radiofree.asia

Author: Tanya Wadhwa

  • CELAC: Latin American and Caribbean leaders reaffirm commitment to regional integration

    CELAC member countries signed the Buenos Aires declaration to make Latin America and the Caribbean a community of sovereign nations, reports Tanya Wadhwa.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • Peruvian movements organize caravan to Lima to intensify protests

    Peoples Dispatch logo

    This story originally appeared in Peoples Dispatch on Jan. 17, 2023. It is shared here under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Thousands of people from Peru’s North, Central, South, and East regions have departed their homes in caravans headed towards the capital, Lima, to intensify protests against the coup and to call for de facto president Dina Boluarte’s resignation. The delegations composed of peasant, Indigenous, social, and trade union organizations are en route to Lima as part of the second ‘Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos’ or ‘March from the Four Corners’ to bring the voices of Peru’s marginalized communities to the capital.

    The march was announced on January 10 by Indigenous and peasant leaders and already several groups of protesters have reached the capital. Meanwhile, thousands of members of the Aymara and Quechua Indigenous communities, as well as members of various social organizations and trade unions, departed in caravans from different provinces to Lima on January 16.

    The first massive ‘March from the Four Corners’ was organized in July 2000, against the fraudulent re-election of Alberto Fujimori. In July 2000, thousands of Peruvians traveled to Lima from the four corners of the country and protested for three days demanding Fujimori’s resignation.

    Regional presidents of the Single National Union of Urban and Peasant Patrols Movement (Central Única Nacional de Rondas Campesinas – CUNARC) reported that hundreds of thousands of their members from the long-neglected countryside of Peru, who feel represented by Castillo, were coming to Lima. Many said that they would stay in Lima and  continue peaceful demonstrations until Boluarte resigned. The peasant movement has called for nationwide protests for January 19.

    On January 14, the government of Dina Bolarte announced that it was declaring a state of emergency for 30 days in the departments of Lima, Puno and Cusco, as well as in the Callao, Andahuaylas, Tambopata, Tahuamanu and Mariscal Nieto provinces and the Torata district. These are the areas where massive anti-government protests have been taking place since January 4, following the resumption of an indefinite national strike after the New Year break.

    The state of emergency permits the suspension of certain constitutional rights and has seen an increase in the militarization of the territories which have seen large mobilizations. Several caravans have already been stopped by Peruvian security forces, and some arrests have already been registered.

    The struggle continues

    On Sunday, January 15, on the first day of the 30-day-long state of emergency, Indigenous and peasant communities along with members of various popular movements, social organizations and trade unions hit the streets and blocked over 120 roads and 20 highways in at least 10 regions of Peru. According to reports from local media, Cusco and Puno were the regions with the greatest number of blockades. The Pan-American South, the Pan-American North, the Central highway, the Apurímac-Cusco-Arequipa Road Corridor, and the South Interoceanic Road Corridor were also among the major highways blocked by protesters.

    The protest actions were organized as a part of ongoing nationwide protests demanding the release of former President Castillo, the immediate resignation of de-facto President Boluarte, the dissolution of the right-wing dominated unicameral Congress, fresh general elections, and the establishment of a Constituent Assembly to change the country’s 1993 Constitution, which was written and imposed under the far-right dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori (July 1990–November 2000).

    Meanwhile, in the capital Lima, hundreds of citizens held a massive march from Lince district to Miraflores district to pay homage to the fatal victims of the state repression of anti-coup protests in recent days, condemning the Boluarte government for the unleashing brutal repression and demanding her unconditional resignation.

    According to various human rights organizations, in the over a month of protests, at least 50 protesters have died as a result of brutal repression by public security forces. In addition, at least 450 people have been severely injured, hundreds have been arbitrarily arrested, dozens of social leaders have had their homes searched and/or received death threats.

    Nevertheless, the Boluarte government continued to respond to the demonstrations with violent police and military repression. Incidents of strong repression were registered in various cities on Sunday.

    “Boluarte sold herself”

    The Boluarte government has been widely unpopular since its inauguration. According to a recent survey conducted by the Institute of Peruvian Studies (IEP), 71% of Peruvians disapprove of the Boluarte regime. Additionally, 88% of citizens reject the work of the right-wing opposition majority Congress. Similarly, 60% of people consider that Castillo should be released, and 58% consider that the security forces have been using excessive force in repressing social protests. Likewise, 69% are in favor of convening a Constituent Assembly to replace the current Constitution.

    The president of the CUNARC, Santos Saavedra Vázquez, in an interview with Tiempo Argentino, explained why Dina Boluarte, who also came from a popular sector, had been rejected by the people who elected her alongside Castillo.

