While demonstrations, protests and marches continue in half the country, whose objective is the resignation of the president and the closure of Congress, the government response includes the calls for calm made by the president Dina Boluarte and a harsh repression by of the police and the army. This has led to around fifty deaths and hundreds of injuries so far, in addition to the declaration of a state of emergency. Thus, the Boluarte government has been aligning itself with the profile of its partners in the sector on the right of the political spectrum.
A month ago, after Boluarte assumed the presidency as a result of Pedro Castillo’s failed self-coup, the country’s political course was rather undefined. In mid-January, the definition has been clarified after having made a change of prime minister, who was preferably after having spent just 11 days in office, the multiplication of protests and the violent repression, which led three ministers to remove as a sign of discrepancy.
Boluarte is supported by right-wing groups, which represent just over a third of the seats in Congress and have received recognition through the appointment of some ministers and senior executive positions. The president herself leads frequent speeches in which she apologizes for those shot at the hands of the forces of order and has endorsed the proposal to advance the elections. However, the date of the next general elections to be held in 2023 or 2024, instead of 2026, is still pending, given the demands of the protesters.
Some of the appointments that Boluarte has made indicate where his administration is leaning. The Minister of Education, Óscar Becerra, who has a multidisciplinary background, was pointed out by a parliamentary investigation as a participant in the acquisition of computers at an overvalued price during the second government of Alan García (2006-2011), an issue that did not lead to a court prosecution. His participation in social networks shows that he is close to the ideas of those who question the evaluation made by the National Superintendence of Higher University Education (Sunedu) of the quality of universities, and who, in the name of university autonomy, defend the proliferation of private for-profit universities. He has shown his political inclination in a presentation before a congressional commission, in which he stated: “We have to detect, through the intelligence services, the elements that seek to undermine the democratic foundations of our society (…) I am sorry to admit that they are infiltrated in the teaching profession and in the Ministry of Education, we cannot allow it”.
The Minister of the Interior, Vicente Romero, is the third in that portfolio so far in the month and a half of the Boluarte government. He is a general of the National Police who has been close to four presidents of the republic. A video, however, circulating on social networks shows him handing out propaganda calendars for Alberto Fujimori during his presidential term. So far in his administration, and given the actions of law enforcement, there have been 18 civilian deaths who participated in protests in the town of Juliaca.
Due to the riots (sprinkled with excesses, as often happens in these overflowing expressions), the government response has been compared with the case of Brazil. In the Bolsonaro demonstrations that invaded Congress and the judicial headquarters, there were 1,500 detainees, but not a single death.
In the case of Peru, Prime Minister Alberto Otárola declared the following in Congress: “We will act firmly against the threats of fundamentalist and messianic extremism and any form of totalitarianism driven by violent infiltrators of all stripes.”
The assimilation of protest with terrorism is a repeated conservative thesis whose foundation has been announced by the spokesman for the right-wing sector in Congress. Retired Admiral Jorge Montoya recited the following on Twitter: “If the principle of authority is not restored, all is lost. Law enforcement must be authorized to shoot. It is extremely dangerous to continue like this.”
Boluarte, who has defined herself as “a left-wing provincial woman”, confesses that she does not understand the protests that have spread in the country in recent weeks. Apparently, when she took office (for which, two days before she was exonerated in Congress of an accusation that could have prevented her from continuing as vice president), she did not have a clear direction. She appointed a notoriously incompetent prime minister and a cabinet made up of technicians. The protests that occurred a few days later (and probably some kind of closeness and agreement with right-wing sectors of Congress) led her to change course and appoint representatives of the “iron hand” in high positions.
Meanwhile, his disapproval of the presidency grew three percentage points in January to reach 71%, according to the Ipsos pollster, which details that rejection is higher in the interior of the country (79%) than in Lima (57%). The disapproval of Prime Minister Otárola is less, but also majority (61%), and that of Congress has warned up to 80%. Likewise, an overwhelming majority favors electoral advancement.
According to a survey by the Institute of Peruvian Studies, 58% of Peruvians believe that the security agencies committed excesses when repressing the protests, but half of them said they felt identified with them. And support for the demand for a new Constitution has gone from 47% in May to 69% in January.
It is not clear how a situation that seems trapped and is seasoned with voices calling for a civil war can be overcome. On January 10, the Board of Directors of the National Assembly of Regional Governments maintained that the deaths that occurred are “the product of the popular protest and the actions of the government” and reiterated its position “so that the advancement of the general elections with the presidential cut and Congress is carried out immediately”, as an effective solution to the political crisis. In addition, it requested the “sanction of those who have committed acts of vandalism against public and private infrastructure.”
Certainly, the resignation of a stunned Dina Boluarte does not entail a solution to the country’s underlying problems. However, it would be an escape valve from the pressure of a social tide unleashed after the coup d’état of Pedro Castillo, his vacancy and detention, but which has deep roots in the secular neglect, tinged with discrimination and contempt, suffered by vast Sectors of Peru.
*Sociologist of law. (Latin America21).
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