In the most violent outburst of a month-old political crisis, protestors trying to attack an airport in Peru battled with security forces, resulting in at least 17 fatalities.
According to a representative of the neighborhood ombudsman’s office, this latest massacre occurred in Juliaca, a city in the Puno region, in the southeast.
The official reported that five of the 40 or so persons who were injured in the fighting died as a result of their wounds, bringing the previous death toll of 12 up.
These demonstrators, like others who have been active over the past month, wanted President Dina Boluarte to step down. She gained office on December 7 after Pedro Castillo, the previous president, was deposed and taken into custody.
In this nation plagued by years of political instability, Castillo’s expulsion following his attempt to dissolve congress and begin ruling by decree — for which he was under investigation for corruption — has led to weeks of countrywide violence.
Boluarte should step down immediately, say protesters furious with the dismissal of the communist Castillo. They have already been accelerated from April 2026 to now.
With these latest deaths, the overall death toll from the conflicts brought on by Castillo’s removal from office now stands at 39.
An employee at Calos Monge Hospital confirmed to a Peruvian TV channel that the victims of the murders on Monday in Juliaca had gunshot wounds.
One protester, who declined to give his name to AFP, said, “The cops are shooting at us.”
He said, “We beg Dina to resign. Accept that others do not desire you.
“What’s going on is that Peruvians are killing each other. Oscar Caceres, the mayor of Juliaca, pleaded for peace, “I appeal for calm.”
According to the incoming president’s chief of staff, Alberto Otarola, 2,000 of the thousands of demonstrators who attempted to rush the airport on Monday with homemade weapons and gunpowder attacked police.
Attempts by protesters to occupy the Juliaca airport, which is guarded by police and troops, were made on Saturday.
Numerous members of the Aymara indigenous community reside in Juliaca, which is a city in the Puno region and is close to the Bolivian border. Since the most recent crisis began, Puno has been the scene of numerous anti-government demonstrations. On January 4, they proclaimed an ongoing strike.
Over the new year’s festivities, protests against the Boluarte administration were suspended, but they picked back up on January 2.
As of Monday, protesters were obstructing traffic in six of the 25 departments in the nation, including tourist hotspots.
Boluarte, who is a Marxist like Castillo, served as Castillo’s vice president. However, a lot of Indigenous people label her a traitor who fails to support their cause.
On Monday, the administration announced that it was denying entrance to Evo Morales, the former president of Bolivia, on the grounds that he had allegedly attempted to meddle in Peru’s internal affairs.
First Indigenous president of his nation, Morales has stated his support for the anti-Boluarte demonstrations, particularly in the bordering Puno region, which is home to the Aymara ethnic group.
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