WASHINGTON –   Senator Ben Cardin, Senior Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (D-Md.), joined Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in releasing the below statement in reaction to violent anti-government protests across Peru:

“While we recognize Peruvians’ frustration with their governing institutions’ ability to improve their daily lives, the solution is neither violence nor the further erosion of the country’s hard fought democracy. We urge Peruvians to express their political opinions peacefully, and we reject the ongoing acts of violence and regret the loss of life in Peru following President Castillo’s unconstitutional attempt to dissolve the Peruvian Congress and his subsequent legal removal from office in December.

“We stand together in encouraging the broader international community and bodies including the Organization for American States to engage further to help the Peruvian government to address the country’s long neglected social and economic divisions, as they play a critical role in supporting Peru’s democratic institutions and efforts to ensure accountability for human rights abuses.”