Peru lawmakers remove interior minister amid crime wave

LIMA (Reuters) -Peruvian lawmakers voted on Friday to oust the country's interior minister, Juan Jose Santivanez, who has faced criticism amid a spike in crime in the South American country.

Santivanez was removed from his post for "his political responsibility and inability to address the wave of citizen insecurity the country has been facing," according to a post on the Peruvian Congress's official X account.

Peru's government declared a state of emergency on Monday in the capital Lima while it also deployed soldiers to the streets to help quell a recent surge of violence that claimed the life of a popular singer.

The crime wave, including a jump in extortion rackets, prompted President Dina Boluarte to declare that she would like to see murderers face the death penalty, even though Peru only allows execution for those convicted of treason.

The number of homicides in Peru rose over 35% in 2024, from 1,508 in 2023 to 2,059 last year, according to the national agency that tracks deaths.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez)

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