CUSCO, Peru — Peru's embattled President
Dina Boluarte
said Saturday she would not step down in the face of violent protests over her
predecessor's ouster as she called on lawmakers to bring forward elections as a
way to quell unrest.
اضافة اعلان
"What is solved by my resignation? We will be here,
firmly, until Congress determines to bring forward the elections,"
Boluarte said, a day after lawmakers voted against a bill to hold elections
next December, more than two years early.
Peru has been wracked by violent unrest since then-president
Pedro Castillo was impeached and arrested on December 7, with at least 18
people killed, mainly in clashes with security forces. Peru's Congress on
Friday rejected a move to bring forward elections as deadly protests left thousands
of tourists stranded in the gateway city to Machu Picchu.
Protesters are demanding the release of ousted president
Pedro Castillo, the resignation of his successor Dina Boluarte and for fresh
elections to be held.
But Congress voted against a bill to bring forward elections
by more than two years from 2026 to December 2023.
It comes with demonstrations escalating and the death toll
rising after protesters on Thursday night tried to storm the airport in the
southern city of Ayacucho that was being guarded by soldiers.
Health minister Rosa Gutierrez said on Friday that 18 people
had been killed in clashes since Castillo was arrested on December 7, with two
cabinet ministers resigning over the deaths.
Peru was plunged into political crisis last week after Castillo
was impeached and arrested following his attempt to dissolve parliament and
rule by decree.
Initially detained for seven days, Castillo was on Thursday
ordered to spend 18 months in pre-trial detention.
The leftist former schoolteacher stands accused of rebellion
and conspiracy, and could be jailed for up to 10 years if found guilty,
according to public prosecutor Alcides Diaz.
Boluarte declared a nationwide state of emergency for 30
days and said she wanted to bring forward elections.
Friday's vote in Congress needed 87 votes to pass, but it
garnered only 49 in favor of bringing forward elections with 33 against and 25
abstentions.
The rising death toll seemed to weaken Boluarte's grip on
the presidency.
"Due to the number of dead Peruvians, Mrs Boluarte
needs to resign," said Susel Paredes, a centrist legislator.
Tourists in limbo
Several airports around the country have been closed,
including the international terminal in
Cusco, which acts as the gateway city
to the jewel of Peruvian tourism, the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.
Cusco's airport is the third largest in Peru and serves
numerous tourist sites in the region.
It has been closed since Monday when protesters tried to
storm the terminal, leaving thousands of tourists in limbo.
"There are 5,000 tourists stranded in the city of
Cusco, they are in their hotels waiting for flights to restart," Darwin
Baca, mayor of the nearby town of Machu Picchu, told AFP.
The rail service that serves Machu Picchu has been suspended
since Tuesday, leaving around 800 tourists stranded in the small town at the
foot of the mountain where the Inca citadel stands.
An army helicopter is due to arrive at Machu Picchu on
Saturday to begin shuttling stranded tourists to Cusco, town officials
said.
Around 200 mostly American and European tourists have left
the town on foot along the train tracks in a bid to reach the town of
Ollantaytambo, 30km away, from where they would be able to take a train to
Cusco.
"What they fear is getting to Cusco and then not being
able to go to their country because this could get worse," said Baca.
Several major roads in Cusco, the old Inca capital, have
also been blocked by protesters, as have more than 100 roads around the
country.
'Criminal investigation needed'
The death toll rose sharply on Thursday when soldiers
protecting the Ayacucho airport shot at protesters.
Soldiers "found themselves surrounded with the masses
closing in," rights ombudsman Eliana Revollar told AFP.
The army says its soldiers would have first raised their
weapons and then shot into the air, but Revollar said that shots were fired at
protesters.
"This merits a criminal investigation, these people
have died from gunshot wounds," she said.
Soldiers have been deployed due to the state of emergency
but Revollar said they need to understand that their role is simply to support
police.
"A state of emergency does not remove the protection of
the right to life," she added.
On top of the deaths in clashes, another six people have
died in incidents related to roadblocks, such as being prevented from reaching
a hospital.
The nation's human rights ombudsman's office said 518 people
have been injured in the clashes, among them 268 police. Human rights groups
said 147 people have been detained.
"This needs to stop," Boluarte said Friday about
the violence.
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