Reacting to protests, Peruvian President Pedro Castillo imposed curfews and suspended the right to freedom of assembly in two major cities—leading to a sharp rebuke from the nation’s bishops.

“Crises are not resolved with the suspension of rights,” said Archbishop Héctor Cabrejos Vidarte, OFM, the president of the bishops’ conference. “This is almost like a state of siege—which only applies, according to our Constitution, to cases of invasion, foreign war and civil war—to manage the social conflicts that have arisen in recent days in many areas of the country.”