The Hindu : Emergency in Peru as protests intensify

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 29, 2003

International

International

Emergency in Peru as protests intensify

LIMA (Peru) MAY 28. Within hours of the President Alejandro Toledo's declaration of a 30-day state of emergency, dozens of police in riot gear arrived at the gates of Congress early on Wednesday to evict hundreds of striking teachers camped out there.

The strikers, some groggy with sleep and others grumbling — but all now in violation of the law, slowly moved out.

The state of emergency suspends civil liberties and gives police the authority to detain protesters and enter homes to round up their leaders without warrants. The order also limits freedom of movement and prohibits assembly.

Mr. Toledo invoked the measure late on Tuesday night in a national address. ``We have the responsibility to govern for 26 million Peruvians. We have the responsibility to protect citizens and the public order,'' Mr. Toledo said sternly.

He said police would assist the military to end nationwide protests by thousands of farmers, teachers, judiciary workers and, as of Tuesday, state health workers.

On Tuesday, police worked to clear stretches of roadway that striking farmers had blocked with scattered boulders and burning tires since Monday. By declaring a state of emergency, the Government gave police and the military the authority to use force to clear the highways and restore order. The Congressman, Luis Iberico, from a party allied with the Government, said that approximately half of Peru's 24 departments would be under military control and that civil liberties would be suspended. He said a decree would be issued declaring the teachers' strike illegal.

The farmers are seeking protection from imports and lower sales taxes on certain crops, while the other protesters are demanding higher wages.

``We just want justice,'' said Luis Caceres, a leader of the Government health workers. Before the announcement, the Interior Minister, Alberto Sanabria, said that parts of 35 highways had been blocked and that 15 arrests had been made, mostly near the town of Huarmey, 250 km northwest of Lima on the Pan-American Highway. ``We have to put order in each of these places,'' Mr. Sanabria said.

Tuesday's measure is the first time Mr. Toledo, who took office in July 2001, has declared a nationwide state of emergency.

In June of last year, he placed Peru's second largest city, Arequipa, and the surrounding region under a state of emergency for five days in order to quell violent riots against the Government's plan to privatise a public electrical company that served the city.

That decree was lifted after the Government suspended the planned auction and violence subsided.

Law enforcement could get complicated this time, however, since retired police had also threatened to join protesters on June 5.

``The pay is miserable. I don't know how police can live on this amount,'' retired police Col. Dino Baca said. — AP

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