"I was chosen by the "forgotten" men and women of Peruvian interior, by the expropriated, whom no 1 cared about for for 2 100 years" (Pedro Castillo)
7 December 2022 brought a breakdown of only 497-day president Pedro Castillo (born 1969) in Peru. José Pedro Castillo Terrines was a agrarian teacher in simple school and a rebound for his political career turned out to be a union activity. His presidency was a manifestation of incompetence, based on quasi-corruption party-business arrangements and plunged the state administration into chaos, paralyzing the activities of many government agencies.
However, there was besides an unprecedented attack on the president from the interior led by Creole elites from Lima and the coast. P. Castillo was constantly ridiculed for his provincial accent, wearing a hat with a wide roundabout, poncho and rubber sandals, which are characteristic elements of peasants' outfits from across the country. The relentless attacks on the president even sparked a reaction of Washington's broadcast policy in the Western Hemispher of the Organization of American States (OPA), which condemned Peruvian oligarchy for racism and the run against the president from outside its midst.
During the 17 months of P. Castillo's presidency, Peru had 5 governments and over 60 ministers. At the same time, as mentioned, the president was constantly attacked by the establishment controlling legislature and the media. The presidency came to an end in circumstances resembling a "office coup", although the President's and Congress's fierce political conflict was fundamentally within the limits of the law.
♪ Bang failed and bang successful ♪
On 7 December, the 3rd already scheduled (previously in December 2021 and April 2022, ending with the failure of the applicants) vote in the Peru legislature over the impeachment of P. Castillo. On the night preceding the vote, the president made a speech on tv to the nation, announcing the dissolution of Congress, accelerated elections and the introduction of a fresh constitution. By the time the elections were organized, the transitional government was to function and the president ruled the decrees.
Following Mr Castillo's resignation, the army commanders and 4 government ministers, including economical and abroad affairs ministers, resigned. The designation of the President's decision was besides denied by the ultimate Court, the Constitutional Court and the ombudsman who called on Mr Castillo to stand trial, accusing him of pushing Peru, after years of democratic stability, to the brink of a coup. The legislature voted on 7 December at 24.00 p.m. impeachment of Mr Castillo on the charge of "permanent moral incapacity to hold office" with 101 votes "for", 6 "against" and 10 Members absent. The president was besides arrested on charges of rebellion as he rode alongside his bodyguards on the streets of Lima.
US and Mexico Diplomacy in the Background
In the political clash in Peru, the US and Mexico embassies were straight involved. U.S. typical Lisa Kenna, immediately after P. Castillo's tv appearance, she negatively commented on Twitter, thus strengthening Congress' position. Deprived of his position as P. Castillo, before being arrested on the streets of Lima, he was to effort to get to the embassy of Mexico. typical of the second in Peru Pablo Monroy already on 8 December, he visited P. Castillo in custody and began consulting with the fresh authorities in Lima on Mexico's granting of a postless president of political asylum.
Also Mexican abroad Secretary Marcelo Ebrard On 8 December, he called for the observance of democracy and "human rights" in Peru and reported the cancellation of the Pacific Alliance summit scheduled for 14 December in Mexico (Spanish). Alianza del Pacífico, founded in 2011 by president Peru Alan Garcia an organization grouping Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile – alleged Pacific Pumas). president of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador described the removal of Mr Castillo as a "soft coup", motivated by racism against the indigenous population of the country's agrarian teacher, and carried out under conditions of mass media control by the Peruvian oligarchy.
Use of left-wing opportunist
The seat of the impeachment of the president was taken by the then Vice president Dina Boularte. Like P. Castillo, it originates from the Peruvian interior and speaks the language of ketchup, but most of her professional life was spent in Lima, where she headed the office for distributing material aid to the poorest. She is simply a convinced Marxist and belongs to the liberal and prosystemic wing of president Perú Libre's home organization (PL). She won the mandate by moving under the slogans "gender" and moral liberalisation.
Initially, she was Minister for Social Inclusion and Development. In January 2022 she was excluded from the PL on charges of incompatibility of her (liberal-left) position with (plebej-left) organization line. During her time as vice president, she declared the defence of P. Castillo against the attacks of the establishment and resigned in case of his impeachment. She was active in money laundering for PL funding.
