DOMINANT ANGLE
Lima is first focusing on the security aspect of the French crisis: partial curfews, thousands of arrests and looting, as reported by news agencies.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Darmanin reported "2,331 people detained" over the weekend, including around 350 in Paris between Sunday and Monday.
- 02
The Prime Minister asked prefects to decree partial curfews; Marseille banned demonstrations from 12 pm to 8 pm Monday.
- 03
Students blocked access to the Louvre Monday, preventing it from opening at 9 am.
ANALYSIS
Lima, October 19, 2026. The Peruvian press is addressing the French crisis from the perspective of public order. Andina reports that around 350 people were arrested between Sunday and Monday night in Paris, where about thirty businesses were looted, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire. At the national level, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin reported "2,331 people detained" over the weekend, with dozens of provisional detention orders.
The head of the government, described as center-right, stated: "I have asked the prefects to decree several curfews this evening, partial curfews," without specifying the locations; the list was to be known in the afternoon, after discussion with the mayors. In Marseille, demonstrations were banned on Monday between 12 pm and 8 pm, and Denain, near the Belgian border, decreed a nighttime curfew until Sunday. Andina notes that the government is under pressure, as the violence eclipsed the massive protests against the rising cost of living on Saturday.
Gestión highlights the televised speech of Emmanuel Macron: "nothing" justifies or "excuses" the violence, and one must not "confuse" the rioters with the hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters. The president promised "rapid aid" to business owners, blamed "militants from far-left groups" joined by many delinquents, and asked that the high school students who have been mobilized since late September be heard. The newspaper reports the deployment of the CRS unit 8 on the Place de la République, where hundreds of people clashed with the police, and refers to a dispatch on the comments of Donald Trump.
RPP covers the symbolic aspect: on Monday, access to the Louvre was blocked by students from the École du Louvre and other collectives, supported by unions, who denounce budget cuts and police repression. The museum was unable to open at 9 am; its management specifies that the mobilization does not directly target it. Dozens of tourists were waiting at the Place de la Pyramide. Macron acknowledged on Monday "shortcomings" in police management and called for "new operating methods" to "put an end to the phenomena of barricades and looting".