    “Dina Boluarte was part of the presidential ticket along with President Castillo. They won together. However, the long coup plan of the right did not work. So they needed to destroy him from the inside and some of the actors who were close to the president, win them over and wait for the right moment. And Mrs. Boluarte did it: she sold herself early. She went to the other side clandestinely, of course, and from there the losing party in the elections (Fuerza Popular, led by Keiko Fujimori) offered her all its apparatus of criminalization and the experience of murder and dictatorship that Peru experienced in the 1990s, a plan that they are applying now. She totally sold herself to her adversary, leaving aside her principles, her loyalty to her project, to the very people that made her win. That’s why the people don’t believe her. She does what Parliament tells her, what the press tells her, what this mafia group that we have in the institutions tells her. She has radically crossed over to the other side. The right has always had that habit in our country: they lose the elections but end up governing,” said Saavedra Vázquez.

    It is worth noting that immediately after taking office, Castillo’s Vice-President, Boluarte, entered into a political alliance with the right-wing to govern and formed a “government of unity” with them.

    Saavedra Vázquez added that with the ongoing protests, Peruvians hope to achieve Boluarte’ resignation, Congress’ closure, and a transitional government that calls for elections this year, not next year.

    “People, who had been silent, have come to agree with us because the country can no longer bear bloodshed and killings on a whim of the de-facto president and Congress. They are threatening to stay but we don’t know how long they will last because the people will respond with everything. The next few days will be very forceful, overcoming fear and everything that is happening, the people will resist,” said the president of the CUNARC.

    One year of Repsol oil spill

    January 15 also marked one year since the massive spill of 12,000 barrels of crude oil in the Ventanilla sea by Spanish transnational company Repsol, which is considered one of the largest oil environmental disasters in Peru. The devastating oil spill polluted over 1.7 million square meters of soil and 1.2 million square meters of ocean, tarred 21 beaches in four municipalities on Peru’s Pacific coast, and killed a vast variety of marine wildlife, besides incurring huge economic losses to fishing and tourism industries.

    According to the Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office, twelve months after the spill, Repsol still has to complete the cleanup of the affected areas and compensate those affected. The Ombudsman’s Office pointed out that in October 2022, when the declaration of environmental emergency expired, the Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA) determined that 71 of the 97 sites impacted by the spill continued to be affected by hydrocarbons.  Additionally, it noted that more than 10,000 fishermen and others engaged in businesses related to maritime activity, who were directly and indirectly affected by the spill, are waiting for fair compensation.

    This post was originally published on The Real News Network.

  • Peruvian security forces massacre 17 protesters in Juliaca, Puno

    Peoples Dispatch logo

    This story originally appeared in Peoples Dispatch on January 10, 2023. It is shared here with permission.

    On Monday, January 9, Peruvian security forces brutally repressed an anti-government protest in Juliaca, a city in southern Peru’s Puno region, killing at least 17 protesters and leaving at least 68 others severely injured. The dead included at least two teenagers.

    According to reports from local media, Peruvian police and military officers opened fire on thousands of protesters who had occupied the Juliaca airport as a part of nationwide protests demanding the release of former left-wing President Pedro Castillo, the resignation of de-facto President Dina Boluarte, the dissolution of the right-wing dominated unicameral Congress, fresh parliamentary elections, and a new constitution through a Constituent Assembly.

    This was the second massacre at the hands of Peruvian security forces in one month of social protests demanding structural changes to the country’s political system.

    Photos and videos shared on social media networks showed victims bleeding from their heads, with pellet wounds on different body parts, people carrying people with severe injuries on their backs and in their vehicles to help them get to hospitals.

    This was the second massacre at the hands of Peruvian security forces in one month of social protests demanding structural changes to the country’s political system. On December 15, 2022, the security forces massacred ten people and severely injured 52 others in Ayacucho, while trying to unblock the local airport which was occupied by protesting residents.

    With the latest victims, the death toll from state repression of anti-government protests rose to 46. 

    Peru’s Ombudsman Office requested the public order forces to comply with international standards in using force against protests and urged the Prosecutor’s Office to carry out a rapid investigation into the deaths.

    The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned the death of people in Juliaca, and urged the Peruvian State to take immediate measures to prevent and punish the excessive use of force in social protests; and to continue generating effective mechanisms of dialog to address social conflict and prevent violence. IACHR also announced that it would send another delegation to Peru to visit Lima and other cities from Wednesday to Friday to evaluate the situation.

    The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Peru also expressed its “deep concern over the escalation of violence in Peru,” and called for the adoption of urgent “measures to prevent more violence and ensure respect for human rights in the context of peaceful demonstrations.”

