Third Takeover of Lima in Peru: Blockades and Confrontations

Peruvian people take to the streets of Peru in anti-government protests. Jul. 19, 2023.

Published 19 July 2023

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Peruvians protest against the government of President-designate Dina Boluarte and the Congress of the Republic.

Demonstrations, road blockades, and some clashes are taking place on Wednesday in Peru as part of the so-called "Third Takeover of Lima."

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In the capital, Lima, demonstrators have already reached the outskirts of Congress. Meanwhile, the police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. On Abancay Avenue, one of the main avenues in the city, there were confrontations with stone throwing, sticks, and fireworks.

About seven highways throughout the country are blocked due to protests, according to the Superintendence of Land Transportation of People, Cargo, and Goods (Sutran). The interruptions are registered in the departments of Lima (center), Loreto (north), and La Libertad (north), as well as Ayacucho (south) and Huancavelica (south).

Media reports indicate that members of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) launched tear gas bombs against some 3,000 demonstrators in the city of Huancavelica. The activists responded by throwing stones or throwing back the tear gas bombs used by the police forces.

#19J En #Huancavelica, la @PoliciaPeru dispersó a manifestantes con bombas lacrimógenas, luego de que un grupo quemara un cajón en la puerta de la Prefectura, según @Defensoria_Peru. Dirigentes sociales de la región se declararon en movilización permanente.��

✍️@YoselinAlfaro6 pic.twitter.com/rYb5baX3Vh
— OjoPúblico (@Ojo_Publico) July 19, 2023

The tweet reads, "In Huancavelica, the Peruvian National Police dispersed demonstrators with tear gas bombs after a group burned a crate at the door of the Prefecture, according to the Ombudsman's Office. Social leaders in the region declared themselves in permanent mobilization."

The confrontation began when some activists set fire to the door of the Regional Prefecture of Huancavelica. Former parliamentarian Indira Huilca denounced that "the police are attacking a peaceful concentration in the square of Huancavelica; there are women and men with little flags of Peru."

The leaders of the Peruvian city declared the region under permanent mobilization. Shopkeepers paralyzed their work, and the campus of the university town of Paturpampa remains closed.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman's Office rejected the violence and called on citizens "to remain calm. Violence only delegitimizes the right to protest," the entity said via Twitter.