to demand attention to the demands.

The day before, residents of the Tambo Valley, in the department of Arequipa, took to the streets to express their rejection to the Tia Maria mining project and to the current administration for the attempt to reactivate it.

This territory is going through 15 years of resistance to this initiative. A 2009 citizen consultation showed the environmental impact of such a project, with a threat to agriculture and water.

Boluarte refuses to answer before Prosecutor's Office

Peruvian President Boluarte refused on Wednesday to answer questions before the Prosecutor's Office about the crimes of aggravated homicide and genocide for the deaths registered during the protests. 

Faced with the refusal of Boluarte to answer, the lawyer of the president Joseph Campos said that "regarding the facts, which could have occurred anywhere in Peru, the answer is only one: we gave statements that the situation is controlled, of public order, respecting the fundamental rights."

The tweet reads, "Special Prosecution Team for cases involving victims during social protests (Eficavip) took statements from victims and collected documentation in Pichanaqui, Central Jungle, for the deaths and injuries during demonstrations on December 16, 2022."

Campos reiterated that "at this moment of the investigation, there are no victims or responsible parties. This is being investigated at the corresponding times and places. But the President of the Republic has been responsible and cannot even at the level of perception create a responsibility that she does not have."

Human rights platforms indicate that in the demonstrations between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, 67 deaths were registered, of which 49 were the result of the action of police and military forces.