At least 17 dead in latest Peru clashes

LIMA, Peru — At least 17 people died on Monday in Peru as protesters trying to storm an airport clashed with security forces in the latest violent spasm of a month-old political crisis.

This new bloodshed took place in the southeastern Juliaca city in the Puno region, said an official in the local ombudsman's office.

Henry Rebaza, an official in Puno, told state-run TV Peru that the clashes also left 68 people injured.

Protesters were demanding the departure of President Dina Boluarte, who took over after the ouster and arrest of then-president Pedro Castillo on Dec 7.

Castillo's removal after he tried to dissolve Congress and start ruling by decree has triggered weeks of clashes nationwide. He is facing several corruption probes.

Protesters angry over the removal of Castillo want Boluarte to resign and have new elections right away. The elections have already been moved up from 2026 to April 2024.

Overall, the clashes sparked by the ouster of Castillo have now left 39 people dead around the country.

The people killed in Juliaca had gunshot wounds, an official at Carlos Monge Hospital told a Peruvian TV channel.

"What is happening is Peruvians are slaughtering each other. I ask for calm," Juliaca's Mayor Oscar Caceres said in a desperate plea for peace.

Alberto Otarola, the new president's chief of staff, said thousands of protesters had approached the airport on Monday and around 2,000 of them attacked police officers, while trying to storm the facility with makeshift weapons and gunpowder.

Hotbed of protests

Demonstrators had already tried on Saturday to overrun the Juliaca airport, which is being protected by police officers and soldiers.

Juliaca, located in Puno on the border with Bolivia, is home to many people from the Aymara indigenous group. Puno has been a hotbed of anti-government protests since the latest crisis broke out. An open-ended strike was declared there on Jan 4.

Protests against the Boluarte government took a break over the New Year's holidays, but resumed that day.

As of Monday, protesters were blocking roads in six of the country's 25 departments, including areas popular with tourists.

In another development on Monday, the government said it was barring entry to Evo Morales, the former president of Bolivia, accusing him of trying to interfere in Peru's affairs.

Morales, who was his country's first Indigenous president, has expressed support for the protests against Boluarte, especially in the ethnic Aymara Puno region which borders Bolivia.

Agencies Via Xinhua