WORLD WORLDWIDE ITALY PERU News Journal Update (en) Italy, UCADI #167: PERU: the children of a lesser God (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 The Indian population of Peru must be the daughter of a lesser God if no one

speaks of the coup d'état taking place against them in the country, of their
deaths during the demonstrations demanding respect for the electoral result and
the return to the presidency of Pedro Castillo, first Indian president of the
country . Castillo was elected President a year and a half ago with a slight
difference in votes after elections judged fair by international observers, but,
as is now the practice of the international right, disavowed by the defeated
line-up which does not recognize the electoral result. For this reason, starting
from the day after the vote, the right has implemented a campaign aimed at
delegitimizing him.
This despite the inauguration of the office of President had taken place and the
right had chosen a creeping strategy of attack on the President, forcing him into
progressive compromises and yielding until he was isolated thanks to his weight
in Congress and supported by the press largely controlled by it. Castillo instead
of calling the people to
mobilization he tried to counter the growing pressure on his government with
continuous compromises and yielding to the point of isolating himself, declaring
the dissolution of Parliament too late and promising to convene a constituent
assembly within 6 months to reform the Constitution, in compliance with his
program election: in doing so he aroused the reactions of Parliament which
accused him of an institutional coup, dismissing him and ordering his
precautionary arrest for 18 months on 7 December 2022.
After an initial phase of disorientation, the response of the popular masses has
been growing and the police have responded to demonstrations, essentially
peaceful, with 62 deaths caused by the army and the police. Only one policeman
was killed at the hands of the demonstrators while all the other victims belong
to the left and popular forces. The
mobilization affects various regions of the country and according to the centrist
newspaper La Republica, "a caravan of buses and trucks, with thousands of
protesters, arrived in Cusco from the provinces of Canchis, Canas, Acomayo and
Quispicanchi." The Government, in an attempt to discredit the protests, maintains
that they are promoted and financed by terrorist groups and drug traffickers, a
view rejected by the demonstrators who have erected roadblocks and organized
marches in numerous regions and above all in central-southern Peru, the poorest
in the village. On the occasion of the general strike of January 20, a national
demonstration was held in Lima.

Inconsistent and unsubstantiated allegations

The Peruvian judiciary was used as a cudgel and formulated a constitutional
complaint against Castillo, a procedure reserved for the highest offices of the
state, accusing him of heading a criminal organization "installed in the
government building, capable of acquiring, controlling and favoring contracts of
contract to obtain illicit gains", declaring to be in possession of evidence
according to which "the obtaining of economic benefits following appointments to
key posts and the collection of percentages for tenders obtained illegally and
the l 'illegal use of presidential powers'. The complaint was accompanied by some
nationwide actions to rebuild the alleged criminal network; five former advisors
of Castillo were arrested,
mother, an action that the President defined as an "abusive act". Against
Castillo, together with his wife Lilia Paredes, six proceedings had been opened
with other allegations of corruption, without however producing any evidence.
Congress appointed Vice-President Dina Boluarte, elected on Castillo's list, to
the presidency of the Republic, who had no qualms about stepping up the
repression. In particular, in the city of Juliaca, in the Puno region, there were
clashes between anti-government demonstrators and the forces of order, resulting
in 18 deaths and hundreds of
wounded and the toll of the violence unleashed in Peru since Pedro Castillo's
dismissal has involved hundreds of demonstrators and their number is growing as
the days go by The Office of the Peruvian People's Defender has confirmed that
the bloodiest clash since when an open-ended strike is underway, with which
protesters are demanding the dissolution of Parliament, the resignation of
President Dina Boluarte and immediate early elections.

