Dozens of people in Peru are dead after weeks of clashes. Now, Peru's top prosecutor has launched an inquiry into President Dina Boluarte and other ministers including defense minister Jorge Chavez and interior minister Victor Rojas, investigating them on charges of "genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries." The state security forces are being accused of "indiscriminate use of force," a "massacre," and "extrajudicial killings."
Violence erupted in Peru last month after ex-President Pedro Castillo was arrested in December for trying to dissolve Congress to avoid an impeachment vote in what some have described as a self-coup. Protesters have now focused their anger on Boluarte and the widely-hated legislature seen as corrupt and self-serving.
Now, with a new explosion of violence after a few days of calm, Boluarte's administration is under renewed pressure, caught between a hostile Congress and angry rural voters who felt Castillo was their representative against the traditional political elite as a former teacher and son of peasant farmers. The protesters want new elections this year, a clear-out of Congress and a new constitution. Boluarte, Peru's first female president who was Castillo's deputy, has tried to appease the protesters, offering elections two years early in 2024. But she says many of their demands cannot be met. Boluarte and law enforcement authorities claim 9,000 people attempted to overrun Juliaca's airport and a local police station. An overnight curfew is now in place in the region. The mob in Juliaca is also alleged to have attacked a policeman, Jose Luis Soncco, torching his car and killing him in the process.
With seventeen protesters killed on Monday in the southern province of Puno in the worst day of violence since Castillo's dramatic removal, the total now stands at 39 dead - some reports place this number at 47 - many of gunshot wounds. The public's anger in the Andean south looks likely to rise, protest leaders told Reuters. This is a major risk to firms in the world's no. 2 copper producer, which has large mines and serves as a major income generator for the country.
The residents of Peru's southern regions are demanding an overhaul of the current constitution, which dates back to conservative President Alberto Fujimori in the 1990s, and which he called "an enemy of the people economically and politically." Peru is not normally seen as a nation that suffers from much upheaval so the fact that so much violence and political turmoil is taking place there should draw the attention of global leaders who can lend their assistance where needed.
Naturally, Peru's public and leadership should resolve their issue on their own in a non-violent manner, but given the circumstances, it is difficult to believe this will be the case. Regardless, world leaders, at least those in the South and North American continents, should encourage Peru's leadership to proceed with caution and offer to assist with political advice. Nations in general should not get involved in the internal affairs of other nations, but if there is a question of genocide or mass violence and death, then it is the responsibility of humanity to step in and try and stop the violence. If Peru needs help climbing down the ladder they are stuck on, other nations can help. If the leadership is not willing to compromise or work with the public to arrive at an amenable solution, leaders of other nations can offer to step in as interlocutors and mediators in the conflict between the two sides.
According to the New York Times, the United Nations, the British ambassador in Peru and other international players issued statements explicitly calling on Peruvian security forces to respect human rights. The United States, which has repeatedly expressed support for Boluarte's government and last week announced $8 million in new funding for Peru to support efforts to fight drug trafficking, was less direct.
"It is urgent that measures are taken to stop this painful situation of violence and avoid the loss of more human lives," the U.S. ambassador to Peru, Lisa Kenna, wrote on Twitter.
Words are fine, but action is more important. Peru must know that other nations are watching so it should take care to avoid further casualties and elevating the situation to a point that more innocent people die. It is important to note that the US in fact supports Boluarte and her government and does not support the protester's call to return Castillo to power. The US sees the former president as corrupt and unable to pull the country out of its long-lasting state of poverty and decline.
For the US, Boluarte represents a chance for change in the country and it is likely that this is the best course of action given Peru's history of poverty and neglect. Boluarte should be given the chance to institute sweeping reforms that will improve the lives of Peruvians and raise their standard of living. This may have the desired effect and the populace will come to understand that Castillo, at the end of the day, was not the right man for the job.
