Business owners struggle as protests in Peru likely to stretch another month

As violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police in Peru are likely to stretch into another month, business owners in the country are struggling to keep their shops afloat.

Supporters of Peru’s ex-President Pedro Castillo, who was arrested last month for trying to dissolve Congress, have been protesting and blocking roads for weeks now.

Protesters are demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, snap elections and a new constitution to replace the market-friendly one dating back to right-wing strongman Alberto Fujimori in the 1990s.

Shop owners are not just concerned about their sales dropping in the capital city, Lima, but also around the country.

One of the shop owners in Lima told Reuters that she could ship her goods elsewhere but no one wants to buy in large quantities with so much uncertainty.

Initially limited to Peru’s southern heavily-indigenous regions of Puno, Cusco, Arequipa, Apurimac and Ucayali, the protests have gathered steam in its capital Lima in the last few weeks.

Some demonstrators armed with rocks and make-shift shields were in direct confrontation with police.

The new president, Dina Boluarte, said that the weeks of protest have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the country’s infrastructure.