Peru’s president proposes early election amid protests
LIMA, Peru — Peru’s new President Dina Boluarte gave in to protesters’ demands early Monday, announcing in a nationally televised address that she would send Congress a proposal to move up elections after thousands of protesters again took to the streets demanding she resign.
The protests turned deadly Sunday, with at least two deaths in a remote community in the Andes, according to officials. The protesters want elections to replace not only Boluarte but all members of Congress.
But Boluarte’s announcement did not placate protesters.
Hours after her address, demonstrators blocked access to an international airport in southern Peru and occupied its runway.
Boluarte said she would propose general elections for April 2024 — a reversal of her earlier assertion that she should remain president for the remaining 3½ years of her predecessor’s term.
“My duty as president of the republic in the current difficult time is to interpret, read and collect the aspirations, interests and concerns ... of the vast majority of Peruvians,” Boluarte said. “So, interpreting in the broadest way the will of the citizens ... I have decided to assume the initiative to reach an agreement with the Congress of the republic to advance the general elections.”
Many protesters were also demanding the release from custody of ex-president Pedro Castillo, who was ousted Wednesday by lawmakers after he sought to dissolve Congress ahead of an impeachment vote.
The protests have been particularly heated in rural areas, strongholds for Castillo, a former schoolteacher and political newcomer from a poor Andean mountain district. Protesters set fire to a police station, vandalized a small airport used by the armed forces, and marched in the streets.
Boluarte, in her address to the nation, declared a state of emergency in areas outside Lima, where protests have been particularly violent. On Monday, protesters in Arequipa breached the Alfredo Rodriguez Ballon International Airport, which is heavily used by tourists and hiking enthusiasts. State media reported about 100 police officers were deployed to remove the demonstrators.
Boluarte, 60, was swiftly sworn in at midweek to replace Castillo, hours after he stunned the country by ordering the dissolution of Congress, which in turn dismissed him for “permanent moral incapacity.” Castillo was arrested on charges of rebellion.
Peru has had six presidents in the past six years, including three in a single week in 2020 when Congress flexed its impeachment powers.