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.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

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.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

“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.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

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.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

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

Pilot killed and two Pennsylvania state troopers injured in mid-air collision

A pilot was killed and two Pennsylvania state police officers were injured when a Cessna 150 airplane collided with the helicopter they were traveling in during a routine training exercise at a regional airport in the state.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro identified the officers as Corporal Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills, members of the Pennsylvania State Police aviation unit. Both are expected to recover from their injuries, according to ABC.

The county coroner’s office identified the pilot as 57-year-old Paul Sokoloski.

George Bivens, acting commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, said the collision occurred at around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday. The helicopter was flying several feet above a grassy area near a runway at Carlisle Regional Airport when the small plane approached from behind.

According to investigators, the Cessna suddenly veered to the right moments before the collision, striking the helicopter’s tail rotor before also hitting its main rotor.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

The airplane crashed a short distance away and broke into several pieces, while the helicopter lost its tail and other components before crashing on its side.

Police said Corporal Corman opened a window and helped Trooper Mills escape from the helicopter because they feared the aircraft could catch fire.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

International

Argentina’s Milei Links Low Birth Rates to Abortion and Feminism

Argentine President Javier Milei on Thursday blamed feminism and the legalization of abortion for the country’s declining birth rate, arguing that the demographic trend is creating economic and pension-system challenges.

“We are paying a very high price for the madness of the green scarves,” Milei said during a speech at the Council of the Americas in Buenos Aires, referring to the symbol associated with the feminist movement and the campaign for legal abortion in Argentina.

According to Milei, Argentina is failing to reach the population growth and birth rates needed to maintain demographic replacement.

He also linked the decline in births to future challenges for the country’s pension system and workforce.

“That passion for killing children in the mother’s womb is costing us in terms of growth and pensions. It is also costing us in terms of human capital,” the president said.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

Milei has consistently opposed abortion, which has been legal in Argentina since 2020. The law was considered a major victory for the feminist movement across Latin America at the time of its approval.

In February 2024, lawmakers from Milei’s La Libertad Avanza (LLA) party introduced a bill seeking to repeal voluntary abortion legislation.

Under Argentina’s current law, abortion is legal, safe and free of charge up to the 14th week of pregnancy. After that period, it is permitted when the pregnancy poses a risk to the woman’s life or health, or when it resulted from rape.

Milei has repeatedly criticized abortion

The Argentine president has also criticized abortion and feminism in international forums. During his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2024, he attacked the feminist movement and denounced what he described as the “bloody agenda of abortion.”

His latest comments come amid growing concerns over Argentina’s demographic outlook and the potential long-term effects of declining birth rates on economic growth, the labor force and social security.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

International

Virginia Police Arrest Salvadoran Man in Great Falls Woman’s Killing

Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, 19, identified by federal officials as an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, was arrested in connection with the death of Carmen Lizet Puch, 42, who was found dead Monday, the Fairfax County Police Department said.

Authorities said Cedillos-Campos and Puch were coworkers and were also involved in an “intimate relationship.”

“Our victim suffered numerous stab wounds in a truly brutal and indescribable manner,” Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a news conference Wednesday.

Investigators said surveillance video showed Cedillos-Campos at the restaurant where he and Puch worked, allegedly taking a fixed-blade knife, a pair of black latex gloves and a bottle of water before leaving.

“He left with the intent to harm and kill the victim,” Davis said.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

Cedillos-Campos was arrested Wednesday morning in Maryland and confessed to the killing, according to Davis. He is awaiting extradition to Virginia. Authorities have not said whether he has an attorney representing him.

The Department of Homeland Security said Cedillos-Campos had previously been arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2024 after allegedly crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally near El Paso, Texas.