Demonstrators have seized the airport at the Peruvian town of Arequipa in a move to demand the resignation of Vice President Dina Boluarte, who was sworn in as the new head of state.
Armed with stones, sticks, and burning tires, hundreds of demonstrators blocked the air terminal Monday. The runway lighting was destroyed and the airport was closed. Police used teargas to disperse the crowds.
The Peruvian state has been accelerating the conflict, sending armed police against crowds. Since the protests began in early December after Castillo’s dismissal, 39 civilians had been killed in clashes with police and another seven others had died in traffic accidents.
Protestors have begun to fight back, capturing and killing at least one police officer. One was struck in the Peruvian region of Puno, as the death toll from demonstrations in the wake of the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo rose to 47. The protestors detained the two police, then set fire to their car, in Juliaca, a city near the border with Bolivia.
Thousands took to the streets during the weekend at Cajamarca, Arequipa, Tacna, Andahuaylas, Huancayo, Cusco, and Puno, with banners reading “Dina and Congress the same filth” or “Corrupt rats” while peasant and indigenous organizations call for an “indefinite strike” starting Tuesday.
Protestors subsequently attacked Cusco airport, forcing its closure.
Recently the uprising has afforded the opportunity for communities to confront mining operations in their midst.
Nexa Resources has reportedly suspended the production at its Atacocha San Gerardo open pit zinc mine in Peru due to the road blockade imposed by the local Machcan community since December 27.
A group of protestors attacked Glencore’s Antapaccay copper mine on Thursday January 12. Two company vehicles were burned and the area around worker’s housing hit.
The mine had been hit by blockades in September by indigenous groups who had asked the state to carry out a consultation process on a potential expansion of the mine.
The Antapaccay mine is one of the largest in Peru, the world’s No. 2 copper producer.