Thousands of protesters demanding the ouster of President Dina Boluarte poured into Peru's capital, clashing with police who fired tear gas. Many came from remote regions, where dozens have died in unrest that has gripped the country since Peru's first leader from a rural Andean background was removed from office last month.
The protests have been marked by Peru's worst political violence in more than two decades and highlighted deep divisions between the country's urban elite, largely concentrated in Lima, and poor rural areas. Former President Pedro Castillo has been in detention and is expected to be tried for rebellion since he was impeached after a failed attempt to dissolve Congress.
Anger at Boluarte was the common thread Thursday as protesters chanted calls for her resignation and street sellers hawked T-shirts saying, “Out, Dina Boluarte,” “Dina murderer, Peru repudiates you,” and “New elections, let them all leave.” “We're at a breaking point between dictatorship and democracy,” said Pedro Mamani, a student at the National University of San Marcos, where demonstrators who traveled for the protest were being housed.
For much of the day, the protests played out as a cat-and-mouse game, with demonstrators, some of whom threw rocks at law enforcement, trying to get through police lines and officers responding with volleys of tear gas that sent protesters fleeing, using rags dipped in vinegar to alleviate the sting to their eyes and skin.
“When there are tragedies, bloodbaths outside the capital it doesn't have the same political relevance in the public agenda than if it took place in the capital,” said Alonso Cardenas, a public policy professor at the Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University in Lima.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Thousands march on Peru's capital as unrest spreads, building set ablazeLIMA — Thousands of protesters in Peru, many from the country’s heavily indigenous south, descended on Lima, the capital, on Thursday, angered by a mounting…
Read more »
Peru police use tear gas to block protesters from marchingPeru police use tear gas to deter thousands of protesters
Read more »
Peru police use tear gas to block protesters from marchingPolice fired tear gas to try to subdue thousands of protesters who poured into the Peruvian capital Thursday, many from remote Andean regions, calling for the ouster of President Dina Boluarte and the return to power of her predecessor, whose removal last month launched deadly unrest and cast the nation into political chaos.
Read more »
Peru police use tear gas to block protesters from marchingPolice fired tear gas to try to subdue thousands of protesters who poured into the Peruvian capital Thursday, many from remote Andean regions, calling for the ouster of President Dina Boluarte and the return to power of her predecessor, whose removal last month launched deadly unrest and cast the nation into political chaos.
Read more »
Peru police use tear gas to block protesters from marchingPolice fired tear gas to try to subdue thousands of protesters who poured into the Peruvian capital Thursday.
Read more »