LIMA: After a week of violent protests that have killed a total of eight lives, Peru declared a nationwide state of emergency on Wednesday, giving police special powers and restricting freedoms like the right to assemble.
The demonstrations started after Pedro Castillo, the former president, was impeached on December 7. The Andean nation's Congress was illegally dissolved by Castillo, a leftist who was elected in 2021. This is just the latest in a string of political crises that the second-largest copper producer in the world has experienced in recent years.
Castillo, who is accused of rebellion and conspiracy, would be held in pretrial detention for 18 months, the prosecution stated on Wednesday. The Supreme Court of Peru convened to discuss the request, but the meeting was later called to adjourn until Thursday.
After Castillo was removed from office, Dina Boluarte, his former vice president, was sworn into office. Her presidency has polarized other Latin American leaders.
Anger-filled and occasionally violent protests have broken out across the Andean nation as a result of the political unrest, particularly in the rural and mining areas that helped elect the former peasant farmer and teacher to office in July of last year.
According to the authorities, eight people, mostly teenagers, were killed in clashes with police. According to rights groups, at least six people were killed by gunfire. Protesters have blocked highways, set buildings on fire, and stormed airports.
"We have agreed to declare a state of emergency throughout the country due to acts of vandalism and violence," Alberto Otarola, Boluarte's defence minister, told reporters.
"This requires a forceful response from the government," he said, adding that it would imply the suspension of certain freedoms, such as the right to assemble and travel freely, as well as the ability for authorities to enter homes without a warrant.
Speaking to reporters from the presidential palace, Boluarte urged peace, saying, "We can't have a dialogue if there's violence between us."
She said elections could be moved forward further to December 2023 from April 2024, a date she had pledged earlier. The election is currently scheduled for 2026, when Castillo's term will have expired.
Boluarte's government also met with a number of regional officials on Wednesday, likely to shore up international support as the leader has been chastised by Latin American leftists such as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Ana Cecilia Gervasi, Peru's foreign minister, said she spoke with counterparts from Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Ecuador on Wednesday. The previous day, Boluarte had met with a number of European ambassadors.
Castillo has been detained at the DIROES police facility in Lima since his arrest. He called on supporters to come to the jail, saying he should be released after the initial seven-day period of pretrial detention expired Wednesday.
"I await you all at the DIROES facilities to join you in a hug," Castillo said in a handwritten message posted on Twitter, signing himself as Peru's"Constitutional President." Castillo has denied rebellion and conspiracy charges.
Castillo also requested that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights intervene on his behalf, and dozens of supporters gathered outside the prison to demand his release.
However, according to sources in the prosecutor's office and analysts, Castillo cannot be released until the Supreme Court rules on the prosecutors' request.
Peru's judiciary announced on Twitter that a hearing on a "request for pretrial detention for 18 months against former president Pedro Castillo and (former Prime Minister) Anibal Torres, investigated for crimes of rebellion and others" would be held by Friday.