The Peruvian National Police dispersed demonstrators who gathered in front of the Congress building in Lima yesterday during a protest against the government and parliament, EFE news agency reports, BTA reports.
Similar actions were also held in other cities in the country.
Generation Z youth, along with representatives of social movements, political parties and unions, flocked to the area around the parliament in the historic center of Lima. The protesters tried to break through the police fences set up to prevent access to the legislative building.
Some of them threw bottles and hard objects at the security forces, and a little later, objects were set on fire in front of the facade of the Congress. In response, police used tear gas to put out the fire and disperse the crowd.
Hundreds of uniformed officers surrounded the protesters and pushed them from the square in front of Congress towards a bridge in the direction of the “Rimac“ neighborhood. A larger group of demonstrators remained behind a police cordon on the central “Abansay“ avenue.
Clashes were also recorded in the southern city of Arequipa, where protesters tried to enter the main square. The Tenth International Congress of the Spanish Language was being held there at the same time, which was attended by King Felipe VI of Spain.
In Lima, demonstrators carried banners and posters with appeals against Congress and the new head of state, José Herri, elected acting president last Friday after the parliament removed Dina Boluarte (2022-2025) on charges of “moral unfitness”. Herri had previously held the post of president of Congress.
The youth discontent is directed not only against the parliament, but also against Herri himself – over allegations of alleged sexual assault, as well as against the leading parties that previously supported Boluarte and allowed her to remain in power despite prosecutorial investigations into the deaths of dozens of protesters in 2022-2023 and other corruption allegations.
As demonstrators gathered in the center of the capital, new President José Gerry, along with Interior Minister Vicente Tiburcio, National Police Chief Óscar Arriola, and Lima Mayor Renzo Rejardo, conducted an aerial survey of the city to monitor security measures and public order.