Peru has been facing a major political crisis due to the coup d’état of now-former president Pedro Castillo with Dina Boluarte taking over as the new President of the Republic. Faced with this fact, many people from different cities have taken to the streets to protest and express their discomfort with this situation, requesting new general elections, the dissolution of congress, and the creation of a new constituent assembly.
On Wednesday, December 14th, the defense minister, Alberto Otárola, announced that the government will declare a national state of emergency for 30 days due to all the recent incidents related to the protests from the closure of land terminals and airports to blocked roads and violent clashes, among other acts of vandalism. The purpose of this state of emergency in Peru is to restore order and internal control throughout the country with the support of the national police and armed forces.
The majority of protests have been in Lima and southern provinces such as Cusco and Tacna (near the border with Chile). Thankfully, Huancayo, where I live, had been pretty quiet since the chaos started on December 7th (which is not always the case when there have been national crises), but I’ve been receiving recent reports of protests downtown, including the one on the main street (Calle Real) today pictured in the featured image of this post. Stay safe, everyone!
