EU concerned about Peru protesters ‘killed’, urges calm

Foto: Diego Ramos / AFP

| By AFP |

The European Union added its voice Monday to calls for calm after nearly two weeks of protests prompted by the ouster of leftist ex-president Pedro Castillo.

Security officials say 21 people have died in clashes since Castillo was abruptly removed from power and arrested early this month after seeking to dissolve Congress to rule by decree.

His impeachment and detention drew criticism from leftist Latin American allies including Mexico, as well as from thousands of supporters who took to the streets to demand his release.

A subsequent security clampdown, including the deployment of armed soldiers during a state of emergency declared under Castillo’s successor Dina Boluarte, has killed several protesters.

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“The EU condemns any use of violence and any excessive use of force,” the bloc said in a statement Monday.

It expressed concern about “reports that more than two dozen civilians have been killed so far, some of them by firearms, and many more injured during recent protests.”

The EU called for a “spirit of dialogue and cooperation to stop violence.”

In addition to the deaths, the repression of demonstrations has also left 646 people injured, including 290 policemen, according to the office of Peru’s human rights ombudsman.

On Sunday, the US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken to Boluarte, urging the new president to pursue reforms and “focus on reconciliation.”

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Castillo, a former rural school teacher and union leader, unexpectedly took power from Peru’s traditional political elite in elections last year.

He immediately came under fire, surviving two early impeachment bids, and soon also found himself in the cross-hairs of prosecutors looking into numerous graft claims.

He is the subject of six separate criminal investigations.

Castillo’s short term was plagued by instability, with three prime ministers and seven interior ministers coming and going in just over a year.

Opinion polls revealed massive public disapproval of Castillo’s management of the country, but thousands nevertheless spilled onto the streets when he was arrested.

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‘Criminal organization’

By Monday, the protests appeared to be waning, with smaller groups gathered calmly in several parts of the country, waving signs denouncing Boluarte as a “killer” and demanding her resignation.

They also want elections scheduled for 2026 to be brought forward to next year — a measure that lawmakers will consider this week.

Demonstrations have shaken the country since Castillo’s impeachment on December 7, with roadblocks and airport disruptions and thousands of tourists left stranded.

Operations at the airport of Arequipa, Peru’s second busiest, resumed Monday after a week of closure due to protesters obstructing the runway with stones, sticks and burning tires.

Neighbor Chile announced, meanwhile, that a chartered plane would evacuate stranded visitors to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu to Lima.

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Castillo is being held in pre-trial detention on charges of rebellion and conspiracy.

Boluarte, who was Castillo’s vice president and took over after he was impeached, said Sunday that Mexico had offered asylum to Castillo’s graft-accused family.

Speaking on the Panorama TV program, she did not specify whether the family members — Castillo’s wife, two children and sister-in-law — have left the country.

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and fellow leftist leaders of Bolivia, Argentina and Colombia have all expressed support for Castillo.

Prosecutors have accused Castillo’s wife, Lilia Paredes, of criminal conspiracy and money laundering as part of an alleged graft network headed by her husband.

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The “criminal organization” Castillo stands accused of running is alleged to have handed out public contracts in exchange for kickbacks.

Paredes’s sister Yenifer is also accused in the alleged plot.

The country is no stranger to instability: it had three different presidents in five days in 2020, and now six presidents since 2016.

Six of Peru’s last seven presidents were investigated or prosecuted after their terms came to an end.

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Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

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In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

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Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.