The economic structure of the country

The country is experiencing a profound contradiction: supporting the
"modernization" proposed by Carillo are the oil companies which for years have
been exploiting the deposits present in the northern regions of Peru but which
are in stark contrast to the indigenous communities who are fighting to safeguard
the ancient local traditions. Cardillo had tried to reconcile this contradiction
by proposing the modernization of the country and social justice. Opposing this
program is the middle class allied with landowners and national entrepreneurs who
find their stronghold in the cities (Lima alone has 10 million inhabitants, a
third of the country's), but which are surrounded by immense favelas. This social
bloc is contrasted by the rural populations who have supported the compact
Castillo, It should be remembered that, in particular, the Chinese have invested
above all in the extraction of copper and in the construction of ports, creating
the first logistics hub naturally entrusted to the company Costo, a direct
emanation of the Chinese state. It must be taken into account that Peru plays a
key strategic role for the Chinese Indo-Pacific policy and has signed an
agreement with the Peruvian company Volcan Compania Minera for mining in order to
satisfy the Chinese hunger for rare earths and mineral resources of which the
country is rich. Thanks to this logistics hub - the port of Chancay - China will
be able to get its goods to South America and the investments that have been made
- which are around 3 billion dollars - will allow China to consolidate its ties
with Lima. The agreement was sponsored by two army men, former Navy commander
Gonzalo Rios Polastri and Admiral Carlos Tejada Mera and Jason Guillen. Castillo
would have liked to strengthen relations with China, strengthened by the fact
that 10 percent of Peruvians are of Chinese origin and that there is not only an
economic relationship between the two nations, born after the free trade
agreement of 2009, but also cultural and scientific.
These reports are based on the fact that 30% of Peruvian exports are directed to
China and mainly concern products related to fishing, agri-food and mining and
that China has made significant investments in Peru in the mining, hydrocarbon,
electricity, transport, telecommunications and finance, benefiting from tax
relief. The starting point of these economic exchanges was the TLC (Tratado de
libre comercio) signed in 2009 between the two countries, China's first trade
agreement with a developing nation, which had a long gestation but which then
concluded with a short trading time. The basis of the agreement is a reduction in
customs tariffs in trade between the two countries which has allowed many
Peruvian products to enter the largest market in the world without levies that
would increase their prices, even if the agreement all products that could be in
competition with local ones have been excluded. It must be taken into account
that the country has more than 31 million inhabitants and high birth rates (20‰
in 2012), accompanied in any case by low mortality rates (5.3 ‰ in 2012), which
make the Peruvian population a young population: around 30% are under 15 years of
age. Half of the population is made up of Indians, who live in the highlands,
followed by mestizos (31.9%), who predominantly inhabit the coastal centres, by
Creoles (12%), who represent the country's elite and live in the cities , and by
small minorities of blacks or mulattoes settled in the coastal areas. The Indians
are mainly Quechua (47%), less numerous is the Ayamarà component (5.4%); less
important than in other countries the weight of immigrants from Europe or from
China and Japan. To limit the number of the Indian population, the Fujimori
government from 1990 to 2000 forcibly sterilized more than 300,000 women of
150,000 men belonging to the Indian population. It is therefore understandable
why the weakest part of the population fears the legalization of abortion and the
introduction of euthanasia which could be instruments for selective control of
the population. Furthermore, in Peru, as everywhere in Latin America,
fundamentalist evangelical cults have spread and not even the President's family
is immune from them. his wife belongs to one of these Churches and the President,
after cultivating the same sympathies, has returned to the Catholic Church. This
choice by Castillo has allowed the right to strengthen its ideological cohesion
and its social base which hinges on religious belonging to these Churches,
similar to what happens in Brazil and throughout Latin America.[1]
Despite its contradictions, the president-elect's program threatened the
interests of the national bourgeoisie and of the class of national entrepreneurs
and capitalists who have built their wealth on land ownership and who are the
heirs of the country's landowners. Hence the attack on the institutions, the
discredit with targeted press campaigns, the mobilization of the right-wing
components of the country, frightened by the presence of an Indian in government
and by Castillo's social program; a right that can also count on an emigration of
Venezuelan exiles, opponents of the Maduro government, who have become a mass of
militant and active maneuvering by the right.

Castillo's mistakes

Castillo trusted his mediation skills excessively, antagonizing a part of the
political forces that supported him; he has let the middle class and landowners
forge their natural alliance with US capitalism and has underestimated the
right-wing front, attacking not only reformist governments, but also liberal
democracies. He made a mistake in trusting in a privileged relationship with
Chile, deluding himself that he would receive support from this country and
managed to garner the solidarity only of Venezuela and Mexico. The popular
insurrection underway can only benefit to a limited extent from the support of
Brazil, as Lula's victory would have led to hope. At the moment Brazil is
withdrawn in on itself to try to react to the frontal attack of the right which
is part of a general strategic plan as the Peruvian events demonstrate. A
positive conclusion of the Brazilian crisis could in perspective create better
conditions for the success of the protest.

[1] Peru: a Campesino President, Crescita politica newsletter, 22 June 2021, n. 147

John Ledi

http://www.ucadi.org/2023/02/01/peru-i-figli-di-un-dio-minore/
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