Peru has been mired in a political crisis for five years, and changing one president for another does not solve the underlying problem. In these years, the abrupt fall from grace of leaders has resulted in periods of greater instability, or else in small oases of deceptive tranquility that, in the end, have once again led to chaos.
After Pedro Castillo's self-coup attempt, which on Wednesday led to his dismissal and arrest, the country has entered a phase of instability. Although with his Fujimorazo, practically alone, Castillo tried to suspend the democratic order by dissolving Congress hours before an impeachment that he had lost, we must not forget that this rural teacher and trade unionist won last year's elections with 50.13 % of votes. And that in the first round he was the most voted, with 18.92% of the votes.
The establishment, the white elite of Lima or even a large part of the urban middle class hate Castillo. But the Peruvians who voted for the leftist leader with the promise of a new Constitution that will put an end to the great inequalities feel cheated and over the weekend they began to mobilize, causing the declaration of a state of emergency in some areas.
The first consequence of the protests was that the new president, Dina Boluarte, proposed advancing the elections to 2024, two years before the end of the five-year presidential term for which she was elected as Castillo's vice president. The first sign that the political situation may precipitate again, because on Wednesday, after being sworn in before Congress, Boluarte assured that she would fulfill her mandate until 2024.
In this context, the State Attorney General, Patricia Benavides, presented this Monday in Congress a constitutional complaint against Castillo for rebellion, conspiracy, abuse of authority and crimes against public peace.
The former president has been incarcerated since Wednesday in a special police prison in Lima, from where he released a letter on Monday in which he claims to be "kidnapped" and calls Boluarte a "usurper."
The attorney general affirms in the order that the self-coup had the "purpose of avoiding the investigations for corruption followed against José Pedro Castillo Terrones, as well as the presidential vacancy procedure (impeachment), which would show the abusive use of his constitutional powers to obtain impunity ”.
Benavides, who personally leads the investigations into Castillo's pronouncement, also denounces the former Prime Minister, Betssy Chávez, and the former Ministers of the Interior, Willy Huerta, and Foreign Trade, Roberto Sánchez, for rebellion and conspiracy as co-authors of the self-coup.
This Monday there were at least 25 roadblocks throughout the country, where protesters called for the resignation of Boluarte and the closure of Congress, in support of Castillo. According to the police, the total number of people protesting throughout the country did not exceed 6,000 but despite this the president declared a "state of emergency in areas of high social conflict" -without clarifying which ones-, after the On Sunday, two young people, ages 15 and 18, died in a protest in Andahuaylas, in the Apurímac region, where the town's airport also had to suspend flights after being occupied by protesters. The funerals for the two young men, this Monday, ended in riots. In addition, today there were two other deaths, two men, in Cerro Colorado (Arequipa) and Chincheros (Apurímac).
"I have given the instructions so that control of internal order can be recovered peacefully, without affecting the fundamental rights of citizens," Boluarte said in a message to the Nation, late on Sunday.
One of the largest protests was taking place in the coastal town of Chala, in the Arequipa region. The protesters also caused this Monday the suspension of flights in Arequipa, a city of more than a million inhabitants that is the capital of the region of the same name.
The UN delegation in Peru expressed its concern about the drift of events. "We are deeply concerned that the situation could worsen," said Marta Hurtado, spokesperson for the UN office, in a statement. Hurtado asked the authorities to respect human rights and "to allow the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of opinion to be exercised and expression”.
Just taking the electoral results of the presidential elections of Apurímac and Arequipa, the two southern and rural departments that concentrate the largest protests on Monday, it can be understood that the conflict does not end with the dismissal of the leftist peasant leader. In Arequipa, Castillo obtained 65% of the vote, compared to 35% for his rival, the far-right Keiko Fujimori. And in Apurímac, 80.5% compared to 19.5%.
