By Marco Aquino
LIMA (Reuters) – Schools and universities were closed, public employees worked from home and security forces blanketed Peru’s capital on Monday on the eve of a gathering of world leaders for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum amid threats of protests.
More than 15,000 police and soldiers have been deployed around Lima and a government order has schools shut and public employees working remotely until Saturday.
Leaders from 21 countries, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, will be descending on the Andean nation for the APEC Forum that starts Tuesday.
“The government has put forward a detailed security plan,” Peru’s foreign affairs minister told Reuters, adding that every attending country and their ambassadors have been given details of the plan.
The forum comes at a moment where Peru has faced several protests amid concerns about rising crime. Unions and workers have threatened another general strike on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the APEC Forum.
“We’re not against the APEC,” said Julio Campos, a protest leader from a transport union. “We’re going out to protest so the world knows what we’re dealing with in terms of crime, that it affects the business environment, investment.”
President Dina Boluarte, the former vice president who rose to power after President Pedro Castillo was ousted and arrested after trying to dissolve congress, has faced protests since assuming the presidency resulting in dozens of civilian deaths.
“The eyes of the world are on us and it’s up to us to show we’re excellent hosts, promoters of peace and development,” Boluarte said during a speech from the government palace last week.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Carlos Valdez; Writing Alexander Villegas, Editing by William Maclean)
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