A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The streets of Peru's major cities are usually among the most congested and noisy in Latin America. Well, not this week. Bus drivers and others have launched a series of strikes over what they claim is government inaction against rampant extortion by criminal gangs. Simeon Tegel reports from Lima.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Crying).
SIMEON TEGEL: Shocked relatives lament the sudden death of Eduardo Carreno. He died when a hooded hitman boarded the minivan he was driving in Callao, the gritty port city abutting the Peruvian capital, Lima. The man shot Carreno and three passengers dead in retaliation, investigators believe, for the driver refusing to pay extortion.
(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).
TEGEL: And so, for the third time in a month, angry transport workers took to the streets on Wednesday to vent their frustrations in protest at the violent crime wave that has cost the lives of around 20 drivers in recent months.
ANTONIO MALDONADO: We are at the point where we are paying the results of bad governments and irresponsible governance in Peru.
TEGEL: Antonio Maldonado, a former anticorruption prosecutor. Like many, he believes that recent counter-reforms passed by lawmakers have actually encouraged the criminals.
MALDONADO: Congress was so irresponsible not only with this law, but also with other laws that were made with the only purpose to serve to the members of the Congress that are linked to organized crime or that are being investigated for public corruption.
TEGEL: They include measures to stop the police seizing illegal explosives, ban surprise raids on suspects' homes and curb prosecutors' powers to investigate extortion, corruption and human trafficking. The measures come amid a series of attacks by the deeply unpopular Congress on the judiciary and the electoral system that many warn amount to an assault on Peru's fragile democracy and has most ordinary Peruvians demanding new elections.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GUSTAVO ADRIANZEN: (Non-English language spoken).
TEGEL: Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen played down the impact of Wednesday's strike. But unless his government rescinds recent laws and takes effective action against the extortionists, more stoppages are planned.
For NPR News, this is Simeon Tegel in Lima, Peru.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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