Within the hour of Peruvian President Castillo’s announcement that the Congress would be dissolved, national police have barred the entrances to the Legislative Palace and police have blocked roads to the Capitol complex.
Ante el ilegal anuncio de disolución de Pedro Castillo, el Congreso cierra las puertas principales del Palacio Legislativo. pic.twitter.com/C7iCk4kXeU
— Martin Hidalgo (@martinhidalgo) December 7, 2022
This also comes simultaneously as President Castillo has demanded citizens possessing “illegal weapons” to turn them in within 72 hours.
“All those who possess illegal weapons must hand it over to the National Police within 72 hours, whoever does not do so commits a crime punishable by imprisonment, which will be established with the respective Decree Law.”
While no crowds have formed yet, this harkens back to the 2021 vote of confidence in which national police and the military were deployed to the streets of Lima to counter protestors. However, in that case, his government survived the vote.