On Saturday, 2,000 protesters marched through downtown Lima to demand that Peru’s Congress oust socialist president Pedro Castillo and his administration.
Castillo was sworn in on July 28 as Peru’s first leader in decades without ties to the country’s political or economic elite, with a long to-do list that included promises to alter the country’s free-market-friendly constitution.
Protests continued until late at night in the central Plaza San Martin, after which a few hundred people attempted to march on the Presidency’s buildings, but were blocked by metal gates and barricades erected by the National Police.
Despite the fact that there were no direct fights between police and demonstrators, security officials used tear gas and deployed mounted troops.
Castillo has had a tumultuous first week and a half in office, sparking controversy with his appointment of Guido Bellido as Prime Minister, an electronic engineer with no prior experience in public government.