    Since January 4, tens of thousands of people, mainly from Indigenous and peasant communities, have been taking to the streets and organizing roadblocks in different parts of the country to express their rejection of the Boluarte government, demand respect for their vote and reinstatement of their democratically elected president.

    Castillo was overthrown in a legislative coup carried out by the right-wing opposition majority Congress on December 7, after he tried to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. He was swiftly arrested following his dismissal for allegedly “breaching constitutional order.” On December 15, the Peruvian judiciary extended Castillo’s preventive detention to 18 months on the Prosecutor’s Office’s request, which is investigating him for the crime of rebellion, among others.

    Puno, Arequipa, Cusco and Tacna are among the regions where massive anti-government protests have been taking place following the resumption of an indefinite national strike after the New Year break.

    Following the massacre in Juliaca, the Indigenous and peasant communities along with several popular movements, social organizations, student associations, and trade unions called for the intensification of protest actions against the Boluarte government, and a march to the capital Lima to press for her resignation.

    In the evening, thousands of people demonstrated in the streets and organized cacerolazos in Arequipa, Apurimac, Cusco, Puno and San Miguel. A cacerolazo is a form of protest in which demonstrators make noise by banging utensils.

    Boluarte’s response

    Speaking at a press conference from a “national agreement” meeting on Monday with representatives from the country’s regions and various political institutions, Boluarte said she doesn’t understand why people are protesting. She said that she could not respond to all the demands of the protesters.

    “I have already explained to you that the four political points are not in my hands. The only thing that was in my hands was the advancement of elections, which we have already proposed,” said Boluarte.

    “Mrs. Dina Boluarte, how can you continue in office and claim a ‘national dialogue’ at the same time that the ‘law enforcement agencies’ shoot to kill our compatriots? Resign now!”

    Verónika Mendoza, former presidential candidate for the progressive New Peru movement

    “The Constituent Assembly does not pass through the hands of the Executive [president]. If, with this pretext, they are taking to the streets, the brothers from the regions where there are acts of violence, they are deceiving themselves,” she added.

    Additionally, she continued criminalizing the protests, without apologizing for unleashing brutal repression.

    “What you are asking for is a pretext to continue generating chaos in the cities. In peace and order everything can be achieved, in the midst of violence and chaos it gets more complicated, it becomes difficult,” said Boluarte.

    National criticism

    Meanwhile, the Boluarte administration’s handling of the protests was widely criticized by various political leaders.

    Vladimir Cerrón, progressive leader and the founder of Free Peru party that sponsored Castillo’s presidential candidacy in 2021, called for Boluarte’s resignation.

    “Dina, you should quit! The longer you are in power, the worse your legal situation will be, if with 28 deaths you had doubts and you have a prosecutor’s file investigating you for those crimes, with these 12 more deaths they could send you to prison for decades, while others benefit,” Cerrón tweeted.

    With respect to her response that she couldn’t address protesters’ key demands, Cerrón explained how she actually can. “There are two paths: 1. A bill from the Executive to the Legislative, without going through commission due to the urgency of the case, the people convene outside Congress and the plenary vote, and 2. Return to the 1979 Constitution (Article 307) and convenes a Constituent Assembly,” he said.

    Verónika Mendoza, former presidential candidate for the progressive New Peru movement, also criticized Boluarte’s response.

    “Stop the massacre in Puno! There are already close to 40 Peruvians assassinated in less than a month of [a new] government! Mrs. Dina Boluarte, how can you continue in office and claim a ‘national dialogue’ at the same time that the ‘law enforcement agencies’ shoot to kill our compatriots? Resign now!” tweeted Mendoza.

    “Given the critical situation we are going through, Dina Boluarte and the president of Congress must leave their positions so that—with a new board of directors of Congress—a transitional government can be built hand in hand with a broad platform of social and political organizations. From there, the elections should be brought forward to 2023 and a referendum to consult the people whether or not they want a new Constitution be called. By now we should all be clear that repression does not solve anything, it only exacerbates the conflict,” she added.

    This post was originally published on The Real News Network.

  • As resistance to coup continues, Peru’s judiciary extends detention of Pedro Castillo by 18 months

    Peoples Dispatch logo

    This story originally appeared in Peoples Dispatch on December 18, 2022. It is shared here with permission.

    The judiciary of Peru on Thursday, December 15, extended the preventive detention of former left-wing President Pedro Castillo to 18 months. The decision came as nationwide protests demanding Castillo’s immediate release and reinstatement entered a second week, and the death toll from the repression of protests rose to 21.

