Peru introduced a state of emergency late Sunday within the capital Lima over a wave of killings linked to extortion.
The transfer got here after singer Paul Flores was shot lifeless by hitmen who attacked a bus he was using with bandmates as they left a live performance outdoors Lima, officers mentioned.
Peru’s tradition ministry paid tribute to Flores on social media, saying the lead singer of the favored group Armonía 10 “gained the hearts of 1000’s of Peruvians.”
The musicians had been threatened by a felony gang who tried to extort cash from them, their representatives mentioned.
“It has been ordered that within the coming hours, a state of emergency be decreed all through the province of Lima and the Constitutional province of Callao,” Gustavo Adrianzen, head of the ministerial cupboard, posted on social media.
Adrianzen mentioned troops could be deployed to help the nationwide police and a safety assembly that had been scheduled for the top of the month would now be held Tuesday.
“Within the combat in opposition to organized crime, all Peruvians should stand united, overcoming all our variations of any sort,” he mentioned in a press release.
Whereas extortion is an issue throughout Latin America, it has taken on alarming proportions in Peru — a phenomenon blamed partly on felony gangs akin to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua which operates in a number of Latin American nations.
In January, a journalist who reported on Peru’s extortion epidemic was shot dead and two folks have been injured in a separate bomb assault on a prosecutor’s workplace that additionally investigates racketeering.
Since January, greater than 400 murders have been reported, in line with native media.
Peru declared a state of emergency in components of the capital final yr and deployed the army in response to a spate of murders of bus drivers blamed on the racketeering pandemic.
Within the first 10 months of 2024, police acquired greater than 14,000 extortion complaints. However the issue is believed to be extra prevalent as many victims fail to report instances out of worry.
