The president of Peru decrees a state of emergency in Lima to fight organized crime and delinquency

The interim president of Peru, José Jeríannounced this Tuesday the declaration of a state of emergency in Lima and in the neighboring port province of Shut up starting at midnight this Wednesday (05.00 GMT), and during 30 daysfor fight crime and organized crime.

The measure comes after weeks of massive protests in Peru against the Government, corruption and violence that the country is experiencing and which have left one person dead from a gunshot and 100 injured.

In a message to the nation broadcast through television and social networks, Jerí said that “Crime has grown disproportionately,” causing immense pain to thousands of families and damage to the national economy.

Suspended rights

However, the president, who has not yet reached two weeks in power after having succeeded the ousted president Dina Boluarte, added that “Today we begin to change history” and that the fight against organized crime will allow his country “recover peace and tranquility.”

“Wars are won with actions and not with words,” He stated without giving more details of the measures contained in the state of emergency declared by the Government.According to the decree of the state of emergency published in the official gazette The Peruvian, while this measure lasts Fundamental rights such as the inviolability of the home and freedom of assembly are suspended, at a time when a series of protests are taking place against the Government and Congress for various reasons, including insecurity.

The state of emergency also contemplates that the Armed Forces provide support to the National Police in the fight organized crime with patrols in critical areas such as bus stops, metro stations and associated institutions and other situations of violence.

Police and military will also guard public institutions and install temporary campaign commands for the combined forces in coordination with the most affected municipalities massive and permanent confiscation of weapons, ammunition, illegal explosives and pyrotechnic devices.

Meanwhile, in prisons Visits to prisoners will be limited, At the same time, the state of emergency decree provides “an electrical blackout in the cells, allowing only lighting”as well as “dismantling and destruction of illicit telecommunications antennas, entrusting their maintenance to the Armed Forces.”

Racketeering

Throughout the day this Tuesday, the Council of Ministers was meeting to develop the legal framework for the state of emergency announced a few days ago by the president to confront the wave of organized crime in Lima, where a third of the Peruvian population resides.

In the same sense, hours before issuing the message to the nation, Jerí encouraged, on his social network account X, with the publication: “From defensive to offensive against crime.”

Although the president avoided giving more information about the development of this measure, the State of emergency has been decreed by the Peruvian Executive in recent years in several regions of the country, especially on the northern coast to combat illegal mining, and even in some districts of the capital so that the National Police has the support of the armed forces in controlling citizen security.

Likewise, several constitutional rights are suspended during their validity, such as freedom of movement and assemblyamong others.

In recent weeks there have been transport strikes and mobilizations of protest for the impact of organized crime in Lima and other cities in the country, which have left dozens of deaths in the urban transport sector alone, and this problem was one of the main reasons for the dismissal of former president Dina Boluarte (2022-2025) on the 9th in the plenary session of Congress.

According to the Death Information System (Sinadef), in the July-August-September quarter there were 575 homicides in Peruthe highest figure of 2025, after reaching a peak of 580 homicides in the last quarter of 2024.

In the third quarter of 2024, Peru exceeded the threshold of 500 homicides per quarter, after reporting less than half that figure until 2017.