Peru declares state of emergency amid extortion killings

Lima (AFP) — Peru announced a state of emergency late Sunday in the capital Lima over a wave of killings linked to extortion.

The move came after singer Paul Flores was shot dead by hitmen who attacked a bus he was riding with bandmates as they left a concert outside Lima.

The musicians had been threatened by a criminal gang who attempted to extort money from them, their representatives said.

“It has been ordered that in the coming hours, a state of emergency be decreed throughout the province of Lima and the Constitutional province of Callao,” Gustavo Adrianzen, head of the ministerial cabinet, posted on X.

While extortion is a problem across Latin America, it has taken on alarming proportions in Peru — a phenomenon blamed partly on criminal gangs such as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua which operates in several Latin American countries.

Since January, more than 400 murders have been reported, according to local media.

Peru declared a state of emergency in parts of the capital last year and deployed the military in response to a spate of murders of bus drivers blamed on the racketeering pandemic.

Meantime, Peru’s ousted ex-president Pedro Castillo, on trial for rebellion, has called off his hunger strike after four days, authorities said.