{"id":53372,"date":"2025-10-16T13:50:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T17:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/gen-z-protests-in-peru-leave-at-least-1-dead-100-injured-prompting-investigation\/16\/10\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T13:50:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T17:50:55","slug":"gen-z-protests-in-peru-leave-at-least-1-dead-100-injured-prompting-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/gen-z-protests-in-peru-leave-at-least-1-dead-100-injured-prompting-investigation\/16\/10\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen Z protests in Peru leave at least 1 dead, 100 injured, prompting investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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LIMA (AP) \u2014 Protests led by Gen Z activists<\/a> to demand the resignation of Peru\u2019s president turned violent overnight, prompting investigations by authorities on Thursday into at least one civilian death. About 100 people were also injured, including 80 police officers and 10 journalists, officials said.<\/p>\n

The protests began a month ago calling for better pensions and wages for young people and expanded to capture the woes of Peruvians tired of crime, corruption and decades of disillusion with their government.<\/p>\n

After the seventh president in less than a decade<\/a> was sworn in on Oct. 10, protesters called for the resignation of Peru’s new president and some lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Peru’s prosecutor’s office announced Thursday that it was investigating the death of 32-year-old protester and hip-hop singer Eduardo Ru\u00edz, who prosecutors said was shot by firearm during the mass demonstration of thousands of young people. It wrote on the social media platform X that it has ordered the removal of Ru\u00edz’s body from a Lima hospital and the \u201ccollection of audiovisual and ballistic evidence in the area where the incident occurred, in the context of serious human rights violations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local media and security cameras showed video of Ru\u00edz collapsing in a Lima street after a man fleeing from several protesters fired a shot. Witnesses said the shooter was running away because he was accused of being a plainclothes police officer infiltrated among the demonstrators.<\/p>\n

At least 24 protesters and 80 police officers were injured in the demonstrations, according to Peru’s Ombudsman\u2019s Office. Six journalists were struck by pellets and another four were assaulted by police, according to the National Association of Journalists.<\/p>\n

The Peruvian protests comes amid a wave of protests unfolding across the world, driven by generational discontent against governments and anger among young people. Protests have broken out in Nepal<\/a>, the Philippines<\/a>, Indonesia<\/a>, Kenya<\/a>, Peru<\/a> and Morocco<\/a>, with protesters often carrying black flags with the \u201cOne Piece\u201d anime symbol \u2014 a pirate skull wearing a straw hat.<\/p>\n

In Lima\u2019s main plaza 27-year-old electrician David Tafur said he decided to join the demonstration after learning about it on TikTok.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fighting for the same thing \u2014 against the corrupt \u2014 who here are also killers,\u201d he said, referring to violent 2022 protests<\/a> and government crackdown in which 50 people were killed.<\/p>\n

The escalating tensions come just days after Peru\u2019s Congress ousted President Dina Boluarte<\/a>, was known as one of the least popular presidents in the world for repressing protests and failing to control crime.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Jer\u00ed, the 38-year-old president of Congress, then took office, promising to get a recent crime wave under control. He swore in Ernesto \u00c1lvarez, a ultraconservative former judge active on social media, as prime minister.<\/p>\n

The president expressed regret over the protester\u2019s death. \u00c1lvarez has not yet commented on it, but previously claimed said that Peru\u2019s Gen Z is a \u201cgang that wants to take democracy by storm\u201d and does not represent \u201cthe youth who study and work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Criticisms of Jer\u00ed and his government quickly emerged because he previously faced an investigated after being accused of a woman of raping her. The prosecutor’s office dismissed the case in August, though authorities continue to investigate another man who was with Jer\u00ed the day of the alleged rape. Protesters also condemned Jer\u00ed because as a legislator he voted in favor of six laws that experts say weaken the fight against crime.<\/p>\n

Protesters demanded Jer\u00ed and other lawmakers resign and repeal the laws they say benefit criminal groups.<\/p>\n

During the protest, more than 20 women shouted \u201cThe rapist is Jer\u00ed\u201d or \u201cJer\u00ed is a violin\u201d \u2014a slang expression in Peru where \u201cviolin\u201d means rapist. Protesters launched fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas and rubber pellets.<\/p>\n

That anger was built upon decades of frustration by Peruvians, who have seen their leaders, year after year, plagued by corruption scandals, fueling a feeling of cynicism and deception in many of Peru’s youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the pension issue, other frustrations followed \u2014 linked to insecurity, the erosion of state capacity in Peru, and corruption,\u201d said Omar Coronel, a sociology professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, who studies social movements.<\/p>\n

Violent scenes from the protest drew back memories of violent protests in the early months of Boluarte’s government, when 50 protesters were killed.<\/p>\n

Protesters held signs reading \u201cProtesting is a right, killing is a crime.\u201d One woman carried a poster that read \u201cFrom a murderess to a rapist, the same filth,\u201d criticizing the change in government.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s about outrage over abuse of power, corruption and killings,\u201d said Tafur, the protester.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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LIMA (AP) — Protests led by Gen Z activists to demand the resignation of Peru’s president turned violent overnight, prompting investigations by