STORY: Peruvian police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators trying to reach Congress on Wednesday (October 15), in the first major protest against interim President Jose Jeri, just days after he took office following an abrupt change of government.

Hundreds of protesters had gathered near the facade of the Legislative Palace in downtown Lima and, after trying to knock down metal security barriers, burned flags and plastic objects, when police moved in, firing tear gas and forcing the crowd to retreat.

The protest took place six days after President Dina Boluarte was removed from office and replaced by Jeri, who, as head of Congress, was first in the line of succession.

The protest, which also unfolded in other cities without major incidents, according to television images, demanded measures against rising crime and even political reforms such as a constituent assembly.

The demonstrations were called on social media by civic groups, labor and transport unions, and young people from the so‑called Generation Z, who had previously protested to demand the resignation of the now former president Boluarte.

Jeri has also caused discontent as in January 2025 he was accused of sexual assault by a woman who attended a party in December 2024. The case was archived in August 2025 by the attorney general's office, citing a lack of evidence. Jeri denies any wrongdoing.

Some protesters call him “violin,” a Spanish word similar to rapist.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS AT PROTESTERS/ PROTESTERS HURLING FIRECRACKERS AT POLICE/ SOUNDBITES FROM PROTESTERS/ PRESIDENT JOSE JERI FLYING OVER DOWNTOWN LIMA

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: LIMA, PERU (OCTOBER 15, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

1. PROTESTERS HURLING GIANT VIOLIN EFFIGY AGAINST FENCES PROTECTING CONGRESS

2. PROTESTERS LIGHTING FIRE OUTSIDE CONGRESS

3. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS PULLING FENCES

4. SHIELDED POLICE MOVING TOWARDS PROTESTERS

5. POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS

6. PROTESTERS HURLING OBJECTS AT POLICE

7. PROTESTERS CARRYING INJURED PHOTOJOURNALIST IN THEIR ARMS

8. INDIGENOUS WOMEN FROM PUNO REGION COVERING THEIR FACES FROM TEAR GAS

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GENZ PROTESTER, VERONICA NAUTO, SAYING:

"Even after they removed Dina (Boluarte), everything is the same - extortion continues, contract killings continue; the police do nothing. You are witnesses. The police keep repressing people who have come to exercise their right - a legitimate right to protest - and they are still repressing them; right now they're still repressing. We're fed up with the political class; we're sick of them trying to take us for fools, because they've installed a figure who is basically a coalition of all those parties from the '90s, and they're corrupt. We're fed up with this - we're demanding that absolutely all of them go."

10. POLICE WALKING TOWARD PROTESTERS, FIRECRACKERS BEING SHOT AT POLICE

11. FIRECRACKERS BEING SHOT

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER, SONIA, SAYING:

"They don't deserve to be in power; they're completely illegitimate. We demand a solution to this crime problem - they're killing us every day. And what are the police doing here? Protecting those wretches in Congress."

LIMA, PERU (OCTOBER 15, 2025) (PERUVIAN GOVERNMENT TV – Access all)

12. AERIAL VIEW OF DOWNTOWN SAN MARTIN SQUARE WITH PROTESTERS GATHERED

13. PERUVIAN PRESIDENT JOSE JERI ON HELICOPTER

14. AERIAL VIEW OF CONGRESS