Seven people killed in protests in Peru

Within a few days, seven people died from gunshot wounds in the Latin American country, the ombudsman and doctors confirmed.

“Three more people died today in the Apurimac region, a total of five people”, - the Apurimac Health Directorate said in a blog post.

The demonstrators demand early presidential elections, the termination of the congress. They took to the streets after former President Pedro Castillo was detained on 7 December. While still at the head of the republic, Castillo dissolved parliament and declared a curfew in the country. However, a few hours later, Parliament impeached him. Castillo was then detained on charges of rebellion and abuse of power.

On December 9, Peru's vice president, Dina Boluarte, took the oath of office as president. The day before, against the background of mass protests, she proposed to postpone the elections to April 2024. Boluarte's initiative will be coordinated with the Congress. A state of emergency has been declared in the country. On the same day, Castillo published a handwritten letter refusing to resign his presidency. He recognized the citizens not to recognize the results of the scheduled elections.

After that, the authorities of Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia expressed their concern about the events in neighboring Peru and called on the Peruvian government to respect the will of citizens. At the same time, the United States has already stated that it is ready to help the country under the new leader Dean Boluart.