Clashes in Lima as thousands rally against Peru govt
Thousands marched through Peru's capital on Thursday in a large anti-government rally punctuated by clashes with police, while the death toll from over a month of violent protests climbed in the country's southern regions. Some of the Lima protesters, who are demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and fresh elections, threw stones and bottles at officers in the city centre. The police were forced to temporarily retreat before they dug in behind riot shields and began deploying tear gas.  One building near the central Plaza San Martin caught fire, though it was not immediately clear how. Peru has been rocked by protests since the ouster of Boluarte's predecessor, Pedro Castillo, in early December – though violent clashes have largely been isolated thus far to the country's south and east. In the southern city of Arequipa, some 1,000 protesters tried early on Thursday to storm the airport, but were also repelled by police firing tear gas, local television showed. Peru's human rights ombudsman later announced that one person had been killed in Arequipa, adding to two other deaths resulting from clashes on Wednesday and raising the nationwide death toll to 45. The demonstrators in Lima, who are mostly from Andean regions, set off from several points around the capital with the aim of reaching the heavily-guarded presidential palace by the end of Thursday. "Dina listen, the people disown you," they chanted. "We are here, fighting for our just cause. We want them to close Congress," villager Ayda Aroni, who came from Ayacucho, 330 kilometres southeast of Lima, said. "We are marginalised, they say we're vandals, they call us terrorists, we're demanding our rights." Demonstrators also tried to once again take over the airport in Cusco, a popular tourist destination, though it was closed; while there were similar protests in regions such as Puno, Huanuco and Tacna. (AFP)