Peru: timeline of fresh political upheaval

Montevideo, Dec 14 (AFP/APP): Peru has descended into protests since the country’s legislature last week threw out leftist president Pedro Castillo after he tried to dissolve Congress and rule by decree.

Here is a timeline of the most recent upheaval in a country that has been buffeted by a wave of political crises over the past two decades.

– Dec 7: bid to dissolve Congress –

On December 7, Castillo, 53, in a televised address to the nation dissolves Congress and says he will form an emergency government, impose a night-time curfew and rule by decree.

His announcement comes hours before parliament is to debate his impeachment.
It is the third impeachment attempt since he won power from Peru’s traditional political elite in July 2021.
Peru’s Vice President Dina Boluarte denounces Castillo for an attempted “coup d’etat.”

– Dec 7: impeachment, successor installed –

Lawmakers dismiss Castillo’s attempt to dissolve Congress, and they vote overwhelmingly to remove him from office for “moral incapacity” to exercise power.

He is transferred to a police facility in east Lima and arrested for “rebellion.”

Boluarte, a 60-year-old lawyer, takes the oath of office within two hours of the impeachment vote, becoming Peru’s first woman president.
She says she intends to serve out the rest of Castillo’s term, until July 2026.

Hundreds of protesters, some of whom support the former president and others who oppose him, take to Lima’s streets.

– Dec 8: Supreme Court –

The United States praises Peru for ensuring “democratic stability” and pledges to work with Boluarte.

Castillo appears before the Supreme Court via videoconference. The judge orders he is kept in preliminary detention for seven days.

– Dec 10: demonstrations grow –

Pro-Castillo protests grow, with demonstrators blocking roads and burning tires across the country.

Boluarte unveils a new cabinet, led by former prosecutor Pedro Angulo. The cabinet has an independent, technocratic profile.

– Dec 11: protests turn deadly –

Two people are killed in Andahuaylas in the south as demonstrators attempt to storm the city’s airport.

Police clash with demonstrators calling for a national strike, fresh elections and the release of Castillo.

– Dec 12: seven dead in two days –

Boluarte announces that she will ask Congress to hold elections two years early, in April 2024, and announces a state of emergency in flashpoint areas.

Hundreds of protesters temporarily block the airport runway in second city Arequipa.

The leftist governments of Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia back Castillo.

Another five people die in violent clashes, bringing the toll over two days to seven. Six of the deaths are in Boluarte’s Apurimac home region.

– Dec 13: Castillo stays in jail –

A court rejects an appeal by Castillo to be freed, with a judge postponing a decision to Thursday 15.

– Dec 14: Early election call –

Boluarte again calls for fresh elections, this time in December 2023.
Peru declares a nationwide state of emergency for 30 days.