International
Peru to debate advancing elections as protests boil
January 30 | By AFP | Carlos Mandujano |
Peru’s Congress is due on Monday to debate for the second time in days a bill to bring forward elections in a bid to end weeks of protests that have at times turned violent and left dozens dead.
The South American country has been embroiled in a political crisis with near-daily street protests since December 7, when then-president Pedro Castillo was arrested after attempting to dissolve Congress and rule by decree.
In seven weeks of demonstrations, 48 people — including one police officer — have been killed in clashes between security forces and protesters, according to the Ombudsman’s Office of Peru.
The unrest is coming mainly from poor, rural Indigenous people from southern Peru who had identified Castillo as one of their own who would fight to end poverty, racism and inequality from which they suffer.
President Dina Boluarte has urged Congress to act, warning that otherwise she will seek constitutional reform to make a vote happen.
Last month lawmakers moved up elections due in 2026 to April 2024, but as protests show no sign of abating, Boluarte now wants them held this year — a call that Congress rejected late on Friday.
“Vote for Peru, for the country, by moving the elections up to 2023,” the president said in an address to the nation on Sunday.
“Tomorrow you have a chance to win the country’s trust.”
Last week’s vote on bringing elections forward to October was defeated by 65 votes against and just 45 in favor, with two abstentions.
If lawmakers again refuse to advance elections, Boluarte said she will propose a constitutional reform so that a first round of elections will be held in October and a runoff in December.
Protesters are demanding immediate elections, Boluarte’s resignation, the dissolution of Congress and a new constitution.
First death in Lima
According to a survey by the Institute of Peruvian Studies, 73 percent of Peruvians are calling for elections this year.
“I urge parliamentarians to reflect responsibly on the decision to be made,” tweeted legislature leader Jose Williams, a right-wing retired military general who is the first in the line of succession if the president resigns.
Monday’s reconvening of Congress will coincide with the wake of Victor Santisteban, 55, a demonstrator who died Saturday after receiving blunt force trauma to his head according to a medical report.
Santisteban was the first recorded death from the protests in Peru’s capital Lima since nationwide demonstrations kicked off in December with Castillo supporters blocking highways, causing shortages of food, fuel and other basic supplies.
According to the Ombudsman’s Office, Saturday’s protest in Lima saw at least seven others wounded and hospitalised, after police deployed tear gas against protesters flinging stones and cement pieces.
Geronimo Lopez, leader of the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers, said protesters would “not cease their struggle” if Boluarte does not step down.
He called for a national march for Tuesday afternoon under the slogan “Dina resigns now.”
But Boluarte, who as Castillo’s vice president was constitutionally mandated to replace him, has insisted that “nobody has any interest in clinging to power.”
Analyst Giovanna Penaflor from research firm Imasen told AFP the situation is going to get worse.
“Today we are (seeing) an unstoppable number of deaths related to political issues and this cannot continue like this,” Penaflor said.
Apart from those who have died in protests, an additional 10 civilians, including two babies, died when they were unable to get medical treatment or medicine due to roadblocks, the Ombudsman’s Office said.
The protest movement has affected Peru’s vital tourism industry, even forcing the closure of the world-renown Machu Picchu Inca citadel ruins.
International
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Pope Francis met on Thursday at the Vatican with 16 Israelis who had been held hostage in Gaza for months by the Islamist group Hamas, according to the official Vatican news website.
The group consisted of ten women, four men, and two children, as reported by the same source. Several of the former hostages showed the Argentine pontiff banners or photos of their loved ones who remain in captivity.
Francis had previously met with the families of hostages in April this year and November 2023, but this was the first time he had met with individuals who had personally endured captivity.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the pope has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages, while also condemning the suffering of the Palestinian population.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Islamist militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,206 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages who died in captivity.
Of the kidnapped, 97 are still being held in Gaza, but the Israeli military estimates that 34 of them have died.
The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed at least 43,736 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-governed territory.
International
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on residential buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surroundings on Thursday, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 16 injuries, according to Syria’s Ministry of Defense and state television.
The ministry stated that around 3:20 p.m. local time (12:20 GMT), the Israeli military launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighborhood in western Damascus and the Qudsaya suburb to the northwest of the capital.
