LIMA, Jan 15, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Peru's capital Lima was under a state of 
emergency Sunday, along with three other regions, as the government responded 
to weeks-long protests against President Dina Boluarte that have seen at 
least 42 people killed.

The state of emergency, in force for 30 days, authorizes the army to 
intervene to maintain order and suspends several constitutional rights such 
as freedom of movement and assembly, according to a decree published in the 
official gazette.

It covers Lima and the regions of Cusco and Puno, as well as the port of 
Callao adjacent to the capital.

Supporters of ousted president Pedro Castillo have taken to the streets and 
blocked roads across the South American country since December, demanding 
fresh elections and the removal of Boluarte, who has refused to step down.

Protests have been announced for Monday in Lima as well as the marginalized 
southern Andean regions, which have been the epicenter of the unrest.

Some groups of protesters from the south plan to travel to Lima for a 
"takeover of the city".

"We have the decision to go to Lima (from Monday), yes or yes," said Julio 
Vilca, a protest leader from the province of Ilave, in the Puno region. "We 
cannot indicate the time, because what we want is to travel in unity."

More than 100 protest roadblocks were in place across Peru on Saturday.

The airport in Cusco, gateway to the famed Machu Picchu site, reopened 
Saturday after being shuttered Thursday, the second time it had been closed 
due to the protests.

Trains to Machu Picchu were still suspended, and local unions say tourism 
workers are losing out on up to seven million soles (1.7 million dollars) a 
day due to the crisis.

The mass anti-government demonstrations first broke out in early December, 
after Castillo was ousted from office for attempting to dissolve Congress and 
rule by decree, seeking to prevent an impeachment vote against him.

Peru has been politically unstable in recent years, with 60-year-old Boluarte 
being the sixth person to hold the presidency in five years.

Castillo, who was being investigated in several fraud cases during his 
tenure, has been remanded in custody for 18 months, charged with rebellion.

The unrest has been largely concentrated in the southern Andes, where Quechua 
and Aymara communities live.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which visited the country this 
week, has said that in order to end the crisis, these groups need to be 
better integrated into Peruvian society.

Authorities insist radical groups are behind the protests, including remnants 
of the Shining Path communist guerrilla group.

As proof, they have presented the capture this week of a former member of 
that organization, Rocio Leandro, known within the group as "Comrade Cusi."

According to police spokesman General Oscar Arriola, Leandro financed the 
unrest that left a dozen dead in the Ayacucho region.

He called Leandro "a Marxist, Leninist, Maoist assassin."