Government Decrees State of Emergency in Seven Regions of Peru

The Government of Peru decreed this Sunday a state of emergency in the regions of Madre de Dios, Cusco, Puno, Apurimac, Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna, due to the social and political crisis that has been going on since last December 7 in the South American country.

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This decree comes after a total of 26 people were arrested the day before, while 24 others were injured after the police repression, whose officers used pellets, in the protest staged in Lima.

The marches to demand the resignation of President-designate Dina Boluarte and of the members of the Parliament continued this Saturday after almost two months after the previous day the Parliament shelved the most recent proposal of the Government to bring forward the elections to 2023.

The authorities have made use of tear gas bombs to disperse the demonstrators, which has led to several confrontations, as well as on Grau Avenue, where several journalists have denounced having been beaten by the Police.

This Sunday, through a supreme decree published in the official newspaper El Peruano, the Executive extended the state of emergency to these areas where the largest anti-government protests continue to be reported.

The measure was already applied in Cuzco, Puno and Tacna, and in some provinces of Apurimac, Madre de Dios and Moquegua, but now it is extended at regional level and includes Arequipa.

Likewise, in mid-January, the Government decreed a 30-day state of emergency in Lima, Callao, Amazonas and La Libertad, making a total of eleven departments that remain in a state of emergency.

The decree establishes that during the state of emergency "the constitutional rights related to the inviolability of the home, freedom of transit through the national territory, freedom of assembly and personal freedom and security" are restricted or suspended.

The norm also specifies that the Peruvian National Police maintains internal order, with the support of the Armed Forces, "with the exception of the department of Puno, where internal control is required to be assumed by the Armed Forces".

It also established the mandatory social immobilization from 20H00 to 04H00 hours in Puno for 10 calendar days.