Protests have erupted in Peru after the recent impeachment and replacement of the South American country’s president over unproven allegations that the former leader took bribes while he served in another role in government from 2011–2014.
The Wall Street Journal reported the country is on edge and has suffered during the coronavirus outbreak. The paper, citing the International Monetary Fund, said the country’s economy is expected to contract by 14 percent this year.
But despite the challenging economic issues and its second-highest coronavirus “per capita death rate,” polls indicate 80 percent want Martin Vizcarra to complete his term, which ends in July. They do not want him replaced by Manuel Merino, a rice and bean farmer, who many Peruvians blame for assisting in Vizcarra’s impeachment. Merino was the speaker of congress. He was named last week as the country’s interim president.
The BBC reported that tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets last Saturday to call for Merino’s ouster. The report said there were violent clashes with police, and two protesters, both in their mid-20s, were killed.
Jorge Amoros, the manager of Lima’s Guillermo Almenara hospital, told The Guardian that one of those killed seemed to have been shot at close range with a police firearm.
“He had multiple wounds in the upper third of the thorax, face and neck, apparently from buckshot,” he said.
About 30 protesters were detained.
“This is a coup d’état, it is anti-democratic,” Lucia Cordova, a teacher, told the Journal. “He is not my president. I don’t accept him.”
The Journal reported Merino was named president because there was no vice president.
Vizcarra reportedly expressed remorse over the deaths of the two men and said, “I deeply regret the deaths caused by the repression of this illegal and illegitimate government.”
TREND FORECAST: Prior to the start of the COVID War, protests and demonstrations were breaking out Colombia, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. In fact, in October 2019, riots in Peru broke out when its president, Martin Vizcarra, dissolved congress, which prompted opposition lawmakers to suspend him and appoint another leader.
Throughout South America, as economic conditions continue to rapidly deteriorate, civil unrest will escalate into civil wars. With violence, corruption, crime, and violence rising, millions of citizens will risk their lives to migrate to safe-haven nations.
