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| - A Peruvian judge on Friday banned ousted president Martin Vizcarra from leaving the country days after his dismissal by Congress as the country's political crisis spilled over into street clashes between protesters and police. The announcement came after thousands of people took to the streets in the capital Lima and cities across Peru late Thursday to protest Vizcarra's impeachment over corruption allegations. Judge Maria Alvarez said she was imposing an 18-month travel ban on Vizcarra at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, investigating allegations that the 57-year-old received more than $600,000 in kickbacks from developers while a regional governor. "We have said that we will stay," Vizcarra assured journalists Friday, once again rejecting the charges against him and questioning the legality of his removal. "We have the truth and the support that backs us up," he said. Congress voted Monday to impeach the 57-year-old president, while Congress Speaker Manuel Merino assumed office as Peru's third president in four years. In the capital Lima, police used tear gas to disperse a group trying to reach the Congress building late Thursday while protesters threw sticks and stones at the officers. A dozen protesters were arrested Thursday, rights lawyer Mar Perez said on America Noticias television. The South America office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on authorities to guarantee the right of Peruvians to protest, saying it had received "disturbing information" about police behavior. Vizcarra said the protests must be allowed and called on the people to express themselves peacefully. "We also appeal to the national police to respect the demonstrators," he said. "The police have the obligation to observe at all times the international standards on the use of force in the management of demonstrations," said representative Jan Jarab. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on Thursday also tweeted its "concern at the excessive use of force." Interim president Merino called for calm. "We are not going to put in place a brutal change," he said, after installing his government, with a conservative majority. When he took office on Tuesday, Merino said he would respect the calendar for the next general elections, scheduled for April 11, 2021 and would leave power on July 28, 2021, the day when Vizcarra's mandate was to end. Clashes also took place on Tuesday, after Merino was sworn-in. Vizcarra had broad popular support since succeeding Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, the former Wall Street banker who was forced to resign under threat of impeachment over corruption allegations in 2018. Some lawmakers had questioned the wisdom of removing Vizcarra in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and a crippling recession, with the financial markets nervous about whether the new government will maintain existing economic policies. "In all the cities of Peru people are rising up because they consider that this has been a coup," protester Luis Bardales, 34, told AFP in Lima. "And that is why I would like to live in a future where my children can be in a democratic country where the laws are respected," he said. "We do not agree with parliament. It was not necessary" to dismiss Vizcarra, said protester Irene Aguilar, marching with her daughter. The coronavirus pandemic has hit Peru hard, with GDP plunging more than 30 percent in the second quarter. The South American country has the world's highest per capita death rate from the virus, which has caused nearly 35,000 deaths and more than 920,000 infections. bur/db/jh
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