Reuters. Demonstrators who support Peru's ousted president Pedro Castillo clashed with riot police on Monday (December 12) in Lima as they demanded new presidential elections and the closure of Congress following Castillo's removal from office.
Hundreds of demonstrators protested outside Congress, set barricades on fire, and threw objects at police officers who responded by firing tear gas canisters into the crowds to disperse them.
Demonstrators, many of them Castillo supporters, have for days demanded that Peru hold elections rather than allow Peru's President, former vice president Dina Boluarte, to stay in power until Castillo's term ends in 2026.
Boluarte was sworn in last week after Castillo was sacked by Congress and arrested for attempting to dissolve the legislature in an effort to prevent an impeachment vote against him.
Castillo, a former teacher and union activist who won a narrow victory in 2021 buoyed by poor rural and indigenous voters, faces separate corruption allegations simultaneously.
