AFP,
Lima
Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators in Peru’s capital Lima took to the streets again on Sunday following clashes that injured at least 18 people, including police officers and journalists.
The youth-led “Generation Z” collective led another march toward the seat of President Dina Boluarte’s administration in downtown Lima, where police were deployed in force.
Unrest has been brewing for months in Peru, fuelled by a wave of organised crime and extortion cases. Several opinion polls have shown that many view the government and conservative-majority Congress as corrupt. Protests intensified this week after a law was passed requiring young adults to join a private pension fund, despite many facing a precarious working environment.
As night fell on Sunday, groups of protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police, with officers firing tear gas in response.
ANTI-GRAFT PROTESTS
Arrest tally grows in Philippines
AFP,
Manila
Police in the Philippine capital arrested more than 200 people during clashes with masked protesters that erupted on a day of largely peaceful anti-corruption demonstrations, a spokesperson said yesterday.
At least 88 minors were among the initial count of 216 taken into custody Sunday as police deployed water cannons and deafening sirens against crowds of mostly young, rock-throwing protesters.
The protest was held over a ballooning scandal involving bogus flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.