- Boularte did not participate in the game against P. Castillo, but opportunistly entered the empty political space after it, becoming a “face” to legitimize an oligarchical coup among the people. During the celebration of the Peruvian Armed Forces on December 9, D. Boularte appeared on the parade surrounded by judges, military and right-wing parliamentarians who dismissed P. Castillo. On December 10, 17-member (9 men and 8 women) government D. Boularte of Pedro Angulo was sworn in as Prime Minister, Luis Alberto Otárol Peñarand as Minister of Defence, Ana Gervasi as abroad Minister, and Alex Contreras as Minister of Economy.
U.S. support and waiting for another countries
The US condemned P. Castillo and supported D. Boularte on 8 December, besides possibly patronizing her gathering with the leaders of all (including conservative and liberal) political parties. After the government was elected, Mr Angulo was immediately supported by the president of the United States Joe Bidena.
The position of the another (outside Mexico and USA) countries of the region was initially wobbly: president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that the leader of Peru had brought problems on himself; the president of Colombia Gustavo Petro reiterated the Constatus of L. I. Lula da Silva, however, calling on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to warrant P. Castillo fair trial; president of Chile Gabriel Boric regretted the political situation in Peru and the hope to regulate it democratically; Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez condemned the effort to violate the constitutional order and called for the crisis to be dealt with democratically.
Rising opposition Against the Punishment
In Peru, however, popular protests grew, initially only a fewer 100 people, but rapidly increasing. Immediately after the removal of P. Castillo, D. Boularte announced that she would stay in office until the end of his word of office in 2026. However, already on the day of the oath of the government of Mr Angulo, the protests spread beyond their motherly region of Andahuaylas and brought 7 fatalities. Protesters demanded the release of P. Castillo, the resolution of Congress, D. Boularte's resignation and earlier elections. On December 12, D. Boularte announced in her tv appearance a state of emergency in Andahuaylas and accelerated the elections for April 2024.
The global situation of the purists besides began to be complicated, as from the inspiration of A. M. López Obrador on 12 December the governments of Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia issued a joint statement, In which they considered P. Castillo to be the rightful president of Peru and refused to admit the power of D. Boularte. In consequence on 13 December, Ms Boularte announced "consultations" with the countries of the region. On 15 December, support for Mr Castillo was expressed by the ALBA (Boliwarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, an organization founded in 2004 by Venezuela and Cuba): Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Santa Lucía, San Vincente y las Granadinas, San Cristóbal y Nieves.
Incarcerated in custody, P. Castillo applied for parole on December 12. On 13 December, the court refused to release him, while the prosecution demanded 3 years in prison. People's protests had already spread throughout the country at this time; protesters included the military airport runway and Arequipa civilian airport terminal serving tourist traffic to Machu Picchu. Mr Castillo appealed on 13 December from his detention to police officers and armed forces to not shoot the people and lay down their weapons. On the same day, Minister of Defence L. The President announced the introduction of a state of emergency and safety forces to guarantee the roadworthiness of national highways and the safety of hydropower and another critical infrastructure. The number of deaths of protests then reached almost 20, injured on the side of the safety forces and the people was over 500.
Control of oligarchy
On 14 December, L. A. Otaróla Peñaranda announced a 30-day emergency with restrictions on movement, gatherings and the right of police to carry out military searches of private dwellings in the ace without approval or court judgment. Under the declaration of the Minister of Defence, however, the signatures of all members of the Council of Ministers were not D. Boularte, which showed that she did not belong to the leadership of an oligarchist troupe, being primarily a “face” of a coup to legitimize him in the eyes of the people.
On the day of the announcement of the state of emergency, D. Boularte made a tv speech to the nation, announcing a further acceleration of the elections for December 2023, but condemning the protesters as "political children" and defending his power as a warrant of the actual welfare of the people. besides on the same day, the state of emergency in Peru was condemned by Mexican president A. M. López Obrador. Protests continued throughout the country, the number of victims grew, while demonstrators demanded the unchanging release of P. Castillo, D. Boularte's resignation, the resolution of legislature and the writing of fresh elections.
Break in the oligarchy camp
On December 15, the court refused conditional release of P. Castillo, condemning him to 18 months imprisonment. On 16 December, D. Boularte convened an extraordinary gathering of the government involving judges and military. Its government was supported by the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. In a protest against the brutality of safety forces, education and culture ministers resigned. legislature rejected the constitutional amendment tabled by D. Boularte, allowing for an accelerated election in December 2023.
- Boularte criticized legislature on December 17 for torpedoing the draft to accelerate elections and accused him of deepening the political crisis in the country. erstwhile again, she besides refused to resign, arguing that only she could aid the poorest Peruvians in the fight against the effects of the worst drought in the country in 40 years, and assured one more time that as vice president, she protected P. Castillo from legislature and controlled oligarchy. According to a poll conducted that day, 80% of Peruvians wanted to accelerate the elections. On December 18, D. Boularte announced the creation of a fresh Prime Minister and the redevelopment of the government.
