♪ >> these are the top stories. ukraine secret service has launched an investigation into a helicopter crash that killed the interior minister and other senior officials for 14 people died, including one child. afghanistan's government says freezing temperatures have killed at least 70 people and tens of thousands of cattle. forecasters say the cold snap will continue for at least another week. antigovernment protesters from across peru are converging on

the capital for two days of mass demonstrations. they want president dina boluarte to resign and her predecessor to be released from jail. within 40 have died in the unrest that began after he was ousted in december. mari anna sanchez has more. >> in the last opinion poll we saw, 71% of peruvians disapprove of their government. many critics, observers and analysts are saying the only way to calm people down will be with her resignation. that is what people are demanding more than anything, the resignation of boluarte. people have told me they will stay in early mino matter how long until she resigns. >> israel's supreme court has ordered benjamin netanyahu to remove a senior member of his government. arye dery cannot serve as a minister because he was convicted of tax fraud. arye dery is a close ally of the

prime minister and head of the altar -- ultra-orthodox party. sparking fears of political crisis in the new coalition government. congolese squirt -- security forces firing tear gas on protesters. demonstrators are calling for the agreed withdrawal of rebels from occupied territory to be enforced. the armed group has continued its offensive in the region despite declarations of cease-fire and troop withdrawal. this is in england pressing on with their second strike in as many months, demanding higher pay as cost-of-living sores. patients have been warned to expect disruptions to health care services. the dues continues here after inside story. ♪

>> what is fueling public anger in peru. mast -- mass protests for five weeks since the former president impeached and arrested. peru is no stranger to political crises. how is this one different? what will it take to fix it? this is inside story. ♪ >> hello and welcome. tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on peru's capital for two days of antigovernment protests. they want president dina boluarte to resign and early

elections to be held. many are supporters of her predecessor and have a similar background to their former leader. they are indigenous, poor and come from rule peru's mountainous regions. they say president boluarte does not represent them. she was appointed when casino was removed from office and arrested. more than 40 people have been killed in confrontations. >> we -- have come to lima to defend our country. considering we are under a dictatorial, militarist government which has stained our country with blood. >> my road rage, my only rage is because dina boluarte. please resign. if you do not, the people will not surrender. >> the let the whole of peru

rise up. let the provinces rise up. that is -- let 10% of the population come here because the government is illegitimate. >> president boluarte says she is willing to talk to demonstrators, but that they must gather peacefully. >> this issue of demanding early elections is only an excuse to keep taking over highways. please, we want to work in peace. people in southern peru are desperate to have their highways cleared. they want to work to reactivate their economies. ♪ >> joining me now are our guests. a political analyst a writer and playwright. his father was the former vice president of peru. in new york, michael shifter, senior fellow and member of the council on foreign relations. from london, alonzo -- at ox it

-- oxford university and a book on humanitarian law in peru. thank you for your time with us. one claudio mcgivney some assessment of these protests. protesters have made their way to the capital. what is your assessment? >> yes. approximately 1000 or more people are coming at this moment from different parts of the provinces. in rented buses. they want to take dina boluarte down. they want her to resign. it is a political demand. all the man's are political. they want a new constitution. they want dina boluarte to resign. they want elections closer.

the complete situation is a political situation. not a social situation, as is presented by some media. for me, it looks very much like -- because i am bolivian. i lived in peru for years, and also venezuela. i see the same situation that happened in bolivia in 2020 when the president was taken out from government and was made to resign, also with an offense of this type. this type of social movement, when in fact it was a political movement meant to overthrow her. in general, i think more this of being a political offensive to take dina boluarte down rather than a social demand from the

people. >> just one more for you, do you think the protests are getting big enough to actually force the change people are looking for? you say they are demanding resignation and demanding early elections. >> it is very difficult to say. if she has the guts to stay, she can stay because she has the army and the police backup of more than approximately 80% of the population. the difference is that this 80% of the population is not mobilized. not in the streets. the other part, the radical part, is being mobilized with buses and people coming from everywhere with a very aggressive and violent action. it is difficult to say if she is going to resign, given this

offensive today and tomorrow. >> let's bring in michael shifter. do you think this is a dangerous moment farouk going forward, or represents an opportunity for change? >> it strikes me as very dangerous. it could get completely out of control. clearly, what started as a set of protests in the south following the impeachment of pedro castillo after he attended a self to -- has spread. the response to the government has made matters worse and created more resentment and has morphed into something larger. i thicket really reflects lot of the pent up anger and resentment

