Peru

LIMA, Dec 13 (Reuters) - As Peru careers from one political crisis to another, the country has exploded in protest, with at least seven dead in the last week and the smoke of fires and tear gas hanging over city streets. A way out seems distant.

The spark of the current unrest was the ouster and arrest of leftist leader Pedro Castillo after he tried to dissolve Congress illegally. It followed a months-long standoff where lawmakers impeached him three times, the final time removing him from office.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s newest president, Dina Boluarte, gave in to protesters’ demands early Monday announcing in a nationally televised address that she will send Congress a proposal to move up elections.

Boluarte’s decision came after thousands of demonstrators took to the streets around Peru for another day on Sunday to demand that she resign and schedule elections to replace her and Congress. The protests turned deadly, with at least two reported deaths in a remote community in the Andes, according to officials.

LIMA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Peru's new President Dina Boluarte on Friday acknowledged the possibility of holding the next elections earlier than scheduled.

"If the situation warrants it," the government will be in talks with the political and democratic forces of Congress on bringing forward elections, Boluarte told local media.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — When Pedro Castillo won Peru’s presidency last year, it was celebrated as a victory by the country’s poor — the peasants and Indigenous people who live deep in the Andes and whose struggles had long been ignored.

His supporters hoped Castillo, a populist outsider of humble roots, would redress their plight — or at least end their invisibility.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — The president of Peru was ousted by Congress and arrested on a charge of rebellion Wednesday after he sought to dissolve the legislative body and take unilateral control of the government, triggering a grave constitutional crisis.

Vice President Dina Boluarte replaced Pedro Castillo and became the first female leader in the history of the republic after hours of wrangling between the legislature and the departing president, who had tried to prevent an impeachment vote.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — In just three tumultuous hours, President Pedro Castillo went from decreeing the dissolution of Peru’s Congress to being replaced by his vice president, but the threats against his government had been building throughout his nearly 17-month presidency.

LIMA, Dec 5 (NNN-Xinhua) — Peruvian President Pedro Castillo said that an impeachment motion approved by the opposition-led Congress “is part of the political game” against him.

Castillo made his remarks in the northern region of Cajamarca, where he voted during the second round of elections that have been taking place in nine regions of the South American nation.

Castillo said he was sure that, despite the motion, his government has been “set up by the majority” of citizens and that it is necessary to “defend the popular will.”

LIMA, Nov 26 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Peruvian health authorities have launched a health alert for 180 days after three cases of the highly contagious H5N1 avian influenza were detected in pelicans, it was announced in Lima.

 With the seasonal migration of the birds, the disease could spread through South America and reach Central America, scientists said.

Avian influenza has no cure or treatment and causes high mortality in wild and domestic birds such as ducks, hens, chickens, and turkeys, among others.

LIMA, Nov 24 (NNN-ANDINA) — Saudi Arabia – the surprise at the Qatar 2022 World Cup – is also a strategic trading partner for Peru. The Asian country supplies polymers for the Peruvian plastic industry, while the South American country covers part of its consumption of fruit and other sectors.

“Between 2017 and 2021, our exports to Saudi Arabia reached almost US$50 million. This year, at the end of the third quarter, they totaled US$8.3 million, thus growing 24.2% compared to last year,” Minister Roberto Sanchez indicated.

LIMA, Nov 21 (NNN-ANDINA) — Jorge Chavez International Airport resumed normal operations following an accident at the runway on Friday, which left two firefighters dead, according to the Peruvian Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC).

In a statement posted on social media, the MTC noted that passengers were already at the airport’s terminal halls to board domestic and international flights.