Oligarchy concessions
An effort to install an informal tyranny representing the oligarchy of Congress, whose deputies torpedoed the draft for the writing of earlier elections, raised concern for the Mexican president, who stated on December 19 that if the deputies blocked the anticipation of earlier elections, "all this would should be achieved through force and repression, which would lead to large instability and suffering of the people." On the same day, the number of fatalities in Peru increased to 26, after safety forces utilized gas charges to bypass the national road blocked by miners.
Members yet approved the amendments to the Constitution on 20 December for the April 2024 elections; the draft was voted by a majority of 91 votes out of 130 seats in Congress. The draft, to be adopted, must be re-voted by an absolute majority of two-thirds of the vote during the next session of Congress. According to the polls, the legislature of the current word enjoys only 11% confidence, and 44% of Peruvians would support its solution by P. Castillo (in the south of the country 52%), despite the President's actions going beyond the constitution.
Strengthening oligarchy
On December 20, Mexican Ambassador to Lima P. P. Monroy announced that he had granted political asylum to P. Castillo's family, including the Peruvian prosecution's wife of the imprisoned president Lidii Paredes. The Peruvian authorities stated that they would let the President's household to leave the country, but at the same time they considered P. P. Monroy a individual non grata and ordered him to leave Peru within 72 hours. In their justification for their decision, the Peruvian authorities pointed to the statements of the “highest Mexican authorities” on the political situation in Peru, which was a mention to the criticism of the coup against P. Castillo by president A. M. López Obrador.
Following the gathering of US representatives with D. Boularte (for which A. M. López Obrador condemned Washington), on 22 December D. Boularte appointed a fresh government with the erstwhile Minister of defence L. A. Otaról Peñarand as Prime Minister, which should be interpreted as strengthening the oligarchy. A. M. López Obrador announced, in turn, a discussion of the "significant role" of the US in Latin American politics at the next gathering with president Joe Biden of that country.
Tension drop
As it seems, the tension in Peru began to fall on 23 December erstwhile officials met with demonstrators blocking the alleged confederate mining corridor – a road connecting copper mines, including 1 of the largest Las Bambas (owned by Chinese MMG Ltd.). Negotiation with protesters, demanding a greater share of mining profits, was sponsored by the Minister of Energy in the Governments The President, having east European roots of Óscar Vera Gargurevich.
Economic crisis factors
The 33-million Peru is the second largest after adjacent Chile, a copper miner in the world. The export gross of this natural material represents 10% of the country's budget gross and 60% of the yearly export revenue. However, the economical impact of SARS CoV-2: GDP growth declined from 13.6% in 2021 to 2.7% in 2022; inflation increased from 4% to 7.5% over the same period; unemployment is 7.6%. most likely the worst drought in 40 years has destroyed potato crops and grass in pastures where sheep, llamas, alpacas and Vicunas are grazed. Bird flu killed 18,000 chaotic seabirds, besides affecting at least 1 bird farm so far, which threatens chicken and turkey breeding exported to the US in winter. These turbulence mainly affected mediocre farmers from the interior, which are primarily natives of the country.
A characteristic feature of the economical situation of Peru is the macroeconomic stableness confirmed by the inclusion of Peru in the alleged Pacific Pum, accompanied by regional and social inequality of improvement (22.1% of the population below the poorness threshold, HDI enriched with an inequality rate at the average level of 0.635, a Gini ratio of 41.5 in 2019). The country's economy is heavy dependent on fluctuations in the price of natural materials; the increase in mineral natural materials prices in 2022 increased corporate taxation gross from mining companies, which reduced the fiscal deficit to 1.2% of GDP in July 2022 compared to 2% in December 2021.
According to the characteristics presented in September 2022 by the planet Bank, structural challenges for Peru's economy are: reducing the informal sector, employing 3/4 of its employees in low productivity professions; and improving the quality of public services, including education, wellness and water supply. Addressing these challenges is simply a prerequisite for long-term economical growth and poorness reduction.
Political crisis factors
The crisis is besides a permanent political instability in the 21st century: between 2016 and 2022 Peru had six presidents: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Martin Vízcarra, Manuel Merino, Francisco Sagastia, P. Castillo, now D. Boularte. This is the president's legacy (1990-2000) and dictator's legacy (since "autogolpe in April 1992) Alberto Fujimori. He led to the adoption in 1993 of a Constitution, which Article 134 sanctioned the dissolution of legislature by the president after the two-time failure of the Congress' vote of trust to the government, and Article 113 sanctioned the President's impeachment by Congress, as 1 of the premises giving "permanent moral inability to exercise office".
