Strong earthquake kills at least 14 in Ecuador, 1 in Peru
March 19, 2023 GMTQUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A strong earthquake shook southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday, killing at least 15 people, trapping others under rubble, and sending rescue teams out into streets littered with debris and fallen power lines.
Peru: 6 soldiers drown in river while responding to protests
March 7, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Six soldiers drowned while trying to swim across a river in the Andes to reach a town where protests demanding the resignation of Peru’s president have turned violent, military officials said Monday.
Mexico regrets Peru’s decision to withdraw ambassador
February 25, 2023 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico said Saturday it regretted the decision by Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to withdraw her country’s ambassador in response to criticism from Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Peru withdraws ambassador from Mexico amid dispute
February 25, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte announced on Friday the withdrawal of her country's ambassador to Mexico in response to criticism from Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, whom she reproached for hurting ties in order to “privilege ideological affinities.”
From a secret safehouse, Peru’s Indigenous revolt advances
February 18, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — In an industrial corridor of Peru's capital, a dingy stairwell leads to a second-floor safehouse. Dozens of Quechua and Aymara activists lie on mattresses strewn on the floor, resting up for more anti-government demonstrations as volunteers cook a breakfast of donated rice, pasta and vegetables.
Peru reopens Machu Picchu after agreement with protesters
February 15, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru's Machu Picchu, an Inca-era stone citadel nestled in its southeastern jungle, reopened on Wednesday after being closed nearly a month ago amid antigovernment protests, the culture ministry announced.
Turmoil risks financial stability Peru long took for granted
February 6, 2023 GMTCUSCO, Peru (AP) — Marco Gonzales ventured to the Andean city of Cusco from his home in the Peruvian Amazon in 2007 with little more than $20, a smidgeon of English and a change of clothes poorly suited for the icy mountain air.
Peru Congress agrees to debate measure on earlier elections
January 30, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Pressed by Peru's embattled president to take action in response to weeks of deadly protests, Congress narrowly agreed on Monday to reconsider a proposal to move the 2026 national elections up to this October.
Peru’s protest ‘deactivators’ run toward tear gas to stop it
January 29, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — When police fire tear gas at protesters demanding the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, most run away.
Protester killed in Peru’s capital, rising crisis toll to 58
January 29, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — A protester has been killed in Lima during brutal clashes between police and demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte.
Peru president gives support for elections later this year
January 27, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte called on Congress Friday to approve a proposal to move elections forward to late this year, a marked concession from the leader who has been facing daily protests that have left almost 60 people dead.
Peru protesters tear-gassed after president calls for truce
January 25, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Peru's capital and were met with volleys of tear gas and pellets amid clashes with security forces just hours after President Dina Boluarte called for a “truce” in almost two months of protests.
Rights groups dismayed at lack of criticism for Peru abuses
January 25, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — More than 50 people have died in ongoing street protests in the weeks since Peru's elected leader was jailed, mostly demonstrators at the hands of police officers, but only a few international voices of concern have emerged.
Pope makes plea for end of violence, start of talks in Peru
January 22, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday made an impassioned plea, delivered partly in Spanish, for an end to widening violence in Peru over demands for the resignation of the country's president.
Peru closes Machu Picchu as anti-government protests grow
January 22, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru indefinitely shut the famed ancient ruins of Machu Picchu on Saturday in the latest sign that anti-government protests that began last month are increasingly engulfing the South American country.
Despite tear gas, Peru protesters vow to keep demonstrating
January 21, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Peru’s capital Friday and were met with volleys of tear gas for the second straight day, as demonstrators made clear they will keep up their mobilizations to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte.
Peru police use tear gas to block protesters from marching
January 20, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Police fired tear gas to try to subdue thousands of protesters who poured into the Peruvian capital Thursday, many from remote Andean regions, calling for the ouster of President Dina Boluarte and the return to power of her predecessor, whose removal last month launched deadly unrest and cast the nation into political chaos.
2 more people killed in southern Peru amid unrest
January 19, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Protesters set fire to the police station and judicial office in the Peruvian town of Macusani Wednesday after two people were killed and another seriously injured by gunfire amid antigovernment protests.
Teen’s death brings toll in month of unrest in Peru to 49
January 13, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — A 16-year-old shot during a protest in the southern Peruvian region of Puno died on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 49 in more than a month of unrest following the ouster of President Pedro Castillo.
Peru anti-government protests spread, with clashes in Cusco
January 12, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Protests against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte’s government that have left 48 people dead since they began a month ago spread through the south of the Andean country on Wednesday with new clashes reported in the tourist city of Cusco.
Policeman burned to death amid antigovernment unrest in Peru
January 11, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — A police officer on patrol was attacked and burned to death by protesters in the Peruvian region of Puno as the death toll from demonstrations in the wake of the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo rose to 47, authorities said Tuesday.
13 killed in Peru clashes amid new anti-government protests
January 10, 2023 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — At least 13 people died Monday in southeast Peru as protests seeking immediate elections resumed in neglected rural areas of the country still loyal to ousted President Pedro Castillo.
