Peruvian police block crowds of protesters from Congress

An anti-government protester who traveled to the capital to march against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte is detained and thrown on the back of a police vehicle during clashes Thursday in Lima, Peru.
(AP/Martin Mejia)
An anti-government protester who traveled to the capital to march against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte is detained and thrown on the back of a police vehicle during clashes Thursday in Lima, Peru. (AP/Martin Mejia)


LIMA, Peru -- Police fired tear gas to try to subdue thousands of protesters who poured into the Peruvian capital Thursday, many from remote Andean regions, calling for the ouster of President Dina Boluarte and the return to power of her predecessor, whose removal last month launched deadly unrest and cast the nation into political chaos.

The demonstrators gathered in Lima's historic downtown scuffled with security forces who barred them from reaching key government buildings, including Congress, as well as business and residential districts of the capital.

Besides Boluarte's resignation, the supporters of former President Pedro Castillo were demanding the dissolution of Congress and immediate elections. Castillo, Peru's first leader from a rural Andean background, was impeached after a failed attempt to dissolve Congress.

For much of the day, the protests played out as a cat-and-mouse game, with demonstrators, some of whom threw rocks at law enforcement, trying to get through police lines and officers responding with volleys of tear gas that sent protesters fleeing, using rags dipped in vinegar to alleviate the sting to their eyes and skin.

"We're surrounded," said Sofia Lopez, 42, as she sat on a bench outside the country's Supreme Court. "We've tried going through numerous places and we end up going around in circles."

As the sun set, fires smoldered in the streets of downtown Lima as protesters threw rocks at police officers who fired so much tear gas it was difficult to see.

"I'm feeling furious," said Veronica Paucar, 56, coughing from the tear gas. "We're going to return peacefully. Today we're thousands, tomorrow we'll be 3,000, 4,000, 5,000."

There was visible frustration among protesters who had hoped to march into the Miraflores district, an emblematic neighborhood of the economic elite. In a Miraflores park, a large police presence separated the antigovernment protesters from a small group of demonstrators expressing support for law enforcement.

Late Thursday evening, firefighters were working to put out a large fire that broke out in a building near the protests in downtown Lima but its relationship to the demonstrations was not immediately clear.

Until recently, the protests had been mainly in Peru's southern Andes, with a total of 55 people killed in the unrest, mostly in clashes with security forces.

Anger at Boluarte was the common thread Thursday as protesters chanted calls for her resignation and street sellers hawked T-shirts saying, "Out, Dina Boluarte," "Dina murderer, Peru repudiates you" and "New elections, let them all leave."

"We're at a breaking point between dictatorship and democracy," said Pedro Mamani, a student at the National University of San Marcos, where demonstrators who traveled for the protest were being housed.

Protests were also held elsewhere and video posted on social media showed demonstrators trying to storm the airport in southern Arequipa, Peru's second city. They were blocked by police and one person was killed in the ensuing clashes, Peru's ombudsman said.

Information for this article was contributed by Mauricio Munoz of The Associated Press.

  photo  Police in riot gear block a street as a building burns behind them after a day a day of clashes with anti-government protesters in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Protesters are seeking immediate elections, Boluarte's resignation, the release of ousted President Pedro Castillo and justice for protesters killed in clashes with police. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
 
 
  photo  An anti-government protesters who traveled to the capital from across the country to march against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, is detained and thrown on the back of police vehicle during clashes in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Protesters are seeking immediate elections, Boluarte's resignation, the release of ousted President Pedro Castillo and justice for up to 48 protesters killed in clashes with police. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
 
 
  photo  An anti-government protesters charges the police with a club during clashes in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Protesters are seeking immediate elections, the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the release from prison of ousted President Pedro Castillo and justice for demonstrators killed in clashes with police. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
 
 
  photo  People aid a man injured during anti-government protests in Arequipa, Peru, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Protesters are seeking immediate elections, President Dina Boluarte's resignation, the release of ousted President Pedro Castillo and justice for demonstrators killed in clashes with police. (AP Photo/Jose Sotomayor)
 
 
  photo  An injured demonstrator, part of the anti-government protesters who traveled to the capital from across the country to march against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, lies injured on the ground during clashes with the police in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Protesters are seeking immediate elections, Boluarte's resignation, the release of ousted President Pedro Castillo and justice for the dozens of protesters killed in clashes with police. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
 
 
  photo  Women take cover from tear gas thrown by police during clashes with anti-government protesters in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Protesters are seeking immediate elections, the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the release from prison of ousted President Pedro Castillo and justice for protesters killed in clashes with police. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
 
 
  photo  Police stand around protester who was injured during in a march against President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Protesters are seeking immediate elections, the resignation of Boluarte, the release from prison of ousted President Pedro Castillo and justice for protesters killed in clashes with police.(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
 
 
  photo  Men carry a fellow anti-government protester who was injured during clashed in Arequipa, Peru, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Protesters are seeking immediate elections, President Dina Boluarte's resignation, the release of ousted President Pedro Castillo and justice for demonstrators killed in clashes with police. (AP Photo/Jose Sotomayor)
 
 


  photo  Demonstrators block a highway to protest against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte’s government and Congress in Arequipa, Peru. More photos at arkansasonline.com/120lima/. (AP/Jose Sotomayor)
 
 



 Gallery: Peruvian protesters pour into capital



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