REFILE: Thousands protest rising crime in Peru; lawmakers remove interior minister

Record ID: 1985081

  • Title: REFILE: Thousands protest rising crime in Peru; lawmakers remove interior minister
  • Date: 22nd March 2025
  • Summary: LIMA, PERU (MARCH 21, 2025) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE FOOTAGE OF MARCHERS WAVING GIANT PERUVIAN FLAG VARIOUS OF PERUVIANS MARCHING AND WAVING GIANT FLAG BAND PLAYING DRUMS SIGN READING (Spanish): “I want to live in peace” (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SINGER AND MUSIC PRODUCER, JEAN PAUL STRAUSS, SAYING: “I and my children have been assaulted while parking my car by four arme
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Armonia 10 Interior minister Peru artists crime crime wave march protest
  • Location: LIMA, PERU
  • City: LIMA, PERU
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001079821032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Thousands of Peruvian citizens and artists made their way through the streets of Lima on Friday (March 21) in a demonstration against a rising wave of crime, following the assassination of a popular cumbia singer that has caused outrage in the country.
    Paul Flores, the vocalist of band Armonia 10 was shot dead on a bus that was transporting the ensemble on Sunday (March 16). Armonia 10’s manager accused a criminal gang for the crime, Latin American media reported.
    Some Peruvian music bands, including Armonia 10, have joined the mobilization under the hashtag “#wedontwanttodie.”
    “We raise our voice to protest because we’re tired of extortions, threats, danger, and assassinations that we’re facing today as artists in Peru,” they said in a statement. The protest demanded the government take immediate action against insecurity in the country.
    On Friday morning, lawmakers voted to oust the country's interior minister, Juan Jose Santivanez, as a response to the spike in crime in the South American country.
    Santivanez was removed from his post for "his political responsibility and inability to address the wave of citizen insecurity the country has been facing," according to a post on the Peruvian Congress's official X account.
    President Dina Boluarte addressed the nation on Friday night, announcing that she had ordered an increase in police operations. Since the beginning of the state of emergency, she said, these operations have resulted in the capture of 945 suspects.
    Peru's government declared a state of emergency on Monday (March 17) in the capital Lima while it also deployed soldiers to the streets to help quell a recent surge of violence.
    The number of homicides in Peru rose over 35% in 2024, from 1,508 in 2023 to 2,059 last year, according to the national agency that tracks deaths.
    (Production: Videosur, Anna Portella)
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