Peru's president refuses to resign after Gen Z protests leave at least one dead, 100 injured
Lima (AP): Peru's new President José Jerí refused to resign on Thursday following the death of a protester during a massive demonstration led by Gen Z activists demanding he step down.
About 100 people were also injured, including 80 police officers and 10 journalists, according to authorities, who said they were investigating the shooting and killing of the protester.
"My responsibility is to maintain the stability of the country; that is my responsibility and my commitment," Jerí told the local press after visiting Peru's Parliament, where he said he would request powers to combat crime.
The protests began a month ago, calling for better pensions and wages for young people, and expanded to capture the woes of Peruvians tired of crime, corruption and decades of disillusion with their government.
After Jerí, the seventh president in less than a decade, was sworn in on October 10, protesters called for him and other lawmakers to resign.
Protests turn violent
Peru's prosecutor's office announced on Thursday that it was investigating the death of 32-year-old protester and hip-hop singer Eduardo Ruíz, who prosecutors said was shot by firearm during the mass demonstration of thousands of young people. It wrote on the social media platform X that it has ordered the removal of Ruíz's body from a Lima hospital and the "collection of audiovisual and ballistic evidence in the area where the incident occurred, in the context of serious human rights violations".
Local media and security cameras showed video of Ruíz collapsing in a Lima street after a man fleeing from several protesters fired a shot. Witnesses said the shooter was running away because he was accused of being a plainclothes police officer infiltrated among the demonstrators.
At least 24 protesters and 80 police officers were injured in the demonstrations, according to Peru's Ombudsman's Office. Six journalists were struck by pellets and another four were assaulted by police, according to the National Association of Journalists.
The president expressed regret over the protester's death.
Global trend
The Peruvian protests come amid a wave of protests unfolding across the world, driven by generational discontent against governments and anger among young people. Protests have broken out in Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kenya, Peru and Morocco, with protesters often carrying black flags with the "One Piece" anime symbol -- a pirate skull wearing a straw hat.
In Lima's main plaza, 27-year-old electrician David Tafur said he decided to join the demonstration after learning about it on TikTok.
"We are fighting for the same thing -- against the corrupt -- who here are also killers," he said, referring to violent 2022 protests and government crackdown in which 50 people were killed.
Controversial new president
The escalating tensions come just days after Peru's Congress ousted President Dina Boluarte, who was known as one of the least popular presidents in the world for repressing protests and failing to control crime.
Jerí, the 38-year-old president of Congress, then took office, promising to get a recent crime wave under control. He swore in Ernesto Álvarez, a ultraconservative former judge active on social media, as prime minister.
Álvarez has not yet commented on it, but previously claimed that Peru's Gen Z is a "gang that wants to take democracy by storm" and does not represent "the youth who study and work".
Criticisms of Jerí and his government quickly emerged because he previously faced an investigation after being accused by a woman of raping her. The prosecutor's office dismissed the case in August, though authorities continue to investigate another man who was with Jerí the day of the alleged rape. Protesters also condemned Jerí because as a legislator, he voted in favour of six laws that experts say weaken the fight against crime.
Protesters demanded Jerí and other lawmakers resign and repeal the laws they say benefit criminal groups.
During the protest, more than 20 women shouted "The rapist is Jerí" or "Jerí is a violin" -- a slang expression in Peru where "violin" means rapist. Protesters launched fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas and rubber pellets.
Frustrations grow
That anger was built upon decades of frustration by Peruvians, who have seen their leaders, year after year, plagued by corruption scandals, fuelling a feeling of cynicism and deception in many of Peru's youth.
"After the pension issue, other frustrations followed -- linked to insecurity, the erosion of state capacity in Peru, and corruption," said Omar Coronel, a sociology professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, who studies social movements.
Violent scenes from the protest drew back memories of violent protests in the early months of Boluarte's government, when 50 protesters were killed.
Protesters held signs reading "Protesting is a right, killing is a crime". One woman carried a poster that read "From a murderess to a rapist, the same filth", criticising the change in government.
"For me, it is about outrage over abuse of power, corruption and killings," said Tafur, the protester.
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‘Self-styled Vishwaguru stands exposed’: Cong's dig at PM over Pak role in US-Iran ceasefire
New Delhi (PTI): Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Wednesday said the role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire between the US and Iran is a “severe setback” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “highly personalised diplomacy” and “the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed”.
The opposition party also said Prime Minister Modi's “cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House”.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the entire world will cautiously welcome the two-week ceasefire in the West Asia conflict between the US and Israel on the one side and Iran on the other.
“The conflict had begun on February 28th with the targeted assassinations of the topmost echelons of the regime in Iran. These had started just two days after Prime Minister Modi had completed his much-trumpeted visit to Israel, a visit that diminished India’s global stature and standing,” Ramesh claimed.
PM Modi had said nothing about Israel’s "genocide" in Gaza and its aggressively expansionist policies in the occupied West Bank, Ramesh said.
“The role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire is a severe setback to both the substance and style of Mr Modi’s highly personalised diplomacy,” he said.
The policy to isolate Pakistan for its continuing support to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and to convince the world that it is a failed state has clearly not succeeded – unlike what Manmohan Singh had accomplished after the Mumbai terror attacks, Ramesh claimed.
That a bankrupt economy dependent entirely on the largesse of external donors and a broken country in so many ways was able to play such a role calls into question Modi’s strategy of engagement and narrative management, he said.
“He (Modi) or his team has also never explained why Op Sindoor was suddenly and abruptly halted on May 10th 2025 - the first announcement of which came from the US Secretary of State and for which the US President has claimed credit almost a hundred times since then,” the Congress leader said.
“There is a palpable sigh of relief everywhere. The External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) dismissed Pakistan as a dalal. But now the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed, his self-declared 56-inch chest shrunk and shrivelled,” Ramesh said.
“His cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House,” the Congress leader added.
US President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran late Tuesday, as the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump swerved to de-escalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate to a deal or face attacks on its bridges and power plants meant to destroy the Iranian civilisation.
Trump made the dramatic announcement on Truth Social on Tuesday evening (US time) even as Democrats called for his removal over unhinged threats to wipe out the Iranian civilisation.
"Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz," the US President said in a social media post.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted the ceasefire and that it would negotiate with the United States in Pakistan beginning Friday. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin, and attacks took place in Israel, Iran and across the Gulf region early Wednesday.
Israel backed the US ceasefire with Iran but the deal doesn't cover fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday.
