Alfonso Chávarry does not mea culpa for deaths in protests: “The responsibility lies with the protesters”

Those killed in the April protests in Ica and Junín have aroused great indignation among the population, to the point that it has become a subject for the interpellation motion drawn up by the Congress of the Republic against Premier Aníbal Torres. However, the Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Chávarry, considered that the Executive did not have the responsibility.

In statements to the press, the head of the Interior responded to the questions that weigh on the Government as a result of the six people who lost their lives as a result of the transport strike.

“The responsibility lies with the protesters, those who hold the demonstrations and allow vandals and criminals who attack private property and individuals to infiltrate their ranks,” Chávarry said.

On March 28, the hauliers' strike took place and the demonstrations spread to several provinces of the country. Over the course of the days, the level of violence - both by demonstrators and by police repression - generated six v fatalities and multiple injuries in Huánuco, Ica and Huancayo.

In addition, protesters in Huancayo showed great indignation at the statements of the President of the Republic, Pedro Castillo, who said that the protests of the transport unions, farmers, merchants, among others, were motivated by the opposition and paid leaders.

On 7 April, after a week of fighting, an agreement was reached between the collectives and the Ministry of Transport and Communications, so that a record was signed.

FATALITIES IN THE PROTESTS

The first victims were recorded in Junín. Among them is a 13-year-old teenager, whose body was found on the banks of the Yacus River, in the province of Jauja. The minor was said to have fallen into the river while escaping from police officers.

Candy Magaly Hinostroza de la Cruz is the second victim of the demonstrations in Junín. The teacher who died after being run over by Hans Oré at the height of the Las Balsas bridge, in Concepción. The third victim is an 82-year-old man, identified as Jorge Maldonado Landeo, from the district of Huaripampa (Jauja), who died because he did not receive his haemodialysis treatment in a timely manner at the Essalud-Huancayo hospital, as the ambulance was unable to advance.

On the night of April 2, Minister Chávarry confirmed the death of four citizens, but stressed that these did not occur as a result of clashes with the PNP. “There are four dead, one who died because he could not be helped, was going to the hospital; a child who falls on the bridge, and two in traffic accidents, they are hit by the same vehicles that were on strike, there has been nothing else, there are four,” he said.

On April 5, in Huánuco, an 18-year-old boy identified as Alexander Trujillo Nolasco was reportedly hit in the head by a tear gas shell. Trujillo Nolasco was taken on a motorcycle to the Ambo health center, where they certified his death.

The last recorded victim died on 6 April, during clashes over the blockade of roads in Ica. He was identified as Yhony Quinto Contreras, a 24-year-old boy who received a stray bullet hit in the head, causing him to lose his life at that very moment.

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