International

Lima’s streets tense as Peru leader hints at early elections

Photo: ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP

| By AFP | Luis Jaime Cisneros and Ernesto Tovar |

Peru’s new president Dina Boluarte has said she will form a new government Saturday, even as demonstrators pressed on Lima streets for ex-president Pedro Castillo to be freed after an alleged failed coup bid.

Boluarte told journalists that if the situation “warrants it,” the government will consult with Congress on holding an early presidential vote.

She urged those “who are coming out in protest … to calm down.”

Demonstrations continued on Friday, with protesters blocking roads with rocks, logs, and burning tires as they called for early elections.

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The roadblocks interrupted traffic along the southern Pan-American Highway that links Peru and Chile.

Two days after the failure of his coup attempt, Castillo is sharing a detention center with former president Alberto Fujimori at a police base in Lima.

The prosecution accuses this left-wing rural teacher of rebellion and conspiracy, and a high court ordered him into seven days in preliminary detention.

On the streets, meanwhile, the demonstrations continue for the second day and fuel uncertainty about the possibility that Boluarte can conclude her term in 2026, as she herself announced upon taking office.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the colonial center of the capital, demanding Castillo’s release.

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“I voted for Castillo, this Congress does not represent us, we want Castillo freed,” Maribel Quispe told AFP, in the march that left the central Plaza San Martin, and included the Prosecutor’s Office on its route to Congress.

“We want them to close this corrupt Congress and free Castillo. He made the decision to close Congress because they wouldn’t let him work,” marcher Sara Medina said.

Several dozen riot police officers closed the avenues that lead to the legislature to prevent the protest from passing through.

The demonstrators burned banners with the image of President Boluarte, shouting “coup leader!”

Earlier Friday, Castillo’s former chief of staff said that the Peruvian ex-president “could have been induced” by drugs to dissolve Congress and does not remember delivering the national address that led to his downfall.

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Congress was supposed to debate Castillo’s impeachment on Wednesday on corruption charges, but the president preempted them by announcing in a televised speech that he was dissolving the assembly and would rule by decree.

“There are indications that the president was forced to read the message of dissolution, and whoever wrote the text did so in order to provide an argument for his removal,” ex-aide Guido Bellido said on Twitter.

Bellido, who visited his former boss at the Lima police base where he is held while under investigation for rebellion and conspiracy, also questioned Castillo’s mental condition.

“The psychological state of P. Castillo when reading the message to the nation shows that he was not in control of his faculties. This suggests that he could have been induced. A toxicological test is urgently needed,” he said.

The former rural school teacher won a shock electoral victory over Peru’s traditional elites in June 2021.

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The charges against him carry a jail term of between 10 and 20 years.

Boluarte, who served as vice president under Castillo, was hastily sworn in as Peru’s first woman president just hours after the impeachment.

However, doubt is mounting over her ability to hold onto the job until the end of her mandate in 2026 in a country prone to political instability that is now on its sixth president in six years.

International

Federal immigration agents kill man in Minneapolis, sparking protests and outrage

Federal immigration agents shot and killed a 37-year-old Minneapolis man during an operation on Saturday, authorities confirmed, sparking new protests and deepening outrage over federal immigration enforcement in the city.

The victim, identified as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was a U.S. citizen and intensive care nurse who worked at a Veterans Affairs hospital and was widely respected in his community, according to colleagues and news reports.

Officials said the shooting occurred during a targeted immigration raid in south Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described the incident as an act of self-defense by agents who believed the man posed a threat.

However, videos reviewed by multiple outlets and eyewitnesses show Pretti holding a phone and not displaying a weapon before being pepper-sprayed, tackled by agents and then shot multiple times, raising serious questions about the official account.

The killing comes amid a broader federal immigration enforcement operation in the city and follows another controversial shooting in early January in which Renée Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by an ICE agent, leading to widespread protests and criticism of federal tactics.

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International

Delcy Rodríguez seeks political agreements after Maduro’s ouster

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, on Saturday called for “reaching agreements” with the opposition to achieve “peace” in the country, which the United States says it now controls following the military operation that removed President Nicolás Maduro from power.

Rodríguez, who previously served as Maduro’s vice president, assumed interim leadership after the leftist leader was captured on January 3 during a military incursion that left nearly 100 people dead.

In her first public statements since taking office, Rodríguez signaled a shift in the strained relationship between Caracas and Washington, while also committing to the release of a “significant number” of political prisoners.

“There can be no political or partisan differences when it comes to the peace of Venezuela,” Rodríguez said during an address in the coastal state of La Guaira, broadcast on state television VTV.

“From our differences, we must speak to one another with respect. From our differences, we must meet and reach agreements,” she added.

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The day before, Rodríguez instructed the head of Parliament — her brother Jorge Rodríguez — to convene talks with various political sectors in the country aimed at achieving “concrete and immediate results.”

International

Bogotá and Quito Seek Dialogue After Tariffs and Power Cut Escalate Tensions

Bogotá and Quito will hold an emergency bilateral summit next week amid recent developments that have strained relations between the two countries.

Tensions escalated this week after Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa unexpectedly announced a 30% tariff on Colombian imports. Colombia responded with a reciprocal measure, imposing the same tariff on around 20 Ecuadorian products and suspending electricity exports to Ecuador.

Aware that electricity imports are critical to easing Ecuador’s recent energy crises, Quito further imposed a 30% tariff on the transportation of Colombian oil through its territory.

However, recent statements from the Ecuadorian government suggest that dialogue between the two sides has intensified in recent hours. Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabriela Sommerfeld, confirmed that active conversations are under way.

In Colombia, segments of the business sector have welcomed the prospect of negotiations. The National Business Council (Consejo Gremial Nacional, CGN), for instance, urged both governments to restore commercial relations, warning that the dispute “puts jobs and regional economic stability at risk.”