Lima, (EFE).- The Peruvian government confirmed this Friday that Spain has suspended exports of riot control material to the Andean country, which has been experiencing a wave of protests since December in which 70 people have lost their lives.
“Indeed, yes, Spain has decided not to sell tear gas material to the National Police, which is respectable by the way,” Interior Minister Vicente Romero said at a press conference in which he stated that they will knock “on other doors.” to buy this stuff.
Amnesty International (AI) had asked the Spanish government on several occasions to immediately suspend exports of arms and riot gear to Peru “as a precautionary measure.”
In this regard, Romero assured that Peru is a “state of law” and the “country lives in democracy.”
“There is an independence of powers and we have to be responsible and respectful that, at some point, the Public Ministry reaches us with the results of the investigations,” he said about the investigations opened by the Prosecutor’s Office on possible abuses in the repression of protests in 70 people have died, according to different sources.
On January 10, the National Prosecutor (general), Patricia Benavides, ordered the opening of the preliminary investigation against President Dina Boluarte, the President of the Council of Ministers, Alberto Otárola, and the Minister of Defense, Jorge Chávez.
Likewise, against Pedro Angulo, in his capacity as former president of the Council of Ministers; César Cervantes, as former Minister of the Interior, as well as against his successor, Víctor Rojas, who held the position until January 13.
The preliminary investigation is for the alleged crimes of “genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries, committed during the demonstrations in the months of December 2022 and January 2023 in the regions of Apurímac, La Libertad, Puno, Junín, Arequipa and Ayacucho” , according to the Public Ministry.
The Prosecutor’s Office has also confirmed that it is investigating the military and police officers who intervened in the repression of the anti-government demonstrations on December 15 in Ayacucho, in the south of the country, when ten people died.
The IDL Reporters published a reconstruction of six of these deaths through security cameras, from homes and businesses, as well as recordings of the media and witnesses, as well as testimonies and ballistic and medical reports.
The result of this report is the reconstruction of the death of citizens apparently by shots from Galil automatic rifles, which in Peru are only used by the military.
Regarding the suspension of exports from Spain, President Boluarte said that, “in order to develop” the peoples of Peru, the Government will not need “more ammunition or tear gas bombs”, but “more works to be able to generate well-being”.
Last Tuesday, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, confirmed that exports of military and police material to Peru are suspended due to the protests.
“As soon as this situation of rupture began, let’s say, of a civil conflict, we stopped any export of military and police material to Peru as we always do,” he told the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Spanish Congress.
“We support rights in all countries, we make no distinction of human rights” between some countries and others, Albares added.
