Crisis in Peru

Peru has been paralyzed for almost two months due to a serious political crisis.

The intense wave of protests and blockades that began in the southern provinces has reached Lima and there are no signs that the mobilization will lose steam despite the response of the security forces.

Clashes between demonstrators and police have left more than 50 dead, most of them due to repression by uniformed officers.

This situation requires an immediate de-escalation of the conflict and an urgent political solution to the demands of the citizens.

The spigot of the outbreak was the failed self-coup attempt by Pedro Castillo, on December 7.

The former president, today in pretrial detention accused of rebellion and conspiracy, dissolved the legislature by surprise and decreed an emergency government.

The flight forward lasted just a few hours: the rural teacher was immediately dismissed by Parliament and his

Dina Boluarte, assumed the position of president.

The discontent of the Aymara communities, the students, the peasants and the unions immediately exploded.

Behind the protests is not only the outrage over the fate of Castillo, who despite suffering enormous unpopularity had relative support in rural areas.

The main engine of the mobilization was the questioned management of the crisis by the current president and her Cabinet, whose immediate resignation the protesters are demanding.

To this is added the chronic discredit of the Peruvian political class, especially the Lima elites, and the constant cases of corruption that dot its leaders.

A survey by the CID-Gallup consultancy released this week indicates that 71% of Peruvians reject Boluarte's management, 83% do not feel represented by it and 63% want an electoral advance.

The date is set for April 2024, although the possibility of holding the elections next December is also on the table.

The president referred to what Congress decides but, in any case, even that horizon is too distant for a large part of the population and other more immediate and clear measures are also needed to alleviate the social upheaval and to subdue such a massive mobilization like the current one.

The summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) held this week in Buenos Aires was in some way a platform to denounce the police abuses registered in Peru.

One of the harshest interventions was that of the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, who in early December condemned Castillo's self-coup, but now calls on Boluarte for a "change of course" in managing this social crisis.

The closure that he obtained as a response is far, for the moment, from a desirable starting point to address the crisis and embark on a new and necessary path.