Violence at a youth-led protest in Peru's capital on Wednesday left one man dead and more than 100 people injured, authorities in the South American country said.
President Jose Jeri announced on X "the death of 32-year-old citizen Eduardo Ruiz Sanz," and the Ombudsman's Office said more than 100 people were injured, updating earlier tolls.
Jeri's accession days ago has failed to stamp out angry protests against the country's political class.
Youth-led demonstrations brought thousands of Peruvians to the streets in Lima and several other cities, frustrated by the authorities' failure to resolve a worsening crime crisis.
The South American country has been rocked by protests for weeks, and lawmakers voted on Friday to impeach then-president Dina Boluarte, blamed by critics for the crisis.
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Jeri, a right-wing politician who had served as leader of Congress, became interim president until elections in April.
Wednesday's protests were called by a youth-led collective, artists' groups and labor unions.
As night fell, some protesters tried to breach the security barrier around Congress, an AFP correspondent said. Some in the crowd also hurled stones and lit fireworks.
Police in riot gear responded with tear gas.
"I think there is general discontent because nothing has been done," 49-year-old freelancer Amanda Meza told AFP while marching toward Congress.
"There's no security from the state," she said.
"Extortion, murders... have grown massively in Peru."
Boluarte's impeachment followed protests by bus companies, merchants and students over shakedowns by criminal gangs – and attacks on those who refuse to pay protection money.
Extortion and contract killings have been a feature of daily life across the South American country.
Gangs like Los Pulpos and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua, which operates across Latin America, hold people from all walks of life for ransom.
Jeri has attempted to take the heat out of the protests by vowing to "declare war" on organized crime.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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