A protester in a Joker costume takes part in a demonstration demanding the government provide security against the rising violence, in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Protesters gather to demand the government provide security against the rising violence in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
A protester in a Joker costume takes part in a demonstration demanding the government provide security against the rising violence, in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
A protester holds a photo of Peru's President Dina Boluarte marked with the Spanish word for corrupt during a march to demand the government provide security against the rising violence in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Anti-government protesters clash with police during a march to demand the government provide security against the rising violence in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
A protester in a Joker costume takes part in a demonstration demanding the government provide security against the rising violence, in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
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Protesters gather to demand the government provide security against the rising violence in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
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A protester in a Joker costume takes part in a demonstration demanding the government provide security against the rising violence, in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
MM
A protester holds a photo of Peru's President Dina Boluarte marked with the Spanish word for corrupt during a march to demand the government provide security against the rising violence in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
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Anti-government protesters clash with police during a march to demand the government provide security against the rising violence in Lima, Peru, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru's Congress voted Friday to remove the interior minister from office after deciding that he had failed to adequately handle rising violent crime in the Andean country.
Santiváñez must step down and take responsibility for his “inability to address the wave of citizen insecurity the country is facing,†the Peruvian Congress said on its X account.
Public outrage has surged over an increase in killings and other violence, especially the killing Sunday of Paul Flores, the 39-year-old lead singer of the cumbia band Armonia 10. He was fatally shot when assailants attacked his band's tour bus after a concert in Lima.
In reaction to the Flores killing, President Dina Boluarte on Monday declared a state of emergency in the capital and ordered the deployment of soldiers to help police address the surge of violence. That same day, opposition lawmakers requested a vote of no confidence against the interior minister.
Boluarte’s government previously had decreed a state of emergency from September to December in an attempt to stem the violence.
Authorities reported 2,057 killings in 2024, up from 1,506 in 2023.
