Peruvian Armed forces arrive in Puno to Facilitate Free Movement

The Peruvian Armed Forces arrived this Thursday (01.26.2023) in the southern department of Puno, on the border with Bolivia, to open the way for highways and end the blockades in the region.
General Manuel Gómez de la Torre, the head of the Joint Command, explained that the mobilized troops had the primary objective of “facilitating free movement”.
The military cleared the stones, earth and other rubble that impeded the passage on the Laraqueri highway, before the eyes of the residents.
According to the Ombudsman’s Office, the objectives of the operation are to clear the road network, which registers blockades in the Puno provinces of Azángaro and Carabaya.
Military and armoured vehicles have been deployed from the bases of the neighbouring departments of Moquegua and Tacna to the Manco Capac Barracks in Puno.
46 people involved in the protests have died so far in clashes with the security forces, 21 of them in Puno, while a policeman died after being burned alive by protesters in Juliaca.
On January 20, groups of protesters burned down the Zepita police station and attacked the facilities of the Desaguadero and Ilave police stations.
The three locations are connected to the binational Border Assistance Center (CEBAF) of Desaguadero, which was burned hours earlier by protesters, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.