AI-Summary – News For Tomorrow
Peru is facing escalating protests led by Gen Z activists demanding the resignation of new President José Jerí over pension and wage issues. One protester was killed and around 100 injured in clashes. Jerí, facing calls to step down, insists his responsibility is to maintain stability and plans to request powers to combat crime. Protesters view Jerí as part of a corrupt system, citing his appointment of a controversial prime minister. These protests are part of a global wave of generational discontent fueled by frustration with corruption, insecurity, and government failings, mirroring previous violent events.
News summary provided by Gemini AI.
Peru’s new President José Jerí refused to resign on Thursday following the death of a protester during a massive demonstration led by Gen Z activists demanding he step down.
The protests began a month ago calling for better pensions and wages for young people.(AFP)
About 100 people were also injured, including 80 police officers and 10 journalists, according to authorities, who said they were investigating the shooting and killing of the protester.
“My responsibility is to maintain the stability of the country; that is my responsibility and my commitment,” Jerí told the local press after visiting Peru’s Parliament, where he said he would request powers to combat crime.
After Jerí, the seventh president in less than a decade, was sworn in on Oct. 10, protesters called for him and other lawmakers to resign.
Protests turn violent
Local media and security cameras showed video of Ruíz collapsing in a Lima street after a man fleeing from several protesters fired a shot. Witnesses said the shooter was running away because he was accused of being a plainclothes police officer infiltrated among the demonstrators.
Global trend
The Peruvian protests comes amid a wave of protests unfolding across the world, driven by generational discontent against governments and anger among young people. Protests have broken out in Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kenya, Peru and Morocco, with protesters often carrying black flags with the “One Piece” anime symbol — a pirate skull wearing a straw hat.
In Lima’s main plaza 27-year-old electrician David Tafur said he decided to join the demonstration after learning about it on TikTok.
“We’re fighting for the same thing — against the corrupt — who here are also killers,” he said, referring to violent 2022 protests and government crackdown in which 50 people were killed.
Controversial new president
The escalating tensions come just days after Peru’s Congress ousted President Dina Boluarte, was known as one of the least popular presidents in the world for repressing protests and failing to control crime.
Jerí, the 38-year-old president of Congress, then took office, promising to get a recent crime wave under control. He swore in Ernesto Álvarez, a ultraconservative former judge active on social media, as prime minister.
Álvarez has not yet commented on it, but previously claimed said that Peru’s Gen Z is a “gang that wants to take democracy by storm” and does not represent “the youth who study and work.”
Protesters demanded Jerí and other lawmakers resign and repeal the laws they say benefit criminal groups.
Frustrations grow
That anger was built upon decades of frustration by Peruvians, who have seen their leaders, year after year, plagued by corruption scandals, fueling a feeling of cynicism and deception in many of Peru’s youth.
“After the pension issue, other frustrations followed — linked to insecurity, the erosion of state capacity in Peru, and corruption,” said Omar Coronel, a sociology professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, who studies social movements.
Violent scenes from the protest drew back memories of violent protests in the early months of Boluarte’s government, when 50 protesters were killed.
Protesters held signs reading “Protesting is a right, killing is a crime.” One woman carried a poster that read “From a murderess to a rapist, the same filth,” criticizing the change in government.
“For me, it’s about outrage over abuse of power, corruption and killings,” said Tafur, the protester.
