Peruvian government calls for a state of emergency to resolve the wave of crime, troops on the streets of Lima
Lima, Peru (AP) – Lima commuters and residents face new security measures after the Peruvian government declares a state of emergency in the capital to combat the growing crime rate, prompting some lawmakers to seek to remove the interior minister.
National Police Commissioner Victor Sanabria announced that patrols at train and bus stops will increase, with thousands of commuters gathering every morning. Peruvian troops announced on Monday that they would deploy 1,000 soldiers in Lima to patrol key areas, such as train stations, and support local police.
Some residents of the city, with 8 million people, say they still feel unsafe, while local media reports there are few signs of extra safety in the morning.
“We were abandoned and left with ourselves,” said local resident Pedro Quispe, 48, as he waited for a bus that took him to the city center. “If you go to work, if you can be shot, you may ask for blackmail payments.”
The Peruvian government declared a state of emergency on Monday, with a group of lawmakers making a distrust vote against Interior Minister Juan Jose Santivañez, who was accused of failing to stop the growing levels of crime.
After violent crimes broke out over the weekend, including Sunday’s murder, Paul Flores, a popular singer, was killed on a band bus that attacked him late at night. In another incident, at least 11 people were injured in an object that exploded at a restaurant in the capital on Saturday.
The state of emergency is expected to last for 30 days and will allow the government to suspend some civil liberties, including parliamentary rights. The ordinance also enables police to search homes without a warrant and arrest citizens without a judge’s order. Similar measures were implemented from September to December.
“We are in a situation of exponential growth in illegal economies,” said former interior minister Ruben Vargas, such as the drug trade, where “increasingly more international criminal groups” operate in the country.
Jorge Zapata, president of the powerful trading group National Federation of Private Enterprises, told local radio station RPP that many small business owners in Lima were forced to blackmail the criminal group.
According to government statistics, there were 2,057 murders in Peru, compared with 674 in 2017. Some analysts say Peru may soon experience high crime rates in neighboring Ecuador.
According to the Peruvian Attorney General’s Office, citizens filed a ransomware complaint last year four times that of 2017.
