After the president was removed from office in Peru, an airport was paralyzed and partially set on fire during protests. According to the police, one person died.
According to a statement by the airport and airline company Corpac, quoted by the Peruvian media, 50 police forces and Corpac employees were held hostage at the airport in Andahuaylas yesterday. According to media reports, the rioters demanded, among other things, the resignation of the new President Dina Boluarte as well as new elections.
As reported by the operator, the fuel depot and the communications room at the airport were set on fire. The runway and important equipment were also badly affected by violence and vandalism, it said. The airport in the southern city with around 50,000 inhabitants was closed – according to the police, it was secured by an elite unit. For the second day in a row, there have been clashes between protesters and police in the area.
fisticuffs in Congress
According to media reports, demonstrators blocked highways in other parts of the South American country. There were demonstrations in several cities, including the capital Lima. At a session of Congress yesterday, fisticuffs broke out. A deputy from ex-President Pedro Castillo’s former left-wing party, Perú Libre, slapped a colleague in the face, videos showed.
The previous Vice President Boluarte replaced Castillo as head of state and government on Wednesday. Shortly before a vote of no confidence in himself, he announced the dissolution of the congress. Parliament then removed him from office, and on Thursday the former left-wing village school teacher was taken into custody on charges of rebellion. On Saturday, Boluarte, Peru’s first female president, sworn in her cabinet and made the ministers swear they were not corrupt.
