On Wednesday, the Peruvian government declared a 30-day national state of emergency after eight people were killed and dozens injured in violent protests following the ouster and arrest of former President Pedro Castillo last week.
Last week, the Peruvian Congress overwhelmingly voted to impeach Castillo, who came to power just last June, shortly after he attempted to unilaterally take control of the government in an attempted coup. Police later arrested him on charges of “rebellion” against the government and violating the constitutional order after he attempted to dissolve parliament and rule by decree.
La declaratoria de Estado de Emergencia a nivel nacional por 30 días permitirá garantizar el orden en todo el territorio nacional, de los bienes personales y, sobre todo, la continuidad de las actividades económicas, la seguridad y bienestar de todos los peruanos. #PerúEnPaz pic.twitter.com/XS6eu9wEJ2
— Consejo de Ministros (@pcmperu) December 15, 2022
Subsequently, Vice President Dina Boluarte replaced Castillo to become the first female leader in the country’s history. She called her predecessor’s move a “coup d’état that has worsened [Peru’s] political and institutional crisis,” saying his attempt to close Congress “ruptured the constitutional order.”
Urging political factions to remain calm, Boluarte, 60, called for the installation of a national unity government. “What I ask for is a space, a time to rescue the country from corruption and incompetence within the government,” adding, “This cancer must be destroyed at the root.”
El estado de emergencia nacional decretado hoy no impide la realización de eventos, reuniones, fiestas, conciertos o actividades comerciales. El país debe seguir adelante, especialmente porque miles de familias emprendedoras cuentan con los ingresos de la campaña navideña.
— Alberto Otárola (@AlbertoOtarolaP) December 15, 2022
Boluarte, the country’s fifth president in just over two years, was supposed to hold the presidency until the end of Castillo’s term in July 2026, but in order to maintain stability in the country, moved the elections to April 2024. However, on Wednesday, she told reporters that she is willing to hold elections in December next year. This, too, failed to quell the violent demonstrations, wherein protestors blocked main roads and highways, invaded two airports, and set fire to police stations, regional prosecutor, and tax offices.
According to Peru’s RPP radio station, about 13 of the 24 regions in the country have been impacted by the protests and roadblocks.
Tengan presente que el uso de flechas y lanzas en manifestaciones esta prohibido. Podría ser usado por terceros que solo buscan causar lesiones con estos objetos empleados para la caza. #BastaDeViolencia pic.twitter.com/zWxdivnxPp
— Policía Nacional del Perú (@PoliciaPeru) December 14, 2022
“Due to the vandalism and violence, the seizure of highways and roads – destabilsing acts that are being addressed by the National Police and the Armed Forces – the situation demands a forceful response from the government,” asserted Minister of Defense Alberto Otárola Peñaranda. He added that the use of force is necessary to “recover a certain minimum stability.”
He claimed that over 8,000 people have been “causing this disturbance,” though analysts believe this is an understatement considering the massive support Castillo enjoys; about 8.8 million voted for him in the 2021 elections.
The coup regime in Peru calls for dialogue while killing protesters & imposing a 30-day state of emergency in the whole country. Neither will stop protests that have now gone into their 2nd week. National strike with larger mobilizations starts tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/SaFtq8iNE1
— Manolo De Los Santos (@manolo_realengo) December 14, 2022
Nevertheless, in the final days of his administration, his approval rating dipped to around 20% in the face of a corruption investigation. Before he was impeached last week, Castillo survived two impeachment attempts since coming to power last June—once last December and then earlier this year March.
During the emergency period, the police will maintain and control the internal order with the support of the military, and constitutional rights such as freedom of movement and assembly are suspended. Furthermore, it grants law enforcement special powers to search homes without a warrant. Authorities are also deliberating on whether to impose a night curfew.
Five days after the emergency ends, the police are expected to give a detailed account of the measures undertaken and results obtained to the Minister of Internal Affairs.
desde el comienzo de la presidencia legítima de Pedro Castillo, se haya mantenido un ambiente de confrontación y hostilidad en su contra hasta llevarlo a tomar decisiones que le han servido a sus adversarios para consumar su destitución 2/3
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) December 7, 2022
While speaking with the media from the presidential palace on Wednesday, Boluarte called for calm, saying, “We can’t have a dialogue if there’s violence between us.”
