RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In an interview with Colombian radio station Blu Radio, Torres responded to whether the social and political upheavals facing the country could bring an end to the government with “anything is possible in Peru.”
“This has been going on for several years now, in the last five-year term. We’ve had five presidents and three congresses in five years. This situation is not over yet. We are trying to overcome it and have a dialogue with the other side, but they are only pursuing their own interests,” explained the Peruvian head of government.
On the other hand, Torres referred to the demonstrations of the last few days in agriculture and transport. There have been violent riots, and yesterday the death of another demonstrator was confirmed.
In this sense, the Prime Minister denounced that there are people who are “infiltrated” and encouraged by the opposition. There are sectors that “since the beginning” of Castillo’s term have not recognized his victory. He also regretted that the National Police did not have the personnel or sufficient preparations to handle the demonstrations.
A farmworker who had participated in the blockade of the Panamericana in the Ica region, 300 kilometers south of the capital, died yesterday in a confrontation with police.
“Fifteen people were injured, one of them seriously. One civilian died as a result of the conflict,” said the head of the hospital in the city of Ica, Carlos Navea, in a video posted on the health center’s Facebook page. The doctor said that the injured who arrived at the hospital were 12 police officers and three protesters.
The clashes erupted when a police patrol tried to evict dozens of farmworkers blocking the Pan-American Highway in Ica, a region famous for its crops and home to many agro-industrial companies.
Tensions in Peru have been rising since Monday when residents’ upset over fuel and food price increases sparked protests in Lima, Ica, and other regions, the first Castillo, a 52-year-old rural teacher, has faced since taking office eight months ago.
In response, he unexpectedly imposed a days-long curfew Tuesday in Lima and the neighboring port city of Callao, which together are home to 10 million people, nearly a third of Peru’s population.
The curfew was condemned by broad sections of the population and sparked further protests in Lima.
The ultra-leftist president lifted the restrictions early Tuesday afternoon after a meeting with opposition leaders (right-wing) who dominate Congress when demonstrators clashed with police and attacked public buildings and businesses in central Lima.
Officials said that groups of protesters stoned the prosecutor’s headquarters and entered the Palace of Justice, where they stole computers and other equipment. They also vandalized several stores and the office of a private pension fund administrator.
Eighteen protesters were arrested in the unrest. “The individuals will be charged with a crime against public tranquility,” police said.
The early end of the curfew was greeted with cheers by hundreds of protesters who had gathered near Congress and in other parts of Lima, feeling they were reaching out to the left-leaning president.
The tension in the streets comes a week after Congress spared Castillo’s impeachment proceedings, where radical opponents accused him of “lack of direction” and allowed corruption in his entourage.
But requests for a “presidential vacancy” are nothing new in Peru. Peruvian parliamentarians have filed six impeachment petitions in the last four years that led to the ouster of Presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (right) in 2018 and Martín Vizcarra (center) in 2020.
The clashes between the legislative and executive branches began in 2016 and resulted in Peru having three presidents within five days in November 2020.