6 hours ago
6
A youth group in Peru calling itself the Generation Z Collective says it will march again on Saturday in defiance of a state of emergency declared by the government this week in the capital, Lima, and neighbouring port of Callao.
Group leaders said they would be honouring Eduardo Ruiz, a rapper known as Truko, who was shot dead by a plainclothed police officer last week during a huge anti-government march in Lima.
They also demanded the resignation of the new interim president, José Jerí, and the shutting down of Peru’s unpopular congress, which they blame for a series of laws that they claim are contributing to soaring crime.
“We have the constitutional right to protest,” Jorge Calmet, one of the Generation Z leaders, told journalists on Thursday. “That right cannot be taken away from us by a police commander, a congressman – and certainly not by someone who pretends to be president. We will march as many times as necessary.”
Generation Z protests have swept the world, toppling governments in Madagascar and Nepal this month, and shaking the status quo in Morocco. While the demonstrations have various motives, they have been driven broadly by widespread dissatisfaction among young people who are angry about political corruption, lack of opportunities, crime, slow economic growth and, in the case of Nepal, a draconian ban on the internet.
The 30-day state of emergency, which began on Wednesday, restricts freedom of movement and assembly, and the armed forces can patrol the streets along with the police in Lima and Callao.
Jerí announced the measures in an attempt to quell a crimewave. Murders increased by 35.9% in 2024 compared with the previous year, and extortion has also risen sharply.
Jerí took office on 10 October after the removal of President Dina Boluarte by congress on the grounds of “moral incapacity” to govern.
The unpopular leader had faced accusations of abandoning her post to have plastic surgery and accepting bribes in the form of Rolex watches. She was also investigated for her role in the death of more than 50 protesters at the beginning of her government of nearly three years. She denies any wrongdoing.
The Generation Z leader Calmet accused congress of passing laws that favoured organised crime by weakening the power of prosecutors and making it harder to jail criminal suspects.
“This is a dictatorship disguised as a democracy,” he said. “People’s lives are a joke to those in power.”
This is not the first time Peru has declared a state of emergency. The previous declaration was in March, also for 30 days. Most security analysts agree it failed to reduce crime rates.
Milagros Rojas, 21, one of Generation Z’s leaders, said: “We are fed up with what we have to live through, that’s why so many young people have joined this movement.
“We have grown up in a country where corruption has been normalised. We young people want a modern Peru; we want a country where we can live and not have to emigrate in search of a better quality of life.”