“Peru cannot overflow with blood. We have already gone through that experience in the 1980s and ’90s, and we do not want to return to that painful story that has marked the lives of thousands of Peruvians,” she stressed, referring to the Shining Path mutiny, when an estimated 70,000 people were killed or disappeared.
Workers in Peru have gone on strike to protest the US-backed right-wing coup regime
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) December 14, 2022
Here Peruvians are chanting "Close the congress!"
They support elected President Pedro Castillo and his attempt to dissolve the corrupt oligarch-controlled congress, which has around 7% approval https://t.co/gT1a2gUWup
Boluarte also revealed that “one group,” which she did not identify, was leading the protests.
“It is a group that is pulling the uninformed community because, surely, many come out to this protest and do not even know what they are going out to protest for. But this smaller group that is behind them encourages them to come out with these violent attitudes,” she stated.
Y otra vez matando al pueblo en Perú. Y los están matando los de siempre.Y votaron a Castillo para que eso no pasara. Y los enemigos de Castillo están en el Gobierno sin ganar las elecciones y son los que están otra vez matando al pueblo. ¿No es esto un verdadero golpe de Estado? pic.twitter.com/1doKKkLket
— Juan Carlos Monedero (@MonederoJC) December 13, 2022
On Tuesday, Boluarte met with United States (US) Ambassador Lisa Kenna, who reiterated her “country’s full support for democratic institutions and for the constitutional government’s actions to stabilise the social situation.” She also met with many other European ambassadors in a bid to garner international support amid facing criticism from other Latin American nations.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ana Cecilia Gervasi, too, spoke with her counterparts from Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Ecuador on Wednesday.
Castillo has received the backing of other left-wing leaders in the region, including Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has put ties with Peru “on hold” and said Castillo is “still president.” He said on Tuesday that Castillo had been subjected to “undemocratic harassment.” The Mexican leader asserted that Castillo was democratically elected and, therefore, “cannot be removed from office.”
La crisis en el Perú, el apresamiento, sin juez y sin defensa, de un presidente elegido popularmente ha puesto en serio cuestionamiento el papel de la Convención Americana en el ordenamiento jurídico Latinoamericano.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) December 14, 2022
Peru’s prosecutors have requested an 18-month pretrial detention for Castillo as they build a case based on conspiracy, rebellion and other charges against the embattled leader; a hearing is set for Friday.
While appearing through a video link before a court in Lima on Tuesday, Castillo denounced his arrest, promising to “never give up and abandon this popular cause that brought me here.” He called on the security forces “to lay down their arms and stop killing these people thirsty for justice.”
La experiencia nos enseña que quienes usurpan ilegítimamente el gobierno para reprimir al pueblo, terminan con cuentas pendientes ante la historia y la justicia.
— Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) December 14, 2022
Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo.
He was supposed to be released from his seven-day detention on Wednesday but a judge extended it by another 48 hours in order to study the prosecutor’s new 18-month application.
Nevertheless, Castillo has been quite active on social media, sharing handwritten notes on Twitter. On Wednesday, he wrote, “I was elected by the forgotten men and women of Peru… by the dispossessed who have been neglected for more than 200 years. Since I took office, [the Congress] has rejected the will of the people.”
He has also called his replacement, Boluarte, a “usurper” who is nothing more than the “snot and slobber of the coup-mongering right.” He denounced her decision to cave in to demands by protesters to hold early elections.
The corrupt white-settler elites + cronies of the political West must be kept in Power at all costs. The #EU again showed its colours supporting the Right Wing Coup against #PedroCastillo in #Peru - Order has been restored if a Socialist or Indigenous Leader is overthrown... pic.twitter.com/JwHr9Sj8dm
— Mick Wallace (@wallacemick) December 14, 2022
He has also urged supporters to gather at the DIROES police facility in Lima, where he is being held, saying, “I await you all at the DIROES facilities to join you in a hug.” He also appealed to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which conducts investigations into human rights violations and prosecutes them in few cases, to intervene on his “rights and the rights of my Peruvian brothers who cry out for justice.”
However, sources from the prosecutor’s office revealed that Castillo cannot be released until the Supreme Court resolves the prosecutors’ request.