PERU: Masses Reject Congressional Coup D’état

The ORGANIZER NEWLETTER

SPECIAL PERU EDITION

December 16, 2022

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IN THIS DOSSIER:

• PERU: Masses Reject Congressional Coup D’état, by Dominique Ferré

• Peruvian Students Take Over a University in the Country’s Capital City — RPP Noticias (Posted 15 December 2022)

• Mobilizations Continue in Peru — RPP Noticias (Posted 15 December 2022)

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PERU: Masses Reject Congressional Coup D’état

BY DOMINIQUE FERRE

Elected president in June 2021, Pedro Castillo was removed from office on December 7 by the Congress, allegedly for “moral incapacity.” He is being held by the army. Former vice-president Dina Boluarte has proclaimed herself president and calls for a “government of national unity.”

In the main cities, powerful popular demonstrations against the impeachment have taken place, led by workers, peasants and indigenous organizations.

In June 2021, while the old corrupt institutions of the oligarchy were crumbling (five presidents were removed from office in five years), Castillo’s election expressed the will of the masses of workers and peasants to put an end to their subordination to the oligarchy and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and to break with the plundering of natural resources, privatizations and deregulation.

The people voted massively for Castillo, a former rural teacher, son of poor peasants and leader of the great strike of 2017, because the program of his party, Peru Libre, promised agrarian reform.

The bourgeoisie — particularly its most reactionary sectors – have constantly tried to get rid of Castillo, both before and after his election.

In power, Castillo confronted the old corrupt institutions, all subordinated to U.S. imperialism, which blocked Castillo from fulfilling any of his promises. Reluctant to confront these institutions, Castillo tied his own hands. His agrarian reform “without expropriation” did not meet the peasants’ expectations.

And his declarations in relation to convening a Constituent Assembly and the refusal to pay the foreign debt never materialized, making him lose part of the confidence of the workers and peasants.

The masses, however, are not indifferent to the conflict between Castillo and the bourgeoisie. They know that behind the new coup president is the old corrupt oligarchy subordinated to the IMF and the U.S. embassy (as occurred recently in Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador).

Since December 7, tens of thousands of workers and peasants have come out to demonstrate, in spite of the repression. This resistance led the leaders of the historic trade union confederation, the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP), to call for a demonstration in Lima on December 15 with the slogans: “Close the Congress, Now! General Elections! New Constitution!” We will return to this in our next issue.

(article reprinted from La Tribune des Travailleurs / Workers Tribune, December 14, 2022)

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Peruvian Students Take Over a University in the Country’s Capital City

Among the students’ demands is the start of a process toward a Constituent Assembly in the country.

RPP Noticias

Posted 15 December 2022

In the midst of the protests and mobilizations in Peru against the government of Dina Boluarte, students took over the facilities of the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos in the Peruvian capital on Wednesday night.

The students took over to the campus with banners that read: “No to the criminalization of protest, “we are students, we are not terrorists” and “down with political persecution”.

According to the media, the university students demand justice for the young people murdered in the regions of Apurimac and Arequipa due to police repression and reject Boluarte’s government.

According to a spokesperson of the students, they also demand a Constituent Assembly and warned that the early elections and the closing of the Congress are insufficient.

“(This proposal) is independent of who is in power. What we are interested in is the struggle of the workers and of the regions,” added the student representative. The young people announced that they will join the demonstrations on December 15 in downtown Lima.

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Mobilizations Continue in Peru

RPP Noticias

Posted 15 December 2022

Mobilizations continued in Peru, in spite of the state of emergency declared by the government, to reiterate the demand for the closure of the Congress, new elections, the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the release of former president Pedro Castillo. Thousands of Peruvians mobilized peacefully in regions such as Puno, Cusco, Tacna, Lima (capital), Apurimac, among others.

They also denounced the fact that police repression has not stopped and that, so far, the number of deaths has increased to eight people.

The National Human Rights Coordinating Committee (Cnddhh) warned that the suspension of the right to assemble aggravates the risk of human rights violations.”

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