[Peru’s deepening crisis is a cautionary tale about democracies
that fail to deliver for ordinary people. ]
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DEMOCRACY IS ON THE LINE IN PERU  
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Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno
January 24, 2023
Foreign Policy in Focus
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_ Peru’s deepening crisis is a cautionary tale about democracies
that fail to deliver for ordinary people. _

Protest in Cusco, Peru, Photo by illuminaut

 

With all eyes on the fight for democratic government in Brazil
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with its obvious parallels to events in the United States, it’s easy
to miss another equally alarming struggle in the region. Peru has been
shaken by protests and violence since the Peruvian Congress removed
President Pedro Castillo from office on December 7 following his own
attempt to shutter Congress. As of this writing, 55
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have died so far in the unrest, with 18 killed in the town of Juliaca
on January 9 alone. 

The deepening crisis is a cautionary tale about the risks of
democratic governments’ failure to do their jobs and deliver for
ordinary people.

Since its independence from Spain in 1821, Peru has been riven by
severe economic inequality and systemic racism. A third of the
population lives in Lima, where the bulk of government services and
wealth are concentrated, while rural areas and Indigenous populations
in general have significantly higher rates of extreme poverty
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social exclusion. Inequality, including the lack of access to health
services in many rural areas, contributed to Peru experiencing the
world’s highest reported death rate
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Poverty has shot up in the last three years, including in rural areas
where it was already most acute. Food insecurity has doubled since the
start of the pandemic. The UN Food and Agriculture
Organization report
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2022 that more than half of Peruvians are food insecure — the
highest rate in South America. 

Meanwhile, Peru has experienced unrelenting political turmoil. In
part, that’s due to corruption scandals touching nearly every
president in the last decade. But it’s also because so many members
of Congress seem more interested in horse-trading, partisan gains, and
pursuing petty personal agendas
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such as an unpopular law weakening
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university accreditation system — than in addressing the country’s
problems.

Since Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of the autocratic and now
imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori, lost the 2016
presidential election, her party and others aligned with it in
Congress have repeatedly sought to undermine whoever held the
presidency. In 2020, they successfully ousted
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Martin Vizcarra on questionable legal grounds. Several members of
Congress, as well as Keiko Fujimori, are themselves under criminal
investigation for various offenses. In a January poll
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Peruvians disapproved of Congress’s performance.

The ousted President Castillo, a rural school teacher, was never
widely popular either. But in some rural areas, he was able to gain
support from communities who identified with him and believed his
promises of greater inclusion.

When Castillo took office after eking out an electoral victory over
Keiko Fujimori in 2021, it was clear from the behavior of some members
of Congress — including false claims of electoral fraud — that
they would seek to remove him as they did Vizcarra. When Congress
finally did remove Castillo for what was effectively an attempted coup
and Vice-President Dina Boluarte assumed the presidency, to some
Peruvians this read as an effort to wrest power from them. As a
result, protesters’ main initial demand was for new elections in the
short term.

While thousands have protested peacefully, reports of violence, arson,
vandalism, and attacks on journalists
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been common. Many police officers have been injured and one killed.
Protesters have blocked roads, in some cases interfering with
ambulances and contributing to deaths. The government has a
responsibility to provide security and ensure accountability for
violent acts.

At Boluarte’s request, Congress voted on December 20 to move
elections up from 2026 to 2024, but that decision needs to be
confirmed in a second round of voting. Meanwhile, the government’s
brutal response to the protests is only compounding the indignation
many feel. 

President Boluarte has failed unequivocally to call on security forces
to respect protesters’ rights, even in the face of reports
of excessive use of force
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detention
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pervasive lack of accountability for police violence, and successive
governments’ failure to reform the police
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ensure respect for human rights, amounts to a blank check for abuse. 

Instead, administration officials have blamed the protesters for
causing “chaos
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or dismissed them — without offering evidence — as under the
control of “foreign agitators” like former Bolivian President Evo
Morales
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In a January 13 speech, Boluarte apologized for protesters’ deaths,
but further incensed many by stating that those “truly
responsible” for the violence needed to be held accountable — and
suggesting that “terrorism” played a role. In Peru, the
“terrorism” label is often used in reference to the Maoist Shining
Path insurgency, which killed thousands in the 1980s, to stigmatize
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activists, Indigenous people
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or left-leaning political actors. 

Protests have kept spreading, affecting more than a quarter
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the country on January 19, with many protesters traveling to Lima.
Increasingly, their calls are for Boluarte to resign, or for a
constituent assembly to review the constitution.

Democracy is very much on the line in Peru. The protesters’ demand
for new elections is, ultimately, democratic. But repression and
denial are likely to breed more anger and despair, playing into the
hands of would-be autocrats across the political spectrum. 

National and regional
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need to rise above the petty politics, corruption, and personal
interests that have marred Peru’s political system. Broad, genuine,
and constructive dialogue that takes people’s needs and aspirations
into account, along with positive outcomes secured through democratic
institutions and effective action to protect the right of peaceful
assembly, should be the priority.

Peru is far from the only democracy where the political system is
increasingly divorced from the problems of its people. Others should
take heed.

_Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno
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Peruvian-American, is acting deputy program director at Human Rights
Watch._

* Peru
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* Protest
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* Democracy Now!
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* Pedro Castillo
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* Dina Boluarte
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