Peruvian transport workers clash with police in Lima, October 11 -- image via video screenshot
By Global News Service
On October 10, several associations of transportation workers and companies in Peru began a work stoppage that lasted until October 12, protesting rising crime and extortion by criminal groups in Peru’s major cities. Workers were joined by hundreds of people from trade and business associations, as well as citizen and student organizations.
The security crisis that Peruvians are experiencing is worsening significantly, which directly affects transport workers, business owners, and ordinary citizens. The government of Dina Boluarte, as well as the legislative power, have not been able to reduce the high rates of extortion and blackmail imposed on significant sectors of society by criminal groups that have generated great uneasiness and suffering in Peruvian society. Neither the supposed improvement of the capacities of the security forces nor the creation of new anti-crime laws (such as Law 32108) have been able to reduce the phenomenon.
In the span of two years, extortion complaints have increased fivefold. The transportation sector is one of the most impacted by this phenomenon with reports indicating that both informal and formal transportation companies have to pay tolls to criminal groups in order to operate. More than 20 drivers have been murdered by criminal groups, often as retaliation for lack of payment.
On September 26, hundreds of transportation workers from 30 companies in Lima and Callao (a neighboring city) went on strike. The next day, the government of Dina Boluarte declared a state of emergency in 11 districts of the capital Lima for 60 days. The state of emergency means that there is an increased police presence across these areas and the deployment of members of the National Army. In the announcement, the President of the Council of Ministers, Gustavo Adrianzén, stated, “In the fight against crime, the Executive and the carriers are on the same side.”
from the Peoples Dispatch / Globetrotter News Service
Comments