Political violence in Peru reached Latin America’s oldest university this weekend, as 400 policemen used tear gas and even a tank to storm the San Marcos University in the country’s capital Lima, arresting nearly 200 people amid protests against interim President Dina Boluarte’s administration.
The incident began when university authorities reported on Saturday that protesters inside the buildings had attacked security personnel to “steal their vests and equipment.”
Leaders from San Marcos’ student federation decried the raid for violating the laws granting autonomy to universities and denounced multiple cases of abuse supposedly committed by the security forces, ranging from arbitrary detentions to calling students “terrorists.”
Peru’s Interior Minister Vicente Romero defended the raid, saying police intervention inside the building is authorized when crime is flagrant, adding that the state of emergency decrees currently in place in Lima grant authorities further scope for action.
Others, however, have compared the incident with former authoritarian president Alberto Fujimori’s decision to send troops to that same institution in 1991, to end what he described as “terrorism infiltration” on campus.
Ms. Boluarte’s administration has been in crisis almost from day one, following the impeachment of her former ally Pedro Castillo after he illegally tried to close Congress through a decree.
The interim president has depended on brutal police repression to quash the protests of Mr. Castillo’s base in rural areas, leading to clashes that have left more than 50 dead.
Protesters are demanding that elections be held immediately, but for now Congress has only been willing to bring them forward from 2026 to 2024. A final vote on the constitutional amendment to confirm the early elections is pending.
The country has been haunted by a never-ending cycle of political crises in recent years, with multiple presidents ousted early, from right-wingers such as Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to the left-wing Mr. Castillo.
Ms. Boluarte, Mr. Castillo, and current congressional leaders are highly unpopular, but no leader has yet emerged to take their place.
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