13 killed in Peru protests calling for immediate elections

At least 13 people were killed in southeastern Peru as protests seeking immediate elections resumed in a neglected rural part of the country that remains loyal to ousted President Pedro Castillo.

Peru’s top human rights body has called for an investigation into the deaths, 12 of which occurred in clashes between security forces and protesters trying to seize control of the airport in the city of Juliaca near the Bolivian border.

It was the deadliest death toll since the unrest began in early December, after Castillo was widely condemned, sacked and arrested for trying to dissolve Congress and prevent his own impeachment.

A 17-year-old was among the 12 killed in Juliaca, according to news reports. A 13th person died in the nearby city of Chucuito, where protesters blocked a highway.

She also expressed support for a judicial inquiry into whether security forces used excessive force.

But the moves have so far failed to quell the unrest, which has flared up again in some of Peru’s poorest regions after a brief respite around the Christmas and New Year holidays, where support for Castillo’s unorthodox rule is strongest.

Nationally, protests were reported in about 13 percent of Peru’s provinces on Monday, many of which included roadblocks that prevented truck drivers from delivering produce to markets.

The number of people killed in clashes with security forces climbed to 34 following Monday’s casualties. Hundreds more were treated for injuries.

On Monday, officials issued an order banning the influential leftist leader from entering the country on national security grounds.

Eight allies of Morales – also banned – recently traveled to Peru to coordinate protests along the border between the two countries, authorities said.

Castillo, a political novice who lived in a two-story adobe house in the Andean highlands before moving to the presidential palace, narrowly won an election last year that shook Peru’s political establishment and exposed the depths of its vibrant residents. A deep divide between the capital Lima and the long-neglected countryside.