Peru closes 202nd independence day celebration with riots in Lima
Update 1: Adds detail throughout
Lima, Jul 28 (EFE).- Anti-government protesters and police clashed Friday afternoon in the center of Lima, the day Peru celebrated the anniversary of its independence, which ended with at least six injuries and blocked highways in the south of the country.
The Ombudsman’s Office said it reported four demonstrators and two policemen were injured, although it was continuing to verify the total number of people affected and the episodes of greatest violence occurred at the end of the protest in the capital.
The institution registered 14 blockade points on the country’s roads, most in the southern department of Puno, and in total there were marches and strikes in 21 provinces, about 10.7 percent of the country.
The official Independence Day acts began with the president’s greeting to the ministerial cabinet and the traditional mass in the cathedral of Lima attended by government authorities, where Lima Archbishop Carlos Castillo said deaths from the protests still await justice.
At the same time, marches called by unions, student organizations, regional committees and other organizations began, especially in Lima, although there were other protests in parts of the south of the country.
“Down with the murderous dictatorship,” read the banner of the country’s largest union, the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers, a message repeated throughout the demonstration, which ended in clashes with law enforcement.
In addition to slogans calling for Boluarte’s resignation and the closure of congress, they highlighted photos of people who died in clashes with law enforcement in the marches that shook the country between December and March.
Relatives of those who died in Juliaca, in Puno, the border department with Bolivia, gathered dressed in black in front of the Palace of Justice.
“We do not like the methodology that the dictatorial government of Boluarte has been using, supported by the Prosecutor’s Office, by the military and the National Police is repressing the just demands of the game. We do not want repression, we want dialogue,” protester Jorge Diaz told EFE.
After 11am (16:00 GMT time) Boluarte delivered the traditional management balance speech in front of congress.
The president said she apologized to the relatives of the fatalities, adding that her government would follow the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and promote a reconciliation pact for social peace.
She took stock of the policies adopted in various areas by her government in her eight months as president.
Protesters then gathered again at about 5pm (10:00 p.m. GMT) on Abancay avenue and in the surroundings of Plaza San Martin and Dos de Mayo, where police fired rounds of tear gas to control demonstrators. EFE
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