Lima: It might be the shortest political honeymoon ever recorded.
Insisting that the caretaker position came to her out of necessity, not personal ambition, Dina Boluarte has pleaded for calm and a chance to govern almost since the instant last week when she took over from the ousted leader Pedro Castillo to become Peru's first female president.
The removal of Castillo, Peru's first president of Indigenous heritage, has sparked violent protests in impoverished rural areas that show no signs of abating. His release from prison, where he is being held while being investigated for rebellion, is still something long-overlooked peasant farmers and others demand.
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Despite Boluarte's own modest Andean upbringing, she is being derided as a traitor in her own country.
She seizes opportunities. At least 14 people have died from wounds received in fights with security forces, according to Rolando Yupanqui, who spoke after one of the funerals for one of them. "She has easily entered the government palace, but whose job was it?" he asked. "People here are upset. Do you believe that people stroll the streets for amusement?
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Castillo, who previously resided in the neo-baroque presidential palace in the nation's capital, Lima, according to Yupanqui, visited his community of Andahuaylas and "was just like us." He remarked, "We've never met the lady," in reference to Boluarte.
Castillo was replaced by Boluarte after the president attempted to dissolve Congress prior to the third impeachment attempt by lawmakers. His car was stopped as he was allegedly trying to make his way to the Mexican Embassy in Lima to ask for asylum, according to the prosecution.
Castillo's release, Boluarte's resignation, and the prompt scheduling of elections to choose a new president and Congress before the scheduled 2026 vote are all demands of protesters. They have destroyed police stations, blocked traffic on Peru's main thoroughfare, and left hundreds of foreign tourists stranded by barricading airport entrances.
A day after Boluarte declared a state of emergency in an effort to quell the unrest, protesters set fire to a courthouse and a building owned by a Spanish telephone company in Huamanga, the provincial capital. Numerous security personnel used tear gas to disperse the small crowd of a few hundred people.
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After a judge granted the prosecution's request to hold Castillo in custody for 18 months so they could build their case against the former rural schoolteacher who shocked everyone by winning the presidential runoff last year despite having no prior political experience, the death toll reached double digits on Thursday.
Leaders of the congress and the country's judiciary attended an emergency meeting with Boluarte on Friday night at the presidential palace. They all denounced the violence and called for dialogue. She also spoke with Antony Blinken, the secretary of state of the United States, who allegedly offered to support her newly formed government.