Police clash with protesters in Peru
Lima, Jul 28 (EFE).- Police launched tear gas and fired pellets Friday against opponents of provisional President Dina Boluarte who marked Peru’s Independence Day by renewing calls for her to step down.
“Long live the struggle of the original peoples,” and “Dina to prison, (Pedro) Castillo to the Palace,” were among the slogans chanted by the people who marched Friday morning through central Lima.
The protest in Dos de Mayo Square came as Boluarte, who became head of state after Castillo, the elected president, was ousted by Congress, led the official observance of the 202nd anniversary of Peruvian independence.
A few hours into the march, a large contingent of the 30,000 police deployed in Lima for the independence holiday intervened to block the demonstrators from moving toward Congress and the presidential palace.
Some protesters broke through the police cordon and hurled objects at the cops, who responded with tear gas and pellets.
Media outlets reported that Juan Zapata, an independent journalist covering what organizers called the “National March,” was wounded in the leg.
Besides demanding Boluarte’s resignation, participants called for the dissolution of Congress and justice for the dozens of protesters killed by police and the military during the two months of mobilizations sparked by the toppling of Castillo last Dec. 7.
Lawmakers voted to remove the former schoolteacher after he sought to shutter the legislature and schedule an election for delegates to a constitutional convention.
Castillo remains behind bars on charges he attempted to mount a coup.
Polls show that only 11.9 percent of Peruvians approve of Boluarte, while less than 7 percent express positive sentiments about Congress.
EFE
pbc/dr
