Peru leader’s call for vote fails to curb chaos

Bloomberg

The violent chaos roiling Peru spread after President Dina Boluarte’s call for early elections failed to calm demonstrators protesting against her five-day old government.
Crowds blocked highways and massed in city centers in several regions of the Andean nation, and at least four people were killed as security forces tried to reimpose order, according to the Health Ministry.
Demonstrations have gathered momentum since Pedro Castillo of the socialist Peru Libre party was ousted from the presidency and then arrested on December 7. His supporters are calling for his release from the police base where he is being detained, the dissolution of congress, early elections and a rewrite of the constitution.
In an address, Boluarte called for elections to be brought forward two years to 2024, and also imposed a state of emergency in in some Castillo strongholds where protests are most intense. Boluarte was elected as Castillo’s vice president, for a term that expires in 2026.
“We see an escalation of political confrontation that’s not healthy for the country,” Boluarte said in her address.
Protesters have blocked key highways that connect Lima and the country’s main port with agricultural heartlands, and clashed with police in riot gear in downtown Lima. A breach of security by protesters in Arequipa forced the local airport to close.
The developments underscore Peru’s long-running political crisis that has seen congress continually confront sitting presidents for the better part of a decade, with the last person to fully finish his term being Ollanta Humala in 2016. Boluarte is the nation’s sixth head of state since the start of 2018.
To try to defuse the crisis, Boluarte’s government submitted a bill to congress which would allow early elections.
“It’s urgent to carry out democratic and constitutional changes in the congress, fundamentally obeying the citizens’ sentiment,” the cover note accompanying the text of bill read. It would need 87 votes from the 130 members of the unicameral legislature to pass.