Peru’s Defensoria del Pueblo has reported 17 new social conflicts in the country in which the majority a related to the regional and municipal elections held earlier this month.
Fifteen of the new conflicts are due to issues related to the re-election of local officials, the ombudsman said in its monthly report.
The most serious conflicts occurred in Ayalaya province, located in Ucayali department, and Sullana province in Piura department where election authorities had to be relocated due to violence. As a result, the process of counting the ballots was suspended in the areas.
Of the 15 election-related conflicts, six were located in Ancash, four in Lima, two in both Lamayeque and Ucayali, and one in Piura. The other two new conflicts were related to an environmental issue in Madre de Dios and governmental issue in Puno department.
In total, there were 250 social conflicts registered in Peru in September, in which 171 of the cases are active.
Forty-eight percent of the conflicts, or 121 cases, are related to the environment, while 31 cases are related to local governance and 21 to the national government.
Six conflicts were resolved in September. Three were related to the environment, two to local governments and one labor conflict.