that people in the south have had. they have not enjoyed the fruits of a country that has had very high growth rates for many years. and yet, there has been an abysmal lack of social investment and commitment to the social agenda. it has become something much broader into the government has not reacted well. the congress certainly wants to cling to their positions. they also do not want to be flexible in terms of early elections, one of the principal demands of the protesters. this is a very dangerous moment that needs to be addressed and hopefully things will calm down. i do not see the opportunity right now to do something dramatic in a positive way. boluarte could try to change the

cabinet and that might help. but, she is very unpopular. she is the constitutional president, followed the procedures, but is very unpopular. she is tied to the congress and tied to a military that has committed a lot of abuses. innocent people have been killed, which is unacceptable. >> speaking of the government, boluarte has cracked down harshly. 47 protesters have been killed. why do you think there has been such a heavy-handed response? >> this is peru. i lived in peru during the years of shining path in the late 1980's. unfortunately, the security forces have a record of human rights abuses. that is why there is a strong human rights movement in peru. also, there is mistreatment of

indigenous people and poor people in the south. a lot of these people also bear a huge responsibility. policemen have been burned alive. there has been violence, that is also unacceptable. security forces have a responsibility to restore public order, to protect innocent citizens from violence, but there is no justification for the abuses that have been reported. the people who have been killed that were protesting peacefully, or just happened to be in the area. that is unacceptable. >> alonso, my guess from the a moment ago was saying this is a political offensive. do you agree with that assessment? give me your initial thoughts. >> we do not think i agree.

the political situation has layers. we can discuss surface level analysis of specifically castillo's coup and the specificity the current moment. but if you look further down into the social order of things, the social contract and the history of the country, this can't just be about one specific moment in 2023. there is a longer history of us -- of exclusion of people from indigenous descent and indigenous people in peru having been left out of this economic growth. even if gdp is growing and macroeconomic numbers are doing well, people every day are

basically left alone if they cannot -- basic needs. there is no good health care, housing, public education is not well-funded and is not doing well for people. the population feels there is a double system. all of these protests boil down to this difference between the part of peru that is able to take advantage of the "economic miracle," and the part of peru that is still left behind by a system that privileges western looking, connected to international capitalism. whereas in the highlands, they are the most angry with the government and the status quo. they are not able to take advantage of these benefits. >> some people say that this crisis has been enhanced by 30

years of neoliberalism. in fact, the constitution that was put in place in 1983 really implemented that neoliberal economic model which has just benefited the rich and the businessman at the expense of some people in peru. is that an accurate assessment? >> i do not think we have a particularly extremist constitution. i don't think the constitutional text is the only problem. it has several problems, but there's ways to work around constitutional texts. it is not like the chilean constitution that was very much chicago libertarianism. the peruvian constitution has --

in there to improve the system that would be able to help the people. poverty has been reduced. the problem is that this emerging middle class is very precarious. it is very easy for them to go back into poverty. we need is to make changes in the constitution so that these provisions, this idea of safety nets, health care, education, safety actually exist in practice. they do not because of the mentality in the country that privileges moment can be described as washington consensus dynamics, doesn't necessarily mandate. we could have a different system that is more inclusive, but we can't because of the structures in place. what we need is a conversation as a nation, a national debate where we accept, and particularly the westernized parts of lima, goes through some

contrition. the status quo has not worked for everyone. >> i know you want to comment on what my guest has been saying. i know you compared the situation to bolivia a little earlier, but how comparable would it be to a country like chile? three years ago, we saw protests which eventually led to constitutional reform. will peru head in that direction? >> probably. it is possible. still, the chilean situation was also political. the protesters demanded a new constitution that brought a new government committee government from the left. so, it is not that the

constitution will change, the people's wealth will reevaluate any quality. woody also describes in his intervention is a third world situation. it is good for bolivia, peru, privileges. the thing is that always we speak about privileges when we refer to the west, the democratic west -- we go to non-western countries -- cuba. nobody talks about privileges in cuba. note he talks about the gap between the people in power and normal people in poverty. i think there is a general speech to condemn countries like peru that has done a very intense job for the last 30

years to diminish poverty. he has succeeded in peru has succeeded. it does not have succeeded in a swedish standard. but it has diminished extreme poverty very much. and of course, the last 10 years where governments of the left -- away from entrepreneurial attitudes. the last 10 years, governments that were more state oriented than market-oriented. and then you have the conclusion that the last 10 years, poverty has increased. now, boluarte was a former leftist companion with castillo. now that castillo was taken out of power, she is attacked is a far leftist woman.

