Death Toll in Peru Rises to 46 Amid Extraordinary Violence

LIMA, Peru — At least 17 people were killed in southern Peru in a matter of hours on Monday amid ongoing protests over the ouster of the former president, an extraordinary spasm of violence that led to criticism of excessive force by the military and the police.

The clashes heightened concerns that the protests would continue to spread and lead to more bloodshed.

Peru, the fifth-most-populous nation in Latin America, has been the scene of violent demonstrations since mid-December, when the country’s leftist president, Pedro Castillo, who had promised to address longstanding issues of poverty and inequality, attempted to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. The move was widely condemned as unconstitutional and Mr. Castillo was arrested and replaced by his vice president.

Supporters of Mr. Castillo, many of them living in impoverished rural regions, quickly took to the streets to demand new general elections, with many claiming they had been stripped of the right to be governed by the man they had voted into office just one year earlier.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/death-toll-in-peru-rises-to-47-amid-extraordinary-violence/ar-AA16b9oX