Such a systemic structure makes legislature act not as a balancing origin of the president but as a origin of the oligarchical obstruction of his policies. The presidential republic in Peru was replaced by a dictatorship organized in the Oligarchy Congress. The 1993 Constitution records make the political strategy of Peru, the president and legislature focus their activity on attempts at common liquidation. The presidency illustrates this well. M. Vizcarii (2018-2020): In 2019, the president dissolved Congress, after which the recently elected legislature led to the President's impeachment in 2020. Among the remaining presidents holding the word of office during the word of the “fujimoryst” constitution, M. Merino held office for a week, and F. Sagasti held office for 9 months.
Heritage of the Verde Plan
In pointing out the legacy of A. Fujimori's presidency, it should besides be mentioned that he is based on a "deep country". Its uprising was a realization developed in the late 1980s. in Peruvian ranks National Intelligence Service (Spanish: Servicio Nacional de Inteligencia, SIN) "The Verde Plan". It founded a neoliberal revolution akin to Chilean revolution, carried out by a secret decision-making center, from hiding leading the military-civil state administration. Neoliberal economical policy was to be accompanied by mass media control, physical elimination of opposition and forced sterilization of social strata that could be a origin of guerrilla movements.
As the Polish investigator of the region writes Piotr Laciński in his work “Peru between populism and liberalism” (2006), the plan was presented for acceptance by A. Fujimori before the inauguration of his presidency by Vladimiro Montesinosa, under threat of execution in the event of the President-elect rejecting its implementation. The fresh president was only a “face” of policy implemented by a secret decision-making centre composed of SIN officers, elder army and economical officers of technocrats and business spheres.
In the economical part, the implementation of the Verde Plan consisted of direct implementation of the global Monetary Fund (IMF) Directives, the planet Bank and the Inter-American improvement Bank (IADB). In the population section “Plan Verde” was inspired by the fashionable ideas of “disarmament of the population bomb” in the Western planet of discipline and specificized concepts developed under the direction of Peru Henry Kissinger and included in the National safety survey Memorandum 200 Directive (NSSM200, besides called the Kissinger Report) of the United States National safety Council (NSC).
The implementation of the systemic-political part of the plan was the "autogolpe" of A. Fujimori of 5 April 1992 establishing a strategy of military-civil governments. The corruption of journalists and the control of mass media was handled by V. Montesinos (documenting his activities the recordings were revealed in 1996). The implementation of economical reforms has been managed by the economist Hernando de Soto promoted in our country today. Sterilization policy was implemented under the direction of the United States Agency for global improvement (USAID), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and then the private nipponese Nippon Foundation.
The implementation of the Verde Plan was returned straight against the indigenous peoples of Peru, thus having the character of eugenic cultural cleansing. The number of his victims is estimated to be 300,000 peasants from indigenous ethnos of Peru. In the economical part, the policy of "fujiszoku" has led to macroeconomic stableness and to a simplification in inflation, while at the same time economical and civilizational dissection of society, up to the level of disintegration of a homogeneous political nation. liable for its implementation, H. De Soto acknowledged in the fresh York Times that "The society is failing, there is no doubt... but a fall is essential for the introduction of a fresh political system."
Summary
The current political crisis in Peru so dramatically ending the alternatively unsuccessful presidency of P. Castillo has a much deeper, structural basis than the deficiency of experience removed from power by the oligarchy and the imprisoned president (he himself acknowledged in his tv speech of December 7 that “paci for his shoulder of experience”), although undoubtedly inept P. Castillo greatly facilitated the task of his opponents.
The political conflict in Peru, in its deepest layer, is simply a conflict over the decolonization of this country. The native Andean ethnos, being degenerated and civilizationally degraded by the Iberian colonizers heirs of Tawantinsuyu, fight against the Western System, acting as typical of the colonists and their civilization of the tyrant lands of the erstwhile Inca Empire. After dismantling fujimorism, representing the oligarchy strategy is represented by the actual dictatorship of Congress. The full decolonization of Tawantinsuyu – at least within the limits of present Peruvian statehood – will so require a revision of the 1993 Constitution and of the economic, civilizational, linguistic and spiritual emancipation of the "forgotten" or native Andean people.
Ronald Lasecki
Photo by supporters José Pedro Castillo on the streets of Lima (public domain)
