Just days after taking office, Peru’s new President José Jerí firmly refused to step down on Thursday. This was after a protester died during a huge demonstration spearheaded by Gen Z activists calling for his resignation. Jerí, who became the seventh president of the country in less than ten years on October 10, said, “It is my duty and my commitment to keep the country stable.”
The protests, which started a month ago to demand higher pay and pensions for young people, have grown to include a lot of people around the country who are angry about crime, corruption, and politics that don’t work. The demands have grown to include Jerí’s resignation and that of other politicians.
Violent clashes killed one protester and wounded more than 100 others.
During the most recent large teenage protest, things got out of hand. The prosecutor’s office in Peru said they were looking into the death of Eduardo Ruíz, a 32-year-old demonstrator and hip-hop singer who prosecutors said was shot and died. Authorities are looking into the incident as a possible case of “serious human rights violations.”
Security cameras and local news showed the moment Ruíz fell to the ground in a Lima street after a guy running away from a group of demonstrators shot him. Witnesses said that the shooter ran away because people thought he was a plainclothes police officer who had been hiding among the protesters.
There were a lot of casualties during the protests. Authorities say that about 100 people were harmed, including 80 police officers and 10 journalists. The National Association of Journalists said that six journalists were hit by pellets and four others were attacked by the police. Jerí said he was sorry for the protester’s death.
New leadership that is causing a lot of anger
The emotions are rising after Congress kicked out President Dina Boluarte, who was renowned for being unpopular and cracking down on protesters. Jerí, the 38-year-old president of Congress, gained office and promised to stop a recent rise in crime. He swiftly swore in Ernesto Álvarez, a former judge who is quite conservative, as prime minister. Álvarez has spoken bad things about the protesters before, saying that Peru’s Gen Z is a “gang that wants to take democracy by storm.”
People are criticizing President Jerí mostly because of his past and his record in Congress:
Allegations of rape: Jerí was once the subject of a police investigation after a lady accused him of rape. The prosecutor’s office dropped the case in August, but they are still looking into another man who was with Jerí on the day of the alleged event.
Legislative Record: Protesters were angry with Jerí because he voted for six measures as a legislator that experts say make it harder to fight crime and help criminal groups.
Women yelled things like “The rapist is Jerí” and “From a murderess to a rapist, the same filth” during the rally. These slogans showed how angry people were about the change in authority. Protesters shot fireworks at the police, who shot back with tear gas and rubber pellets.
A global trend and generational discontent
The protests in Peru are part of a larger trend around the world of young people being unhappy. Young people are angry with their governments in Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kenya, Peru, and Morocco, and protests have broken out in these countries. Some demonstrators even waved black flags with the “One Piece” anime insignia on them to show that they were all against corruption.
David Tafur, a 27-year-old electrician from Lima, joined the protest after seeing it on TikTok. He said, “We’re fighting for the same thing—against the corrupt—who here are also killers,” referring to the 2022 crackdown that killed 50 people.
The rage right now is based on years of irritation with leaders who are often getting into trouble for corruption, which makes Peru’s youth more cynical. Omar Coronel, a sociology professor, said that after the first pension issue, people’s anger swiftly turned to “insecurity, the weakening of the state in Peru, and corruption.”
Protesters hoisted posters that said “Protesting is a right, killing is a crime.” The violent sights brought back bitter memories of the government’s repression in 2022.