The groups, calling for the strike, demand greater effectiveness in citizen security in the face of massive extortion and daily murders, while demanding the resignation of the Minister of the Interior, Juan José Santiváñez, who was ratified by President Dina Boluarte despite multiple requests for his dismissal.

As has occurred in two previous strikes, the official response, put forward by the president, maintains that only informal groups will paralyze work and that groups with political objectives would act behind them, which the leaders of the protest deny.

Although the Executive does not accept the strike’s ability to call for action and has managed to prevent formal transport companies from joining the strike, the Ministry of Labour has authorized delays of up to four hours in entering workplaces, thus tacitly recognizing the possibility that transport will not be normal, as well as the Ministry of Education’s suspension of student attendance at schools on this day. Universities have taken a similar measure, in both cases authorizing distance learning.

Police violently dispersed demonstrators last night during the second day of protests against the project of the multinational mining company Southern in the southern region of Arequipa, which threatens to contaminate high-quality food crops in the adjacent valley, and the announcement by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Rómulo Mucho, to give the green light to the plan.

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