The Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, who has led the government since the removal of Pedro Castillo, urged Congress to approve the advancement of the general elections. But parliament rejected the constitutional reform to hold elections in December 2023. A mean turn to avoid putting their own seats at stake, which increases the discredit of politics in a country that has seen repeated cases of corruption in half a dozen of its last presidents.
“I demand that the vote be reconsidered to advance the elections,” insisted Boluarte, criticizing the congressmen who had abstained from voting. The former vice president understands that she does not have the support to complete Castillo’s term: protests have broken out and some 22 people have died due. Boluarte responded to the protesters who were asking for her resignation that she had done her part, and that the attacks “do not solve the problem.”
Some of his ministers, who had been sworn in just a week ago, announced their resignation through tweets. Education Minister Patricia Correa and Culture Minister Jair Pérez resigned on Friday, accusing the deaths during the riots. “This morning I presented my letter of resigns as minister of Education. The death of compatriots has no justification. State violence cannot be disproportionate and cause death, ”Correa wrote on his Twitter account.
Protests since the arrest of former President Castillo, who is in pretrial detention while facing charges of rebellion and conspiracy, have paralyzed Peru’s transportation system, closing airports and blocking highways. Consequently, Boluarte announced the state of emergencygranting special powers to the police and limiting the right of assembly.
“We want the immediate closure of Congress; we want the resignation of Dina Boluarte”, demanded René Mendoza, one of those who marched in support of Castillo. “Today the Peruvian people are in mourning… All of Peru is in struggle,” he added. “Let’s close the congressional rat’s nest“added another of the protesters, against a parliament that has had, according to analysts close to the former president, a marked coup attitude.
The Supreme Court endorsed the decision of Congress, and ordered Castillo’s preventive detention of 18 months, while he is investigated. The president does not admit to having done wrong, and maintains that he is still the legitimate president of the country. But his attempt to shut down Congress and rule by decreemarked his end, after leading a government that never lived up to what Peru required to trust politics again.
Scenery
The country is coming off a decade of political turmoil, with multiple leaders accused of corruption, frequent impeachment attempts, and interrupted presidential terms. And the departures from the cabinet exacerbate the doubts about the longevity of the Boluarte government, who took office on December 7 and a week later asked to step aside soon.
One that could also end in a trial for disability: the Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office has already filed a criminal complaint to determine the responsibility of the leadership in the deaths in Ayacucho, where some 52 were injured when they confronted soldiers -exposed on social networks- what shooting real bullets.
“A shooting began accompanied by helicopters that began to launch tear gas bombs,” human rights defender Eliana Revollar told Peruvian national radio, referring to the use of firearms when protesters invaded the airport. The regional government of Ayacucho demanded in a statement the “immediate cessation of the use of weapons of fire… against our people”, and blamed the deaths on President Boluarte and the Ministers of Defense and the Interior.
“We need peace in Ayacucho. We have had a lot of pain in the ’80s and ’90s and we cannot allow our people to continue dying”, claimed Governor Carlos Rúa: the Andean region was at the epicenter of the state’s brutal conflict with the Shining Path rebel group in which nearly 70,000 people died. “We have to be very careful with these types of decrees that, in the end, will generate more deaths,” added Rua.
claims
The Minister of Foreign Relations, Ana Cecilia Gervasi, announced at the beginning of last week that she will meet with the High Commissioner for UN to convey the government’s commitment to democratic order. The United Nations expressed “deep concern” over reports of deaths and detentions of minors in the demonstrations. “We express our grave concern about the increase in violence in Peru and we deeply regret the death of people,” the UN said in a statement. Boluarte hastened to send 16 ministers to different regions of the country in an effort to open dialogue and calm the protesters.
“Neither violence nor radicalism will end a legal and legitimate government. There is no place for fear, but for courage, unity and hope for a country that deserves more from its politicians”, said Boluarte, who urged legislators to “make the best decisions to shorten deadlines and make the necessary reforms ”. The Peruvian congress finally voted to advance the elections to April 2024. But the question remains whether Boluarte will be able to reach that date.
clear blindness to the weather in the streets. “What we have is a polarization between two blocks of people, some who are not necessarily with Castillo but appear to be…because they oppose the congress,” explained Omar Coronel, a sociology professor at Peru’s Pontifical Catholic University. A Castle that represented the anger with the traditional politics that subsists and grows.
Image gallery
