Mounting discontent in Peru escalated into widespread strikes and social disorder in May. Long-haul drivers parked their trucks, demanding lower petrol prices, and farmers blocked roads, calling for tax cuts and protection from imports. Teachers, government health workers and judiciary employees soon joined in, seeking higher wages.
To restore order, President Alejandro Toledo eventually had to declare a thirty-day nationwide state of emergency, placing Lima and almost half of the regions under military control. The state of siege was lifted at the end of June, except in three regions and a province, and Toledo ended a cabinet crisis the same week by appointing a new prime minister and cabinet.