The European Union condemns a “disproportionate” police response to deadly unrest as protesters’ death toll rises to 45.
Peru has closed a famous historic site machu picchu The European Union has called the police response to the riots “disproportionate” as hundreds of tourists were stranded for hours amid deadly anti-government protests.
Saturday’s closure comes as officials say another protester killedThe total death toll has risen to 46 since demonstrators took to the streets in early December demanding the resignation of newly appointed Peruvian President Dina Boluarte.
The latest death occurred in the southern town of Ilave.
Video footage of Ilave, widely shared on social media, shows police firing into indigenous demonstrators in a town square. Furious protesters responded by setting the police station on fire, local media reported.
Ten people were injured in clashes between police and crowds on the border with Bolivia in a town near Lake Titicaca, hospital officials said.
Amid the turmoil, the culture ministry said it would order the closure of the Inca Trail network and the Machu Picchu citadel “to protect the social situation and the safety of visitors.”
Rail service to the site had already been stopped before Machu Picchu closed. damage to trucks by demonstrators. The only way to get to popular tourist destinations is by train.
At least 400 people, including 300 foreigners, were stranded and sought refuge in the town of Aguas Calientes at the foot of the scene.
Rescuers have since evacuated 418 tourists, the tourism ministry said in a Twitter post with a photo of a train and sitting tourists.
Weeks of turmoil followed an unsuccessful December attempt by former president Pedro Castillo to dissolve parliament and rule by decree, a move condemned by the Constitutional Court as a “coup”.
Castillo was impeached and arrested, and his deputy Volarte became presidentbecoming the sixth person in five years.
The rapid-fire chain of events was met with outrage from Castillo’s supporters. Castillo, a primary school teacher and the son of an illiterate peasant, is unlikely to rise to the presidency of the country. folk icon among many low-income Peruvians. Experts say the country’s long history of exclusion has created fertile ground for demonstrations.
In recent days, demonstrators have repeatedly opposed the declaration. emergency announcement In areas afflicted by violence, take them to the streets.
Police arrested 205 people for trespassing on the campus of a major university in Lima.
Alfonso Barreñechea, of the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Crime Prevention Division, told local radio station RPP that the arrest in San Marcos National was made on suspicion of trespassing on university grounds and stealing electronic products. .
The EU has condemned the government’s response to the unrest, saying police used “unreasonable force” against demonstrators.
“The EU urges governments and all political stakeholders to take urgent steps to restore calm and ensure an inclusive dialogue, with the participation of civil society and affected communities, as a way out of the crisis. ,” the 27-member bloc said in a statement.
“The ongoing social and political crisis should be dealt with with full respect for the constitutional order, the rule of law and human rights,” it added.
