Stephanie of Monaco celebrating and well supervised! A great event finally returns to the Rock
AFP
Peru: President asks protesters to remain “peaceful and calm” in Lima
Peru’s President Dina Boluarte called on the hundreds of protesters demanding her resignation and converging on Lima to remain “peaceful and calm” during the two crucial days of mobilization on Wednesday and Thursday. “We know that they want + to take + Lima” in view of “everything that comes out on the networks, the 18th and 19th (Wednesday and Thursday). I ask them to take Lima, but peacefully and calmly”, declared Ms. Boluarte during a speech at the Constitutional Court. The protests, which erupted after the December 7 dismissal and arrest of left-wing president Pedro Castillo, accused of attempting to carry out a coup d’etat by wanting to dissolve Parliament, which was about to oust him from power, killed at least 42 people. The protesters met in Lima to give more weight to their movement, believing that they would be better heard in the capital. The demonstrations which were concentrated until then in the south and were to swell in Lima: several political parties and a trade union confederation called for a strike on Thursday. “I am waiting for them to be able to talk about their social agendas,” said the president, while emphasizing that “the rule of law cannot be subject to the whims” of a group. Ms. Boluarte, who was vice-president of Mr. Castillo, succeeded him in accordance with the Constitution. She comes from the same party as him but the demonstrators see her as a “traitor”. They demand his resignation, the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of new elections with a Constituent Assembly. On Tuesday, hundreds of inhabitants of the Puno region (near Bolivia), many of them in traditional dress, left for Lima. “I’m excited to go to Lima, because the struggle continues,” Julio César Ramos told AFP before boarding a bus. Tuesday morning in Lima with the desire to make their voices heard: “Brothers have already lost their lives. We too are ready to give it (…) So that my child has better opportunities, that he is not a marginalized Indian. This is the start for things to change!”, promises Abdon Felix Flores Huaman, 30, a peasant who also trained as a psychologist, unemployed.- “Please give up!”He was however, it is impossible, despite the announcements of some and others, to know the extent of this mobilization and to know how many people have arrived or are on their way to Lima. In the afternoon, some groups who had arrived from the provinces marched peacefully towards the city center and Plaza San Martin.”Dina Boluarte must leave because she does not represent the (Pacific) coast, nor the Andes, nor the jungle (Amazon)”, argues Edith Calixto, a 45-year-old teacher, who arrived Tuesday from Cuzco. “Dina please give up so that the people calm down. The people do not surrender”, shouts Antonia Riveros, 55. of Huancavelica.”It’s a march for peace because we don’t want violence. I know that right now there is a group that disagrees with the current government but nevertheless (the violence) does not is not the way to do it. We want peace and quiet,” says Cesar Noa Casas, a trader. In addition, roadblocks continued to disrupt traffic in the country. On Tuesday, 94 sections of road were blocked by protesters in eight of 25 regions. In the early hours of the morning, however, the police released the Panamericana Norte highway. cm-pgf/nzg