The cabinet has announced a curfew from 2 a.m. to midnight on Tuesday (9:00 to 7:00 a.m. Wednesday), “to protect people’s fundamental rights,” he said in a televised speech hours before the Castillo ban.
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As soon as the curfew was announced, it was eventually lifted because it turned out to be dysfunctional.
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Protests in Peru
Foto: Angela Ponce, Reuters
Hundreds of people gathered near Abancay Avenue in downtown Lima on Tuesday night and demanded the departure of President Castillo. In addition to banners, they also had bars, stones, sticks, bottles and pyrotechnics. Gradually, the protest against the Peruvian leadership turned into total vandalism. The offices of the Supreme Court in Lima were destroyed, and shops were looted. Around 25 police officers and some journalists who covered the event suffered injuries.
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The people who entered in a violent manner managed to break into the offices on the first floor of the Superior Court of Justice of Lima. pic.twitter.com/6UcwLjIX5T
– Ernesto Cabral (@ErnestoCabralM) April 6, 2022
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Due to the situation, teaching in schools is interrupted. A large demonstration by teachers’ unions is announced on Thursday, the Peruvian news agency Andina said.
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Protests in Peru
Foto: Angela Ponce, Reuters
Protests erupted last week in rural areas of the country, but have since spread to other parts of Peru. Gradually, they escalated in some places, with at least four people dying in clashes with police officers, according to the government. In the southern city of Ica, protesters set fire to toll gates and attacked security guards.
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Some farmers and truck drivers blocked highways to Lima last week, leading to a sudden rise in food prices in the metropolis and, in some cases, looting of shops.
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According to Reuters, the demonstrations are an unpleasant reality for the left-wing President Castillo, who was a farmer and a teacher before he took office and got into office last year thanks to the great support of the poorer rural population. However, its popularity has rapidly declined, even in the countryside, now hovering around 25 percent nationwide. Castillo has already overcome two attempts to remove from office and changed his cabinet many times.
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Protests in Peru
Photo: Alessandro Cinque, Reuters
Over the weekend, the government tried to calm the situation in the country by proposing to abolish almost all fuel taxes and at the same time increase the minimum wage by ten percent. Peru has also declared a state of emergency for its agricultural sector, which is lacking fertilizers as a result of Western sanctions against Russia, a major exporter.
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Protests in Lima
Photo: Aldair Mejia, CTK / AP
