As of this writing, protests against the Peruvian government are expanding beyond the southern Andean departments to other parts of the country—in the north and in the Amazon region. The death toll from the protests that began Dec. 10 now stands at 50, with hundreds injured. Yesterday, protesters blocked a northern portion of the Pan-American highway in La Libertad, 500 km. north of Lima, the capital. Roads are blockaded in at least 100 locations in the country, and police are deployed to unblock them to free up transportation.
The situation has escalated to the point at which a dangerous plan for a “grand march” and the “taking of Lima” is now underway. Delegations from different parts of the country, but primarily from the Andean communities in the south, are now traveling in caravans of cars and buses intending to arrive in the capital between Jan. 18 and 19 to bring their demands directly to the government.
