LIMA, Peru (AFP) — At least 12 people died Monday in Peru as anti-government protesters trying to overrun an airport clashed with security forces, officials said. The violence took place in the southeastern city of Juliaca, in the Puno region, an official in the local ombudsman’s office told AFP. The office gave an earlier death toll of nine. The protesters were demanding the departure of President Dina Boluarte, who took over after the ouster and […]
Tag: Peru
Three Peru police generals, others arrested in alleged graft plot
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Authorities in Peru arrested three police generals and three other people on Monday for alleged involvement in the corruption case against ousted president Pedro Castillo, the interior ministry said. A “mega-operation” netted the six who are suspected of involvement of “irregular promotions” in the police force, said a ministry statement. Three of the six are active police generals suspected of having approved promotions, with Castillo’s alleged blessing, in exchange for money. […]
‘Shame of Apurimac’: Peru region disavows homegrown president
by Patrick FORT Agence France-Presse ABANCAY, Peru (AFP) — Apurimac, a poor, Indigenous-majority region in Peru’s rural south, is the birthplace of the country’s brand new president, Dina Boluarte. It has also been the epicenter of violent protests against her political takeover. Twenty-one people have died in countrywide unrest sparked by the ouster early this month of leftist Pedro Castillo, under whose tumultuous 16-month leadership Boluarte was vice president. Six of the deaths were recorded […]
Peru declares state of emergency as ousted leader remains in prison
by Luis Jaime CISNEROS / Patrick FORT Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru declared a nationwide state of emergency Wednesday over violent protests against the ouster and arrest of ex-president Pedro Castillo that have left seven people dead. Castillo’s supporters have taken to the streets and set up roadblocks countrywide in protests that have also left 200 injured as they demand his release and the holding of early elections. The country plunged into crisis […]
As Peru protests rage, court denies ex-president’s release appeal
by Carlos MANDUJANO / Patrick FORT Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — A court in Peru rejected on Tuesday an appeal by former president Pedro Castillo to be freed from detention on charges of rebellion and conspiracy, as officials warned protests demanding his release could spiral out of control. Prosecutors late Tuesday filed a request to hold Castillo in pre-trial detention for 18 months, marking the formal start of the investigation against him, a prosecution […]
Two killed in Peru as protests spread against new president
by Carlos Mandujano and Luis Jaime Cisneros Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Protests against Peru’s new government turned deadly on Sunday, with two people killed as police clashed with angry demonstrators calling for a national strike, fresh elections and the release of detained former president Pedro Castillo. The protests have swelled, notably in the northern and Andean towns, since the South American country’s legislature on Wednesday threw out the leftist Castillo after he tried […]
Peru’s ousted president put in provisional detention
by Carlos MANDUJANO / Luis Jaime CISNEROS Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru’s former president Pedro Castillo was placed in provisional detention on Thursday, a day after he was ousted by lawmakers and arrested, accused of attempting a coup. Prosecutors carried out a dawn raid on the presidency and some ministerial offices in search of evidence against Castillo, who is being investigated for “rebellion and conspiracy.” Looking visibly nervous and disheveled, the toppled leftist […]
Peru president ousted after bid to dissolve Congress
by Carlos MANDUJANO / Luis Jaime CISNEROS Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru’s leftist leader Pedro Castillo was impeached and replaced as president on Wednesday in a dizzying series of events in the country that has long been prone to political upheaval. Dina Boluarte, a 60-year-old lawyer, was sworn in as Peru’s first female president just hours after Castillo tried to wrest control of the legislature in a move criticized as an attempted coup. […]
Peru slaughters more than 37,000 poultry after bird flu outbreak
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peruvian authorities have culled at least 37,000 birds on a chicken farm due to bird flu, officials said Thursday. After previously affecting wildlife in several areas nationwide, this outbreak took place at a farm in Huacho, north of Lima, the national agricultural health agency SENASA said Thursday. “They have all been slaughtered; this infectious focus has already ended on a small farm in Huacho (north of Lima), with a population of […]
Scientists in Peru discover two new endangered plant species
LIMA, Peru (AFP) – A group of Peruvian and international botanists has discovered two new species of plant that are endangered by mining activity in the Peruvian Andes, the University of San Marcos reported Tuesday. The new species, named “Viola ornata” and “Viola longibracteolata,” belong to the Neo-andinium subgenus of Viola, which in Peru currently has 15 species. “San Marquino botanists are publishing a study in which they reveal two new species of plants found in […]
Colombia sending troops to southern border to fight drug gangs
BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AFP) — Colombia is to deploy 400 soldiers to fight drug traffickers operating across its rural southern borders, after a recent spike in killings and internal displacement, the South American country’s government said Monday. There will be six sectors along Colombia’s borders with Ecuador, Peru and Brazil, “with 400 soldiers and officers who will be on the front line of operations… to block the drug trafficking corridors,” Interior Minister Alfonso Prada told reporters […]
Peru registers first death in monkeypox patient: hospital
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru on Monday recorded its first death of a monkeypox-infected person, with more than 300 cases reported in the country to date, a health official said. The fatality was “a patient who came to hospital in a serious condition with monkeypox and their health weakened after abandoning treatment for HIV/Aids,” according to Eduardo Farfan, director of the Dos de Mayo hospital in Lima. The man, 45, died “of sepsis” due to […]
