Peru declares state of emergency in border region with Chile

Lima.- The Government of Peru declared this Friday a state of emergency in several districts of the Tacna region, bordering Chile, so that the armed forces can support the National Police in the protection of the border, according to a supreme decree published in an extraordinary edition of the official newspaper El Peruano.

The interim president José Jerí shared on his X social media account the supreme decree declaring a state of emergency in the districts of Palca, Tacna and La Yarada-Los Palos, bordering Chile, after dozens of apparently irregular migrants in that country had arrived at the border point with Peru with the intention of entering Peruvian territory, but were prevented by police officers. “Done. Declaration of the State of Emergency in Tacna. Thus begins the deployment of the Armed Forces to protect our borders with the PNP,” wrote Jerí.

Hecho. Declaratoria del Estado de Emergencia en Tacna. Se inicia así el despliegue de las FFAA para resguardar con la PNP nuestras fronteras. pic.twitter.com/cKviaSF5rp

— José Jerí (@josejeriore) November 29, 2025

The declaration is valid for 60 days to confront crime and other situations of violence, a period during which the rights related to the inviolability of the home, freedom of transit through the national territory, freedom of assembly, and personal freedom and security are restricted. For the carrying out of religious, cultural, sporting and non-sporting activities of a massive and public nature, the corresponding permit must be requested from the authorities for their evaluation.

Regional Security Committee Activated

The supreme decree added that the Regional Citizen Security Committee (Coresec) of Tacna, as well as the Command and the constituted Committees, are declared in permanent session. The response of the Public Ministry and the Judiciary is also strengthened, and operations are ordered against illegal markets such as human trafficking, drugs, weapons, mobile phones and informal transport. According to the television channel N, the officer in charge of the Peruvian detachment informed representatives of the Chilean Carabineros that no person in an irregular condition can enter Peruvian territory. This caused several of the migrants, who were on foot, to block the Pan-American South highway and the border crossing, which resulted in a long line of trucks and buses on both sides of the border.

Migrants told Canal N that they are seeking to return to their countries of origin, because they have been forced to leave Chile due to the tightening of immigration policies in that country.

Following this situation, the Minister of the Interior, Vicente Tiburcio, arrived this Friday in Tacna to supervise the deployment of the National Police and the armed forces to prevent the irregular entry of people through the border control posts of Santa Rosa and Francisco Bolognesi.