President Pedro Castillo of Peru has imposed a curfew in the capital, Lima, to quell the growing wave of violent protests over soaring fuel prices.
President Castillo announced the curfew in a nationally televised speech Monday just before midnight local time, saying it would take effect beginning at 2 a.m. and would last until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
The curfew was announced just hours after officials in Lima ordered schools to shut down for a second consecutive day due to mass protests by transport workers.
Authorities said workers blocked several major highways on Monday in 12 regions, including areas of the capital, keeping thousands of Peruvians from getting to their jobs.
The protests in other areas of the Andes over the past week have provoked other clashes with the police that have left four dead, including a child.
The demonstrations have added to the list of woes for Castillo, who just survived a second impeachment attempt last month. He has tried a number of measures in response to the rising prices, including a 10% increase of the minimum wage and an order to lower most taxes on fuel until June.
The cost of fuel in Peru has soared between 28 and 30% due to rising international prices.
Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
