Peru imposes curfew after protests over gas and fertiliser prices amid Ukraine invasion
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Riot police confront demonstrators during clashes in Ate, a district east of Lima, on April 4, 2022.
PHOTO: AFP
LIMA (AFP, REUTERS) - Peruvian President Pedro Castillo announced on Tuesday (April 5) a curfew for the capital Lima and neighbouring port city Callao following a Monday demonstration that caused roadblocks and “acts of violence”.
Protests had erupted across the country in recent days against a rapid surge in fuel and fertiliser prices triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In an attempt to appease protesters, the government eliminated the fuel tax over the weekend.
But Monday’s demonstration saw truckers and passenger carrier drivers continue to take to the streets.
Several violent incidents, including the burning of toll booths on highways, looting in stores and clashes between protesters and police, occurred in different areas of Peru in the first such stoppage faced by Mr Castillo’s leftist government.
Mr Castillo announced late on Monday that Peru’s Council of Ministers had approved a curfew for the following day.
“In view of the acts of violence that some groups have wanted to create... and in order to re-establish peace... the Council of Ministers has approved the declaration of citizen immobility (curfew) from 2am to 11.59pm (3pm Tuesday to 12.59pm Wednesday Singapore time) on Tuesday, April 5,” he said in a televised message.
The protests are a reality check for the embattled presidency of the leftist Castillo, a peasant farmer and school teacher who won the election last year with overwhelming support from Peru's rural poor.
His support, however, has waned over time and currently hovers at around 25 per cent in the country as a whole, according to polls.
Peru has also issued an emergency declaration for its agricultural sector due to rising fertiliser prices triggered by Western sanctions on Russia, a major exporter of potash, ammonia, urea and other soil nutrients.
Like many countries, Peru was already battling high inflation before the war. In March, inflation hit a 26-year high, largely driven by rising fuel and food prices.
Mr Oscar Graham, Peru's finance minister, told Reuters last Friday that the biggest threat to Peru's economy is the prolongation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