but she was one month ago the left. they want to capture power. i do not think that this long-term thesis of third world poverty, and all of these -- we see have been in the third world are the cause. it is a current, tactical cause for the moment to change the government to radicalize the situation. >> would be fair to say that what has led to the situation is that there was perhaps some people's incompetence on behalf of castillo? because of perhaps a lack of presidential experience. , but also can -- congress continuously put obstacles in front of him to make sure he could not rule. >> that is true. i would add a word to the

incompetence, corruption. which has not been mentioned so far, but is an important element. every single elected president of peru since fujimori is still in jail for human rights and corruption charges, has been charged with corruption. if you want to know why people are angry and full of resentment , it is -- castillo was no different. six investigations by the prosecutor. he is not only incompetent because he had no experience, he was corrupt like his predecessors. i think that was a very important factor and why there was this antagonistic relationship with congress. what you say is true. it shows that there was a hard right in peru that never accepted castillo as legitimate.

and he won fair and square. it was very close. but he was legitimately elected. the fact that there was a sector of the hard right that never recognized him and tried to undermine him also shows we are dealing with a nondemocratic important part of the congress. not the whole congress, but a certain sector. >> let me ask you about the united states. let's look at the international response. 14 countries across latin america and the caribbean have condemned the coup. but then you have the united states which is throwing its support find dina boluarte, the unelected presidency. what is the u.s. stake in all of this? >> boluarte was vice president. if the president is impeached,

the vice president assumes power. that is totally constitutional. i think what her mistake was from the outset was that she said in her first speech that she was going to complete the term of castillo, which is 2026. that made no sense. everybody knows, if you look at polls in peru, that the vast majority of peruvians wanted elections right away. not at the end of the term. there are no good options. the u.s. was not going to support castillo, he attempted a coup. he closed the congress and took over the judiciary. that deserves to be condemned. but, boluarte has not managed the situation very well. certainly the security forces with human rights violations has only fueled protests, anger and got us to the very dangerous point we are today. >> how do you see this playing

out? >> unfortunately, the political establishment in lima is unable or unwilling to understand the root cause of the protest. they seem to be convinced this is just a "terrorist attack" on the country with no legitimacy and that it needs to be responded through force. causing the 50 bodies we have now in the country. unfortunately, i do not see this playing out in any way that is peaceful. at least not for some time. i think what the country requires is a longer process of national discussion about how to change the system, how to change the status quo so that it includes everyone. it is not possible to tell 20%

of the population that yes, the state has succeeded, poverty is reduced, there is no poverty. but, people don't -- people need more than just that. >> how does -- get representation? are this -- the proposal that exists right now from indigenous peoples themselves, from bolivia and chile, both attempts to reform their constitution, is to establish national states. rest the nationstate is usually seen as one nation, one state, recognize the history of latin america is a history where several nation's have equal rights and deserve equal representation in congress and have a more decentralized structure and politics. unfortunately when this was proposed, i would argue lack of

space to properly discuss this generated a lot of fear that it was going to break up chile into little fuse -- feuds. it also does not help that plural nationality was one of the big arguments by morales as he descended into authoritarianism in bolivia. it doesn't have the right -- there hasn't been a proper space to discuss this idea of changing the status though of our country, which is why i think more than a constitutional assembly, would peru needs is a forum of open consultation where the nation can sit together and hear the grievances of the people and know what it feels like to be a peruvian that does not have health care, public education that is beaten by the police if they ever complain.

that does not have actual safety nets in a state that looks after its population. that process needs to start. >> we will have to leave it there. thank you so much. thanks for joining us. thanks for watching. you can see the program anytime on aljazeera.com. for further discussion, go to our facebook page. join the conversation on twitter. for myself and the whole team right here, thanks for watching. ♪

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man: at the beginning of, um, of 2020, i had an exhibition at the university museum of contemporary art in mexico city, and it was an introspective exhibition called "customatism," and that exhibition had been prepared for years. i mean, had 30 years of work, if not more, probably, like, 40 years of work, and it was supposed to come to the museum of contemporary art in san diego, but then, all of a sudden, we had this pandemic. woman on tv: china has identified the cause of a mysterious new virus. man on tv: we now have a name for the disease-- covid-19. man 2 on tv: you must stay at home. president trump: we're asking