Deadly protests in rural Peru turn into referendum on democracy

JULIACA, Peru – Roads blocked by giant rocks and broken glass.

Whole cities shut down for mass protests.

Fifty families mourn their dead.

We are asking for a new president, a new constitution, a new system of government.

He promises to take the battle to Lima, the capital.

Local authorities warn that the country is heading towards anarchy.

A protest anthem shouted in the streets:

“This democracy is no longer a democracy.”

Instead of dying down, protests in rural Peru, which began more than a month ago over the removal of the former president, have only grown in size and the scope of protesters’ demands, paralyzing entire swathes of the country and threatening the new president’s efforts. Dina Bolartefor taking control.

The malaise is now much wider than anger for those who govern the country.

On the contrary, it represents a profound frustration with the young Peruvian democracy, which, according to the demonstrators, has failed to bridge the enormous gap between rich and poor and between Lima and the rural areas of the country.

Democracy, they say, has greatly helped a small elite – the political class, the wealthy and corporate executives – to accumulate power and wealth, while it provided little benefit to many other Peruvians.

More generally, the crisis in Peru reflects an erosion of trust in democracies across Latin America, fueled by states that “violate citizens’ rights, fail to provide security or quality public services, and are captured by powerful interestsAccording to a new essay published in Democracy Journal.

In Peru, the previous president, Peter Castilloon the left, he had vowed to address long-standing problems of poverty and inequality but was ousted and detained in December after trying to dissolve Congress and rule by decree.

His supporters, most of them in poor rural parts of the country, have launched protests, sometimes torching government buildings, blocking vital highways and occupying airports.

The Peruvian government has declared the state of emergency and sent security forces into the streets.

Boluarte, who hails from the rural Apurímac region in the south-central part of the country, ran as Castillo’s candidate last year and was elected vice president.

But he rejected his former ally’s attempt to rule by decree, calling it an authoritarian takeover, and replaced Castillo.

He has since urged unity and, in response to calls from protesters, called on lawmakers to step up the ante new elections.

Congress, with many members reluctant to hand over power, blocked this effort, and Boluarte’s critics now call it a weak president which operates under the orders of an interested and out-of-play legislative power.

At first, the demonstrators mainly demanded the reinstatement of Castillo or the holding of new elections as soon as possible.

Now they want something much bigger:

a new constitution and even, as one manifesto put it, “refound a new nation”.

Since Castillo’s removal, at least 50 people have been killed, 49 of them civilians, some shot in the chest, back and head, prompting human rights groups to accuse the military and police of using excessive force and to shoot indiscriminately at protesters.

These deaths mainly affected the southern city of Juliaca, a two-day drive from the capital, amidst snow-capped mountains and scrub and vicunas grazing like llamas.

At nearly 4,000 meters above sea level, only 40% of Juliaca’s population has running water, many roads are unpaved and the malnutrition It is the biggest problem in the only public hospital.

Last week, 19 people were killed in a single demonstration, marking the deadliest clash between civilians and armed groups in Peru in at least two decades.

Eighteen of the dead were civilians killed, according to a local prosecutor.

A police officer was found dead inside a police vehicle which had been set on fire.

The country’s interior ministry said officers responded lawfully after thousands of protesters tried to storm the local airport, some with improvised weapons and explosives.

The youngest to die was Brayan Apaza, 15, whose mother, Asunta Jumpiri, 38, described him as an “innocent child” killed after he went out to buy food.

Upon his awakening last week, past a burning tire barricade, his supporters carried black flags on their chests as combat weapons and promised fightr until the resignation of Boluarte.

“We are declaring ourselves in a state of insurrection,” Orlando Sanga, one of the protest leaders, said in front of a union hall used for vigils.

Nearby, Evangelina Mendoza, dressed in the traditional skirt and sweater worn by women of the region, said that if Boluarte doesn’t step down, “the south will shed blood.”

But few investigations into civil unrest and protests in Peru this century have led to convictions, and a new law that removed the obligation for police to act proportionately in response to civilians makes them even more difficult, said Carlos Rivera of the ‘Institute for Legal Defense, a Peruvian non-profit group.

Peru, a nation of 33 million people, the fifth largest in Latin America, returned to democracy just two decades ago after the authoritarian rule of President Albert Fujimori.

But the country’s current system, based on a Fujimori-era constitution, is plagued by corruption, impunity and mismanagement, which even members of the government attribute to a lack of oversight and a quid pro quo culture.

At the same time, according to the United Nations, half of the population lacks regular access to adequate food and the country is still recovering from the pandemic, in which Peru suffered the highest number of deaths per capita in the world.

The intense concentration of media ownership, with many of them based in Lima ignoring protests or highlighting allegations leveled at protesters terroristsit only exacerbated the feeling that the urban elite ganged up on the rural poor.

Trust in Latin American democracies has plummeted over the past two decades, according to the AmericasBarometer, a regional survey conducted by Vanderbilt University.

But in few places is the problem more serious than in Peru, where only 21% of the population say they are satisfied with their democracy, compared to 52% a decade ago. Only Haiti It’s worse.

Other countries with particularly low levels of satisfaction are Colombia and Chilewhere there have been large anti-government protests in recent years, e Brazil, where protesters claiming last year’s presidential elections were rigged stormed the capital this month.

According to Steve Levitsky, an expert on democracy at Harvard University, what is saving many Latin American democracies from “total death” is that a viable alternative has not yet emerged, such as the authoritarian socialism of Hugo Chávez In Venezuela.

In Juliaca, dozens of people were killed in a clash with police last week and the city’s public hospital is full of people recovering from their injuries.

Inside, at the bottom of many beds, there are small boxes asking for help to cover medical expenses.

“Punctured Lung,” reads the sign on one of the boxes.

“Bullet in spine,” reads another.

Some of the wounded appeared afraid to say they had protested, and a dozen men with gunshot wounds said they walked past the demonstration when they were shot.

None of the injured said they received copies of their medical reports, which would help them understand the origin and proper treatment of their injuries.

Access to this information is a right under Peruvian law, but several people said they believe they were being punished for their involvement in the demonstrations.

Saúl Soncco, 22, was lying in a bed, shot in the back, he said, on his way home after working as a carpenter.

His brother was able to photograph an X-ray showing a bullet lodged near his spine.

However, according to the family, hospital officials had told them he had to go home.

Hospital director Victor Candia said patients were getting the care they needed.

Boluarte, in an address to the nation on Friday, offered condolences to the families of those killed and described the protesters as unwilling pawns led on marches by manipulators seeking to overthrow her.

“Some voices, influenced by violence, by radicals, are calling for my resignation,” he said, “frightening the people with chaos, disorder and destruction.

To this I answer responsibly: I will not resign“.

Brayan, the 15-year-old, died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to his autopsy.

At his funeral, hundreds of people gathered in a cemetery on the outskirts of the city, where a protest leader, César Huasaca, shouted for justice, directing his anger at Boluarte.

“Do you think our resolve has waned?

“We are stronger than ever.”

“We are 33 million,” said Huasaca.

“What are we going to do? Make them respect our rights. It’s not about the left, it’s not about the right, what we want is attention!”

After a mass offered by a priest dressed in a simple white robe, an orchestra followed the coffin onto a plot of land.

There, Jumpiri, Brayan’s mother, spoke some of her last words before her burial.

“Dina!” she yelled at the president, her hands gripping Brayan’s coffin, her face contorted in pain.

“I am willing to die for my son. I will fight, I want justice”.

He then issued a challenge: “Dina! Kill me.”

c.2023 The New York Times Society