Boluarte Decides to Militarize the Puno Region in Peru

On Tuesday, Peru's President Dina Boluarte ordered 500 soldiers to enter Puno and extended the curfew in this department for another 10 days. Previously, however, she called for a "national truce."

"In the morning hours, the residents of the Laraqueri district were surprised by an unusual presence of hundreds of soldiers, helicopters and military vehicles, which arrived to enter the city of Puno," the local newspaper El Buho reported.

"Although the residents were frightened, they tried to prevent the troops from entering. However, the soldiers left the vehicles in the area and walked towards the regional capital."

Since Jan. 15, the Puno department has been under a curfew that begins at 8:00 p.m. and ends at 4:00 a.m. During this lapse, people are required to remain inside their residences.

For weeks, Boluarte has also maintained a "State of Emergency" in the regions of Lima, Callao and Cusco, where the massive protests demanding his resignation have not ceased.

The tweet reads, "Urgent. It's not U.S. troops occupying and invading countries around the world to plunder their minerals. It's not Ukrainian or Russian troops positioning for combat either. It's the Peruvian army cornering Puno and getting ready for a massacre. SOS Puno, SOS Peru, Dictatorship in Peru."

The militarization of Puno occurs on a day in which Peruvians were violently repressed in downtown Lima, where they also demanded the closure of Congress and the immediate calling of general elections.

In response to the State terrorism climate prevailing in Peru, a group of 46 lawyers will denounce Boluarte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the murder of over 60 protesters since she assumed the presidency on Dec. 7, 2022.

Their "Crimes Against Humanity" complaint includes Prime Minister Alberto Otarola, the head of the Armed Forces Joint Command Manuel Gomez de la Torre, former ministers Cesar Cervantes and Victor Rojas, and far-right lawmakers Jorge Montoya. and Patricia Chirinos.