Peruvian President Pedro Castillo announced a curfew for yesterday for the capital, Lima, and neighboring port city Callao following a demonstration that caused roadblocks and “acts of violence.”
Protests had erupted across the country in the past few days due to a hike in fuel prices and tolls, during a period in which Peru is also experiencing a rise in food prices.
In an attempt to appease protesters, the government canceled the fuel tax over the weekend.
Photo: AFP
However, the demonstration on Monday saw truckers and passenger carrier drivers continue to take to the streets in Lima, as well as several regions in the north — from the coastal city of Piura to the densely forested Amazonas.
Castillo late on Monday announced that Peru’s Council of Ministers had approved a curfew for the following day.
“In view of the acts of violence that some groups have wanted to create ... and in order to re-establish peace ... the Council of Ministers has approved the declaration of citizen immobility [curfew] from 2am to 11:59pm on Tuesday, April 5,” he said in a televised message.
Several violent incidents, including the burning of toll booths on highways, looting in stores, and clashes between protesters and police occurred during the first such stoppage faced by Castillo’s government.
Protesters also blocked the Pan-American Highway, Peru’s most important transport and traffic artery snaking north to south, and classes at schools were suspended.
“I call for calm and serenity,” he said during his brief appearance on television. “Social protest is a constitutional right, but it must be done within the law.”
The US’ embassy in Peru had issued an “alert” regarding the demonstrations earlier on Monday, calling for US citizens to “avoid the areas.”
“Past demonstrations in Lima have turned violent,” it said.
The demonstrations were largely organized by the Union of Multimodal Transport Guilds of Peru in response to the hike in fuel prices.
The Peruvian government eliminated the fuel tax over the weekend, and Castillo also decreed a 10 percent increase in the monthly minimum wage, effective next month, but the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers, the country’s main trade union, rejected the wage increase, calling the measure “insufficient.”
The union called on its affiliates to march tomorrow.
Last week, Castillo survived an impeachment attempt by legislators, the second time during his eight-month administration.
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