AP Year in Pictures: A vibrant Latin America and Caribbean
December 27, 2022 GMTThe best images taken in 2022 by Associated Press photographers in Latin America and the Caribbean revealed the reality of migration, poverty and violence, but they also showcased the region's intense, vibrant and colorful daily life.
Migrants flee more countries, regardless of US policies
December 22, 2022 GMTTIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — In 2014, groups of unaccompanied children escaping violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. border authorities in South Texas.
In Peru, Kichwa tribe wants compensation for carbon credits
December 22, 2022 GMTSAN MARTIN, Peru (AP) — Rolando Zumba, a gentle 59-year-old, wept, though the moment he described took place many years ago. Nothing has been the same since that day, when a park ranger took away his hunting rifles.
Peru Congress opens door to early elections amid unrest
December 21, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s Congress tentatively endorsed a plan on Tuesday to hold early elections in an attempt to defuse a national political crisis marked by deadly unrest after lawmakers ousted President Pedro Castillo.
Mexican ambassador expelled from Peru over meddling claims
December 21, 2022 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — In a roller-coaster day for Mexico’s relations with Peru, Mexico announced Tuesday it had granted asylum for the family of ousted Peruvian president Pedro Castillo. Hours later, Peru declared the Mexican ambassador to Lima persona non grata and ordered him to leave within 72 hours.
Peru’s dark past surfaces as young protester is laid to rest
December 18, 2022 GMTQUINUA, Peru (AP) — This rural hamlet nestled high in the Peruvian Andes was the site of a major battle that secured South America’s independence from Spain in the 19th century.
Peru’s president exhorts congress to approve early elections
December 17, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s caretaker president, Dina Boluarte, chastised lawmakers for not endorsing widespread calls for early elections as a way out of a deepening political crisis triggered when the ousted Pedro Castillo tried to shut down Congress.
Peru’s accidental president fails to quell violent protests
December 17, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — It might be the world's shortest political honeymoon.
Almost since the moment last week when Dina Boluarte took over from the ousted leader Pedro Castillo to become Peru's first female president, she has appealed for calm and a chance to govern, insisting that the caretaker job came to her out of circumstance, not personal ambition.
Mexico president insists relations with Spain still ‘paused’
December 17, 2022 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president insisted Friday that his country’s relations with Spain are still “on pause,” one day after Mexico’s top diplomat met with his Spanish counterpart and said relations were being “relaunched.”
Peru judge orders 18-month detention for ousted president
December 16, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — A Peruvian judge on Thursday ordered ousted President Pedro Castillo to remain in custody for 18 months as nationwide protests set off by the political crisis showed no signs of abating and the death toll rose to at least 14.
Peru’s new government declares police state amid protests
December 15, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s new government declared a national emergency Wednesday as it struggled to calm violent protests over President Pedro Castillo's ouster, suspending the rights of “personal security and freedom” across the Andean nation for 30 days.
A timeline of events in Peru since the president’s ouster
December 14, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Here is a brief timeline of the political crisis that resulted in the ouster of a president and the imposition of a police state in Peru:
Wed., Dec. 14, 2022: Peru’s defense minister announces a 30-day national emergency imposing a police state amid violent protests against the ouster of President Pedro Castillo.
Peru judge denies ousted leader Pedro Castillo’s jail appeal
December 14, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — A judge ordered ousted Peruvian President Pedro Castillo to remain in custody on Tuesday, denying his appeal as authorities build a rebellion case against him.
Anger in rural areas fuels protests against Peru government
December 13, 2022 GMTANDAHUAYLAS, Peru (AP) — The anger of Peruvians against their government is nowhere more visible than in Andahuaylas, a remote rural Andean community where the poor have struggled for years and where voters' support helped elect now-ousted President Pedro Castillo, himself a peasant like them.
Peru’s president asks Cabinet to take anti-corruption pledge
December 11, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s newest president, Dina Boluarte, swore in her Cabinet on Saturday just three days after becoming the country’s first female head of state and asked each minister to pledge not to be corrupt while in office.
Peru’s ex-president faced bigotry for impoverished past
December 10, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — When Pedro Castillo won Peru’s presidency last year, it was celebrated as a victory by the country’s poor — the peasants and Indigenous people who live deep in the Andes and whose struggles had long been ignored.
New Peru president appears with military to cement power
December 9, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru's first female president appeared in a military ceremony on national television on Friday in her first official event as head of state, an attempt to cement her hold on power and buck the national trend of early presidential departures.
Peru president’s power grab recalls country’s dark past
December 9, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru's ousted President Pedro Castillo rose to power 17 months ago as a populist outsider. But he squandered what little popularity he had when he stunned the nation by dissolving Congress in an act of political suicide that recalled some of the darkest days of the nation's anti-democratic past.
Peru’s president ousted by Congress in political crisis
December 8, 2022 GMTLIMA, Peru (AP) — The president of Peru was ousted by Congress and arrested on a charge of rebellion Wednesday after he sought to dissolve the legislative body and take unilateral control of the government, triggering a grave constitutional crisis.