Lima, December 18 (RHC)-- Peruvian police, together with troops from the Army, raided the offices of popular organiztions on Saturday. Repressive forces broke into the offices of the Confederación Campesina del Perú, adjacent to the premises of the political party Nuevo Perú, which they also raided.
The National Coordinator of Human Rights denounced that these premises only house people from different regions who have come to the capital to protest against the government installed after the vacancy of President Pedro Castillo by Congress on December 7th.
In response, Nuevo Perú described the raid carried out by the Police as irregular, while denouncing that the military would not allow Congresswoman Ruth Luque Ibarra to enter "to witness the raid of our premises. Neither did they allow representatives of human rights organizations to enter.
From the raided premises of Nuevo Perú they exhibited posters with slogans such as "Peasants freedom" and "They are holding us hostage." They also denounced that it was police personnel "dressed in civilian clothes who led this raid in which fundamental rights were not respected" and reiterated that they did not allow "the entry of lawyers or witnesses. There is a risk of sowing material and violence against the persons housed inside."
The operation was carried out in the framework of the second day of the state of emergency, decreed by the Government of Dina Boluarte in view of the protests and repression in Peru. The Police arrived at these premises in search of demonstrators who had travelled to the capital from different parts of the country.
On the social networks, the Confederación Campesina and Nuevo Perú added that the Police used the Dirección Contra el Terrorismo (Dircote) for the operation, whose agents planted machetes and other weapons to point out peaceful demonstrators as terrorists.
Meanwhile, former presidential candidate for Nuevo Peru, Veronika Mendoza questioned the legality of the raid and stressed that the right to protest is still in force, despite the declaration of a state of emergency.
So far, the state repression of the protest by the Army and the Police has left more than 20 dead and an undetermined number of injured. The demonstrators are demanding early elections, the closing of the Congress, which they accuse of a coup d'état, and the calling of a Constituent Assembly.
