Seoul Gazette - Peru to impose state of emergency in capital after wave of violence

It comes after a man was shot dead by police on Wednesday and more than 100 people were injured after protests turned violent near the capital's Congress building.

The South American country has been rocked by protests for weeks, and lawmakers voted last week to impeach then-president Dina Boluarte, who critics blamed for a surge in crime and accused of corruption.

The youth-led demonstrations have brought thousands of Peruvians, frustrated by the authorities' failure to address the worsening crime crisis, onto the streets in Lima and several other cities.

"We are going to announce the decision to declare a state of emergency at least in Metropolitan Lima," head of the cabinet Ernesto Alvarez told press after a leadership meeting.

- First person to die -

Peru's police chief said Thursday that an officer from the criminal investigation directorate was believed to have fired the bullet that killed 32-year-old rapper Eduardo Ruiz on Wednesday.

The officer, who was attacked by the crowd, has been detained and will be dismissed from his job, General Oscar Arriola said.

Ruiz was the first person to die in the protests led by the youth collective Generation Z.

At least 113 others -- 84 police officers and 29 civilians -- were injured when thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Lima Wednesday.

The protests began with a peaceful march, but clashes broke out after some protesters tried to breach the security barrier around Congress as night fell, an AFP correspondent said.

Others in the crowd hurled stones and lit fireworks, to which police in riot gear responded with tear gas.

The National Coordinator of Human Rights, an NGO, had earlier said that Ruiz may have been shot dead by a plainclothes police officer.

- 'Young people are tired' -

Peru is experiencing an unprecedented wave of violence, with dozens of bus drivers, musicians and other victims killed for refusing to pay protection money to gangs such as Peru's Los Pulpos and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua.

Immensely unpopular former president Dina Boluarte was impeached by Congress for her failure to tamp down crime.

Jose Jeri, who had been speaker of the legislature, took over as interim president six days later.

On Thursday, the right-wing Jeri asked Congress to give him special powers to enact emergency security laws, without having to put them to a vote.

Thursday evening dozens of young people attended a vigil, lighting candles and laying flowers at the spot where Ruiz died.

"The circumstances of his death were truly shameful," Solaris Raez, a 25-year-old university student, told AFP.

They also called for Jeri's government to be ousted.

"We young people are tired of the violence, the corruption, tired of the daily death and extortion," said Ariana Palomino, a 30-year-old independent shopkeeper.

U.Hyeon--SG