Politics

Peru’s Boluarte calls Castillo “murderer” and demands he answer for deaths in protests

Lima, Sept 7 (EFE).- Peruvian President Dina Boluarte said Thursday that her predecessor Pedro Castillo, whose name she did not explicitly mention, is a “murderer” and demanded “that he answer for the deaths” that occurred during anti-government demonstrations between December and March.

“The murderer is securely imprisoned in Diroes prison, let him answer for the deaths. Dina will answer to the people with public works, with jobs, with decency and with this frontal fight against corruption,” Boluarte said of Castillo, under whom she served as vice president and whose removal by Congress led to her becoming head of state.

Castillo is currently serving 18 months in pre-trial detention for the attempted self-coup of December 7, for which he was charged with the crime of rebellion, and another 36 months in pre-trial detention pending investigation for allegedly directing a corrupt network during his administration.

Visibly upset by demonstrations against her visit to the town of Pichanaqui, where she was called a “murderer,” the leader said she would not be intimidated by the accusations against her.

“No one will intimidate me with words like the ones they say: ‘Dina murderer.’ I ask those who shout these words, who killed our brothers in those violent demonstrations? It was they themselves, because that is how they wanted to subjugate a constitutional, democratic government,” she said.

The President added that she was “not afraid” of her critics and questioned the fact that some demonstrators had thrown stones during her visit to Pichanaqui, in the central region of Junín.

“Don’t throw stones, throw hope, throw proposals, bring proposals to the table and on them we will plan the development of Peru,” she urged.

Shortly before, Boluarte said that her compatriots “have a president who is committed to the deep Peru”, who is not involved in corruption cases and who is “not afraid of anyone.”

“I am not even afraid of death if I have to work for my beloved country, here we are firm, here we are dignified, the ones who starve the people are the authorities who steal the budget of the construction projects,” she stressed.

According to some sources, at least 49 civilians died during the protests in confrontations with the public forces, and another 28 people lost their lives in events related to the protests but not directly in them, as in the case of seven Haitian citizens who died when roadblocks exposed them to adverse weather conditions.

In its most recent report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the violence used by Peruvian security forces during the demonstrations and stated that it had found cases of “extrajudicial executions.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an inquiry into the deaths on charges of genocide, homicide and causing grievous bodily harm. The defendants are Boluarte, Prime Minister Alberto Otárola, former Prime Minister Pedro Angulo, former Interior Ministers Víctor Rojas and César Cervantes and current Defense Minister Jorge Chávez.EFE

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(video)

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