Two months of often violent protest threaten democracy’s survival
bigger towns and cities. It is unfortunate for the country’s president that her first name rhymes with the Spanish word for “murderer”. Dina Boluarte is the legal, constitutional head of state. But since she took over on December 7th at least 58 people have died during protests, 46 of them civilians in clashes with the security forces, according to the ombudsman’s office.
The immediate trigger for the conflict was the announcement on December 7th by Pedro Castillo, a left-wing president narrowly elected in 2021, that he was ordering the closure of Congress and the takeover of the judiciary. This failed and Mr Castillo was arrested. It echoed a more successful “self-coup” by Alberto Fujimori in 1992, who governed Peru as an elected autocrat until 2000. For that reason, many on the left as well as Mr Castillo’s conservative opponents initially denounced it.
The protesters want Ms Boluarte to resign, the closure of Congress and an immediate general election. An election this year may indeed be the only way to restore calm. But they also want a Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution. And they want Mr Castillo to be freed, although that demand is fading. Many of these causes are hugely popular.
Political instability has intensified. Ms Boluarte is the sixth president since 2016. None has had a legislative majority. Six of the nine presidents since 2001 have been accused of corruption. The party system has fractured: the 130 members of Congress are divided among a dozen parties. Many of these are run as businesses by the holders of their legal registration. For many Peruvians the state is a tenuous presence.
Since December spontaneous anger has increasingly given way to organised and co-ordinated action by a range of forces of questionable democratic pedigree. These start with the parties of the Marxist left which backed Mr Castillo and have ties to Cuba and Venezuela. They also include the remnants of the Shining Path, which has reorganised as a far-left party and controls a teachers’ union. It has a presence in Ayacucho and Puno in particular.
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