The airstrikes “resulted in the death of 15 people and injuries to 16 others, including women and children,” based on initial estimates, in addition to significant damage to private property and civilian buildings, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, state television reported Israeli airstrikes on three buildings in Mazzeh and another on a building in an educational complex located in a residential area of Qudsaya.
Following the strikes, loud explosions were heard throughout the city, and thick plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the targeted locations. Ambulances and emergency services rushed to the scene to attend to the victims.
International
Drug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
Three people were on the boat that collided with a Guardia Civil vessel around midnight at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near the Andalusian city of Cádiz, a spokesperson for the Civil Guard reported.
Two officers sustained “contusions,” the spokesperson explained.
The drug traffickers managed to bring the boat to shore, where one of them was “abandoned” severely injured. The other two fled.
The Civil Guard officers attempted to resuscitate the victim before transporting him to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but he ultimately died early in the morning.
The other two suspects took advantage of the officers’ absence while they were taking the victim and returned to set their boat on fire.
The collision occurred very close to the site of another accident on September 1, where a drug trafficker died following a Guardia Civil pursuit.
The suspects’ boat traveled “400 meters” before crashing head-on and “at full speed” into the riverbank, where a hundred bundles of hashish were found.
Mulino warns Trump: Darién is U.S.’s ‘other border’ in call for bilateral solutions to migration
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
Central America4 days agoBukele begins official visit to Costa Rica based on security, cooperation and trade
-
Central America2 days agoNicaraguan Naval Force seizes cocaine on Pacific Coast, suspects escape
-
Central America2 days agoEl Salvador delivers aid to Costa Rica amid severe flooding and red alerts
-
Central America2 days agoBukele urges Costa Rica to reform prison system amid rising crime rates
-
International3 days agoMarco Rubio considered for Secretary of State in Trump administration, reports say
-
International3 days agoSheinbaum pledges support for mexican migrants amid U.S. border enforcement plans
-
International4 days agoDaniel Ortega turns 79: 29 in power, 17 “governing from below”, and 7 in prison
-
International4 days agoLe procureur vénézuélien dénonce une campagne visant à présenter les “criminels” comme prisonniers politiques
-
International4 days agoLes migrants qui ont été retenus en Albanie par le gouvernement de Meloni arriveront ce soir en Italie
-
International4 days agoShooting at Tuskegee University leaves one dead and several injured
-
International2 days agoElon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency
-
International2 days agoMálaga paralyzed by new storm as torrential rains hit Spain
-
International4 days agoA US flight to Haiti is deflected after being shot when approaching Port-au-Prince
-
International2 days agoPresident-elect Trump chooses Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense
-
International2 days agoSeven bodies found with signs of torture in Sinaloa
-
International2 days agoHezbollah launches explosive drone strike on Israel’s defense headquarters
-
International4 days agoIrish mobster Hutch is rending for general elections after arrest in Spain
-
International2 days agoEcuadorian judge orders preventive detention for nine inmates after deadly prison clashes
-
Internacionales3 days ago
Mexico deploys 12,000 security agents to Guerrero amid escalating violence
-
Internacionales4 days agoTropical storm Rafael weakens over gulf of Mexico after devastating Cuba
-
International2 days agoSantiago Uribe cleared of homicide and paramilitary charges
-
International4 days agoTrump appoints an ally without experience in the sector to the environmental agency
-
International2 days agoTrump nominates Matt Gaetz as attorney general
-
International2 days agoMarco Rubio to become first latino U.S. diplomacy chief under Trump
-
Central America11 hours agoMulino warns Trump: Darién is U.S.’s ‘other border’ in call for bilateral solutions to migration
-
International4 days agoThe court of El Salvador postpones the preliminary hearing for the massacre of Jesuit parents in 1989
-
International11 hours ago
Aemet downgrades rainfall alert as heavy rains ease in Spain
-
International11 hours agoVenezuelan opposition activist dies in custody amid allegations of repressive crisis
-
International11 hours agoDrug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
-
International11 hours agoIsraeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
-
Central America11 hours agoTen dead in Panama due to storms causing over $100 million in damages
-
International11 hours agoMaria Corina Machado sees clear signs for Venezuela after Trump’s victory
-
International11 hours agoPope Francis meets former Gaza hostages