Peru: State of emergency after young rapper killed in protests

Mass demonstrations accuse government of authoritarianism and corruption

~ from ANRed ~

Tensions have surged in Peru after interim president José Jerí Oré declared a 30-day state of emergency in Lima and the neighbouring province of Callao, citing what he called a “crisis of public security”, days after police repression left one young demonstrator dead.

The state of emergency suspends the right to assembly and allows joint patrols by the police and armed forces. It also restricts visits to prisons and permits warrantless searches. More than ten million people are affected in Lima and Callao alone. Civil liberties groups warn that the decree amounts to the militarisation of public life, aimed less at crime than at quelling dissent.

Jerí, appointed by the congressional coalition that forced out president Dina Boluarte earlier this month, justified the measure as “the beginning of change” in tackling violent crime. Yet critics note that it follows an eruption of street protests rejecting his unelected government. Peru has cycled through seven presidents since 2016, a sign of the profound political and institutional crisis gripping the country.

Last week, thousands marched through Lima and other cities to denounce what they describe as a “mafioso and authoritarian pact”. Witnesses report that police opened fire on demonstrators near Plaza Francia, killing 24-year-old rapper and community organiser Eduardo Mauricio Ruíz Sáenz, known as Trvko. According to eyewitnesses, an undercover officer fired several shots after being confronted by protesters. The National Human Rights Coordinator confirmed 15 people injured, including four journalists, while the Health Ministry acknowledged one death and three critical cases.

Public outrage has mounted ahead of a new national mobilisation called for today (Saturday 25 October) by the youth collective Generación Z, demanding justice for Trvko and the lifting of the emergency decree. The demonstration will again converge on Plaza Francia, while pro-government groups have announced a counter-rally in the Campo de Marte park.

The government’s response has been unapologetic. Interior minister Vicente Tiburcio, a former counter-insurgency officer under the Fujimori regime, denied police responsibility and branded student protesters “violentists”. Meanwhile, Jerí used social media to praise the “firmness” of the police while accusing demonstrators of seeking chaos.

Despite the repression, public anger shows no sign of abating. “They are killing our youth to defend a corrupt pact,” read one banner carried through Lima’s centre this week. For many Peruvians, the murder of Trvko has come to symbolise the enduring impunity of a political class clinging to power through force.

Machine edit. Photo: José Francisco Rubio / Contranoticia.pe

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