Peruvian President Says Protests Are a “Threat” to Democracy

On Tuesday, the President-designate of Peru, Dina Boluarte referred that the protests that will take place in Lima constitute "a threat to democracy", stating that the Peruvians will not be allowed this right.

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"This is a threat to democracy, to the rule of law, to institutionality, and we as a democratic government will not allow or accept it," Boluarte said about the peaceful mobilization of the Peruvian people called for Wednesday.

Boluarte also stated that the Executive will respect peaceful protest marches, but emphasized that what her government calls acts of violence will not be allowed by establishing that organizations such as the Prosecutor's Office "will be accompanying the march, so that we can guarantee that they are peaceful, that they do not violate the rights of others."

According to Boluarte, this mobilization must be carried out "within the constitutional framework, a peaceful march without generating violence, chaos, crisis or wanting to lead an anarchism in the country;" in a context where some 24,000 police officers have been deployed, 11,000 of them in Lima.

"Since the first minute he has only dedicated himself to the problems that afflict the homeland," Boluarte said, referring to her administration.

However, more than 81 percent of Peruvians assure that human rights were violated during the mobilizations and protests against Dina Boluarte's government.

For his part, Alberto Otárola, President of the Council of Ministers, stated that "the right to mobilization, the right to protest, has the highest importance in a constitutional state of law. These rights are inherent to democracy, but like any right, it is not an absolute right."

“The only right is the right to life. And what is the limit of this citizen's right to peaceful and unarmed mobilization? It is the right to peace, tranquility and free movement of all Peruvians,”  Otárola added.

However, according to official data, this is not a reality that has accompanied the protests in Peru, when as of May 18, 2023, repression had caused 77 deaths, 49 of them after direct confrontation with the forces of law and order.  

Regarding the Government's positions, the militant of the Nuevo Peru party, Veronica Mendoza stated that "Dina Boluarte, Otarola, the allies of the regime in the Congress and in the media seek to terrorize and link Nuevo Peru with violent actions. We promote peace. You who shoot at the people in order to screw yourselves in power are the violent ones!"

While rejecting violence, Veronica Mendoza valued that this has come mainly from the State in the last months, when the Armed Forces are directly responsible for the murders.

"Dina Boluarte is the politically responsible! The main responsible for all the dead and wounded!", she sentenced.