PeruS President Defies resignation Calls Following Deadly protests
Peru‘s newly appointed President, Jose Jeri, has stated he will not resign despite intensifying protests fueled by the death of a popular rapper and widespread discontent over crime. the demonstrations, largely driven by Gen Z, began a month ago with demands for improved pensions and wages for young people, and escalated into broader calls for change amid frustrations with corruption and insecurity.
The government announced late Thursday a state of emergency will be declared in the capital, Lima, coinciding with a prosecutor’s inquiry into the death of 32-year-old Eduardo Ruiz, a hip-hop singer, during Wednesday’s mass demonstration.
Police Chief General Oscar Arriola identified Luis Magallanes,a member of the police force,as the individual believed to have fired the fatal shot. Magallanes has been detained, dismissed from his position, and is currently receiving hospital treatment after reportedly being physically assaulted.
Ruiz’s death marks the first fatality in the protests, which ultimately contributed to the removal of former President Dina Boluarte last week. Thousands demonstrated across the country on Wednesday, with clashes occurring between protesters and police outside Congress in Lima. Demonstrators are calling for Jeri, the seventh president in less than a decade, to step down.
“My responsibility is to maintain the stability of the country; that is my responsibility and my commitment,” Jeri told local media following a visit to Peru’s parliament, where he indicated he would request additional powers to combat crime.
Jeri expressed regret over Ruiz’s death in a post on X, stating the incident would be “objectively” investigated and attributing the violence to “delinquents who infiltrated a peaceful demonstration to sow chaos.” He vowed, “The full force of the law will be on them.”
Al Jazeera’s Mariana Sanchez, reporting from Lima, noted that Ruiz’s death has “added another layer to the ongoing political crisis” and “angered even more Peruvians who are frustrated with the corruption, with the insecurity in the country.”
Activist Milagros Samillan told Al Jazeera, “He was peacefully hanging out with his friends. sadly, the bullet hit his chest. we want justice for him.”
The prosecutor’s office announced on X that Ruiz’s body has been removed from a Lima hospital and that they are collecting “audiovisual and ballistic evidence in the area where the incident occurred,in the context of serious human rights violations.”
According to newly appointed Interior Minister Vicente Tiburcio, 89 police officers and 22 civilians were injured during Wednesday’s protests, and 11 people were detained.
