Police outside the gates of San Marcos University in Lima, Peru, on the morning of January 21, preparing to evict protesters from the university premises. Photo from social media.
On Saturday, January 21, the Peruvian National Police entered San Marcos University in Lima, the capital of Peru, and violently expelled protesters who had been staying in university premises over the last few days. Peruvians from different regions who traveled to Lima to join the national strike against de facto President Dina Boluarte had been staying in university buildings at the invitation of the students, as has been customary for years during several protests that have taken place in the Peruvian capital throughout political crises that have been persisting since the beginning of the century. However, this time, the rector of San Marcos University, which is the oldest university in Latin America, condemned the protesters on the premises and called for police action against them.
Police violently entered the campus and subdued student and social leaders who had made arrangements to host the caravans of peasants and indigenous communities that had arrived in the capital, as broadcast live by Telesur, whose correspondents were on site during the attack.
Shocking images from the University of San Marcos where police carried out a raid this morning Saturday January 21. Students had opened the doors of the university to the peasant and Indigenous delegations that came to Lima for the national strike. pic.twitter.com/R9xiv1lyqX
— Peoples Dispatch (@peoplesdispatch) January 21, 2023
The police also arrested several people, threw them on the ground, and took away donations and their belongings, according to reports circulating on social media.
Con tanquetas y bombas lacrimógenas entran a la Universidad de San Marcos, cuando la mayoría de delegaciones habían abandonado el campus. Se van contra estudiantes y comuneros que resguardaban donaciones. Accionar repudiable de Dina Boluarte y la rectora Jerí. Basta de represión! pic.twitter.com/A0ShgzSowx
— Indira Huilca (@IndiraHuilca) January 21, 2023
The police arrested a number of demonstrators, transporting them away on buses without informing lawyers, human rights defenders, and relatives of the detainees about the charges against them or where they had been taken. In fact, a person staying in the university’s student residences stated that no attorney was present with the police during the violent operation.
More Police Repression as Thousands March in Lima & Demand Boluarte Resign
However, hours after the operation, the provisional superior prosecutor and national coordinator of the Prosecutor’s Offices for Crime Prevention, Alfonso Barnechea, announced to the media at the gates of the university that around 200 people had been arrested and that about 20 prosecutors had been dispatched to the university to verify that the rights of the detained had been respected.
#ENVIVO| Se registra la presencia de varios policías en motocicletas además de gran cantidad de personal de la fuerza pública y una tanqueta
➡https://t.co/tqMKHfl0b4 pic.twitter.com/ish9bbJVFh
— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) January 21, 2023
After security agents infiltrated the campus, police in riot gear closed the gates and cordoned off the area. A police helicopter was also present during the operation. Lawyers, human rights defenders, and parliamentarians were not allowed to enter the university premises.
#Perú Registran video donde policía dispara a discreción en Ilave #Puno #MarchaDeLos4Suyos#TomaDeLima pic.twitter.com/mrRNRL5PIm
— JAIME HERRERA (@JaimeHerreraCaj) January 21, 2023
No information has been provided yet about the whereabouts of the detainees, and no media institutions except networks that support the de facto government have been permitted to record the eviction and detention procedures.
Students have been occupying San Marcos University since January 17 in solidarity with peasants, activists, and indigenous communities who have been protesting throughout the nation against Boluarte’s de facto government and the coup-perpetrating Congress.
The University Council of the National Engineering University, also located in Lima, agreed to welcome students traveling from southern regions of the country. The first students to arrive were from the San Antonio Abad National University of Cusco.
Con policías de Ilave-Puno disparando así, a todo lo que se mueve.
Obviamente que tienen que haber muertos y heridos…
Video 👇@Defensoria_Peru @FiscaliaPeru
@DinaErcilia pic.twitter.com/HZrwikn6rU— LUIS (@LUCHINPERUCHO) January 21, 2023
Since Wednesday, January 18, hundreds of people from Puno, Arequipa, and Cuzco, as well as from other parts of Peru began arriving in Lima to participate in La Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos (“The March of the Four Nations”), calling for the resignation of de facto President Boluarte, the closure of Congress, the convening of a constituent assembly, and early elections.
Police repression against students
The police, after evicting demonstrators from San Marcos University grounds, also attacked students who were protesting against the arbitrary and forcible removal of people who had been peacefully spending the night on university grounds to collect donations.
#URGENTE La PNP entró a una residencia dentro de la Universidad San Marcos. Las personas que se encontraban dentro están asustadas.#UNMSM pic.twitter.com/HCCici2a1D
— Alex Febrero (@AlexFebrero_) January 21, 2023
Students also criticized police raids on student residences without warrant. Social media posts present images and videos of police agents entering residences and threatening students.
(Últimas Noticias) by Víctor Castellanos, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/KZ
