“I call my beloved homeland for a national truce to be able to establish dialogue tables, to be able to set the agenda for each region and develop our peoples; I will not tire of calling them for dialogue, peace and unity”Boluarte said in a press conference with foreign media at the Government Palace in Lima.
The president repeatedly reiterated her “sorry for those who died” in these protests, at least 50 directly related to the demonstrations, which resumed on the 4th of this month in southern Peru and which maintain blockades on the country’s main routes.
Boluarte ruled out resigning
Boluarte ruled out againonce again his resignation. “I will leave when we have called the general elections, I have no intention of staying in power,” he said, adding that Congress “without a doubt” will confirm in February the advancement of the elections, scheduled for April 2024.
“Would my resignation resolve the crisis and the violence? Who would assume the presidency of the Republic?”, he pointed out when asked by the press about his tenure in office, the AFP news agency reported.
Parliament voted to advance elections to April 2024, but another vote on the issue remains, which will probably be next month.
The Constitutional Commission resolved today to advance the start of the new period to February 15 and it is estimated that the initiative will be supported immediately.
Even so, Boluarte made “a call to Congress so that the sooner they vote on the second date (for the elections) and we can have a certain date of when the elections will take place.”
Peru has experienced a wave of protests since December 7, when Congress dismissed Pedro Castillo, hours after he announced the closure of the Legislature and the establishment of an emergency government with the suppression of constitutional guarantees, after several attempts by the blocs opponents to remove him from office.
During the protests, at least 50 people died in clashes, nine due to traffic accidents and events related to blockades, and one policeman due to acts of violence in the context of the conflict, the Ombudsman’s Office reported in its latest report.
“We have to protect the life and tranquility of the 33 million Peruvians; Puno (southeast) is not Peru, the ones that are generating the violence, I think the international press should communicate that the government is not generating the violence,” he added. Boluarte, who once again reduced the responsibility of the Police in the deaths.
“The deceased on January 9 in Puno, where the police were concentrated, the deaths did not occur but in the immediate vicinity; the majority is due to the impact of handmade weapons called dum-dum; the police do not use these lethal weapons,” he explained. Dum-dum bullets, which fragment on impact, are banned worldwide.
He added that there are videos of shots being fired from private homes and of protesters killing others. The president also affirmed that these weapons were brought into the country from “the border with Bolivia” and said that the Prosecutor’s Office will investigate all acts of violence.
But he did admit that he entrance of the security forces to the San Marcos University to evict students and people who occupy the institution, last weekend, perhaps it was not the “adequate way” to address the situation.
“At the request of the university authorities of the (Universidad) San Marcos, according to the police protocol, they entered the University of San Marcos. Perhaps the form was not adequate and for this I apologize to the students of San Marcos” said the president, who explained that the Police “intervened to protect the lives of the students, without knowing who had entered.”
Source: Ambito
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