Peruvian youth protested corruption and a new pension law.
This marks the third major protest in Peru in five years.
Official sources report at least 18 injuries from protest clashes.
On Sunday, the streets of Peru’s capital city Lima were flooded with two groups: masked citizens dressed head-to-toe in black, and the city police wearing their storm-grey and yellow riot gear. Across the city, clashes broke out between the two as the protestors decried crime, corruption and called for the Peruvian Prime Minister’s removal.
This is the third massive protest movement to have broken out in Peru since 2020, when a series of demonstrations followed the removal of President Martín Vizcarra in November of that year. In 2023, unrest also occurred, with thousands of protesters taking to the streets in the south of the country, specifically in Puno, to vent their outrage over decades of marginalisation, inequality, allegations of corruption, and stagnating living standards. In 2023, the protests saw 66 people killed.
"Today, there is less democracy than before. It's getting worse... because of fear, because of extortion," said 54-year-old protester Gladys, who declined to give her last name to AFP.
The 2025 protests have been organised by a youth collective called "Generation Z". The demonstrators took to the streets following months of growing social unrest in Peru against organised crime, corruption in public office, and a recent pension reform.
"Congress has no credibility, it doesn't even have the approval of the people... It is wreaking havoc in this country," said protester Celene Amasifuen to AFP.
On Sunday, September 22, over 500 people gathered in central Lima under heavy police presence. Clashes began when protesters approached the executive and congressional buildings. Exitosa radio reported that its reporter and a cameraman were hit by pellets fired by law enforcement. Police said three officers were wounded.
Cesar Zamalloa, a photojournalist from the weekly newspaper "Hildebrandt En Sus Trece," has said that the police "began firing pellets ... directly at the bodies" of people.
"That's when I felt an impact on my leg and hip," he said, according to testimony collected by the National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP) in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Sunday.
According to the tallies that authorities and independent organisations released on Sunday, at least 18 people, including police officers and journalists, have been injured in the clashes.
Approval ratings for President Dina Boluarte, whose term ends next year, have plummeted amid rising extortion and organised crime. Several polls indicate many perceive the government and conservative-majority Congress as corrupt. Compounding frustrations, this week the legislature mandated young adults join private pension funds, even as many face precarious employment.
