Transport strike cripples Peruvian cities as crime rates soar

LIMA (Reuters) - Schools across Lima are closed, armed forces are transporting citizens and the government asked employers to encourage remote work as public transit companies began a strike on Thursday to demand more action against rising crime and extortion.

This is the second transport strike in two weeks, and this time unions around the country have called for a 72-hour strike. Shopping centers and markets around Lima also closed their doors in support of the protests, with business owners saying they are also facing extortion from organized crime. 

"The protest is about the issue of insecurity, which has reached such a level that merchants are also victims of extortion," said Katherine Gomez, a leader of a group of market merchants in a district north of Lima.

At the end of September, the government declared a state of emergency in 14 districts around Lima to let the military help police fight crime after businesses said the state was "losing the battle" against organized crime. 

On Monday, four people in a small bus, including the driver, were killed in the province of Callao near Lima. At least six other people have been killed in extortion cases since late August, according to the police.

In 2023, police arrested 289 people for extortion, up 165% from 2022, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.

Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen said on Wednesday night that 10,000 police and military personnel would monitor the drivers' strike, whose leaders have announced they will march to Congress in central Lima.

(Report by Marco Aquino and Carlos Valdez of Reuters Television; Writing by Alexander Villegas; Editing by Bill Berkrot)