Several dozen people were injured, including one seriously, on Tuesday during violent clashes between demonstrators and police in the Argentine province of Jujuy (northwest), in connection with protests against a reform of the provincial constitution , according to local media.
For about four hours, a few hundred demonstrators threw stones at the police in the provincial capital of San Salvador de Jujuy (1,500 km from Buenos Aires), setting fire to cars, the police responding with tear gas and bullets. rubber in particular, according to television images.
The local media reported several dozen injuries, between demonstrators and police, and the director of emergency services (SAME) in Jujuy, estimated in the afternoon on TN television that between 50 and 70 people received medical assistance”, most for minor injuries, impact of stones or rubber bullets, with “only one person in serious condition, for a head trauma”.
Television footage had shown a protester lying on the ground, with a pool of blood near his head.
A source from the Ministry of Security in the province of Jujuy told AFP of at least 20 arrests.
The clashes came after two weeks of demonstrations and blockades of roads by various sectors – civil servants, teachers, members of indigenous communities – protesting against a reform of the provincial constitution of Jujuy, governed by Gerardo Morales (right, opponent of the national government) and pre-candidate in the October presidential election in Argentina.
The new provincial constitution –Argentina is a federal state– is particularly rejected by representatives of local indigenous communities, who believe that it undermines their rights to their traditional lands, and their natural resources, in a rural province, touristic, but also rich in lithium.
Mr. Morales announced Monday to withdraw two articles on this point in order to rediscuss them, including the “doubts” of the indigenous communities. But the new text was adopted Tuesday by the local legislature in its partial form, against a backdrop of demonstrations that overflowed outside.
Another controversial aspect of the new text provides for a limitation of forms of social protest, in particular prohibiting the blocking of roads and the occupation of public buildings.
Several roadblocks were still in progress on Tuesday in other parts of Jujuy province, according to a provincial security source.
The governor of Jujuy and the national government accuse each other of being the source of the unrest. Mr. Morales denounced a politicization by the radical left, and by the “Kirchnerism” in power in Buenos Aires, saying to hold “President @alferdez (Alberto Fernandez) and Vice-President @CFKArgentina (Cristina Kirchner) responsible for the violence extreme that is experienced in Jujuy”.
Alberto Fernandez for his part demanded on Tuesday that “immediately cease the repression” in Jujuy, judging Mr. Morales “solely responsible” for the situation, and denouncing a provincial constitution “which does not respect the national Constitution”.
In a statement Tuesday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said “to observe with concern the actions taken to disperse the demonstrations in the province of Jujuy in Argentina”.
The IACHR called for “respecting the right to freedom of expression, inter-American standards on the use of force, and conducting an effective, inclusive and intercultural dialogue process, in which the rights of trade unions and indigenous peoples are respected”.
06/20/2023 22:58:17 – Buenos Aires (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
