Death has come to the capital. An anti-government protester identified as Víctor Santisteban died this Saturday in Lima, after being shot (according to videos broadcast in the media) in clashes with the Police, the Ombudsman’s Office reported on Twitter, bringing the number of protesters to 48. dead, including a policeman, since the start of the protests last December (which have also left 15 dead due to roadblocks). So far all deaths have taken place in the provinces.
The deceased protester, Víctor Santisteban Yacsavilca, was among a small group of protesters who were then confronting the police at some distance. According to released images, the man receives what appears to be a bullet to the head. “We did what we could but the patient had a severe head injury with exposure of a brain mass… Simply put, his brains were blown out…”, Antonio M Quispe, one of the 20 volunteer doctors who treated him on site, detailed on Twitter.
The Ombudsman’s Office indicated that it also carries out “monitoring of health care” at the “Guillermo Almenara” hospital in Lima for a seriously injured person, whom I identify as Taine Isidoro Bedon Maguiña. The agency indicated that its commissioners also verify “the correct health care of the injured police officers” who have been admitted to the National Police hospital.
Hundreds of protesters clashed again this Saturday in the streets of the historic center of Lima with agents of the National Police, at whom they launched fireworks and blunt objects at the access to Abancay avenue, which leads to the Peruvian Congress, which was responded to. with tear gas shots.
The Ombudsman called on the protesters “to put down all forms of violence, such as throwing objects” at the Police “or damaging public or private property.” “These are not ways to exercise the right to protest, they are crimes. We ask the Police to act within the strict framework of their constitutional and legal powers,” the agency remarked.
Initially, local media showed that at least six officers were taken away injured in ambulances, while representatives of social organizations and activists reported on social networks that there were also at least two protesters injured by police action.
The clashes broke out around Congress, after the institution, in the hands of the right, voted on Friday against advancing the general elections to December of this year, as requested by the street. Previously, a group of people once again walked the streets of the historic center of Lima to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the closure of Congress, and the calling of a constituent assembly.
Boluarte has governed Peru since the removal by parliament of former president-elect Pedro Castillo on December 7, who attempted a self-coup and is accused of corruption. The president, who was his vice president, took the reins of the country, but many accuse her of being in the hands of the right. The repression of the protests exploded the movement.
To date, according to data from the Ombudsman, there are already 47 people who participated in the protests who have died in clashes with the security forces, while a police officer died after being burned alive by protesters. The deaths so far have occurred in Puno and other southern Andean regions of the country, home to historically disadvantaged populations, which supported Castillo. The anti-government movement hit the streets of Lima last week.
Added to these victims are 11 deaths in events related to roadblocks and one death that occurred in the northern region of La Libertad, confirmed by the Police.
Likewise, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Acnur) reported the death of four Haitians who could not receive medical assistance due to roadblocks, in addition to an unborn baby confirmed by Unicef, resulting in 64 deaths. for the protests since December 11, a number to which today’s fatality is added.