    On Thursday, a judicial panel within the Supreme Court held a hearing to analyze the request made by the Prosecutor’s Office for the extension of Castillo’s pre-trial detention to 18 months. The judges accepted this request, citing the risk of flight by the deposed president. The day following Castillo’s illegal arrest, the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reported that Castillo had requested political asylum in Mexico. Castillo’s lawyer Ítalo Diaz announced that he would appeal the ruling.

    The Prosecutor’s Office also requested 18-months preventive detention for former Prime Minister Aníbal Torres, one of Castillo’s closest allies. The judges rejected the request, but ordered Torres not to leave the country without prior notice or authorization from the court.

    The parliamentary coup against Castillo

    Last week, on December 7, hours before a vote in Congress on an impeachment motion against him, Castillo dissolved the Congress, called for fresh parliamentary elections, and installed an “emergency government” to rule the country until the legislative powers were renewed. However, Castillo’s attempt to protect himself from the vote of the right-wing opposition majority Congress did not succeed. The conservative opposition legislators began accusing him of having attempted a coup d’état to seize power illegally. The right-wing dominated unicameral Congress held a plenary session and approved the impeachment request against Castillo on grounds of alleged “permanent moral incapacity” to continue in office, which led to his immediate dismissal from office. In another plenary session the same day, they swore in Castillo’s Vice-President Dina Boluarte as the new president.

    Within hours following his removal from office, he was arrested and charged with allegedly “breaching constitutional order” for having tried to dissolve the Congress before the vote on the motion. The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating him for the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy, abuse of authority, and public disturbance for announcing the dissolution of Congress. Castillo has alleged that the Prosecutor’s Office and the judiciary are controlled by the conservative oligarchy, whom he had condemned several times for constantly attacking him and his ministers with the aim to oust them and destabilize his socialist government since its inauguration in late July 2021. Castillo has denied all charges against him and has said that he remains the country’s constitutional president.

    Since his ouster, Castillo’s supporters have been hitting the streets in large numbers, demanding his freedom and restoration as the president, and condemning the Congress for having carried out a parliamentary coup against him.

    For the past 10 days, tens of thousands of people have been organizing mobilizations and roadblocks across the national territory demanding the dissolution of the Congress and fresh elections to change the country’s legislature. They are also demanding the resignation of Dina Boluarte, condemning her for criminalizing social protests, unleashing brutal repression, and entering into a political alliance with the right-wing to govern and forming a “government of unity” with them. They are also demanding that a Constituent Assembly be called to draft a new constitution to replace the current exclusiionary and neoliberal one, which was written and imposed in 1993 during the far-right dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori.

    On December 15, despite the imposition of a 30-day-long state of emergency at the national level, Indigenous and peasant communities, popular movements, social organizations, student associations, and trade unions, including agrarian, construction workers and teachers unions, mobilized in different parts of the country demanding respect for their vote and pressing their demands. Since December 13, dozens of unions, organizations and movements associated with the Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru (FARP) have been observing an indefinite national strike.

    In capital Lima, thousands demonstrated in front of the Congress, as well as near the headquarters of the Directorate of Special Operations (DIROES), where Castillo was detained. In the early hours of December 16, he was transferred to the Barbadillo prison.

    According to the Ombudsman’s Office, 53 massive protests were held across the country, including in Lima, Ayacucho, Loreto, Ica, Piura, Tumbes, Puno, Tacna, Ancash, Cusco, Huancavelica, Cajamarca, La Libertad, Apurimac, and Arequipa regions.

    The government responded to these protests with the deployment of hundreds of soldiers and police officers across the country, who launched tear gas bombs and used firearms against the demonstrators.

    In Ayacucho, the security forces massacred seven people and severely injured 52 others while trying to unblock the local airport which was occupied by protesting residents.

    According to local media reports, among those killed in police and military repression in the past nine days of anti-coup protests are seven people in Ayacucho, six in Apurímac, three in La Libertad, one in Arequipa, and one in Huancavelica. Over 180 have also been injured.

    International support for Castillo

    The heads of state of several Latin American countries have expressed concern about the crisis in Peru and have called for the restoration of democracy.

    On December 14, Mexican President López Obrador, during his morning press conference, said that “For Mexico, Pedro Castillo continues to be the president of Peru, since his election is the result of the will of the citizens expressed at the polls.”

    “In accordance with international agreements, those responsible for political leadership in Peru are urged to respect the vote of citizens and also to respect human rights, not to repress the people,” he added.

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro in a tweet pointed out that “the crisis in Peru, the arrest, without a judge and without defense, of a popularly elected president has seriously questioned the role of the American Convention in the Latin American legal system.”

    Bolivian President Luis Arce, during the XXII summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), held in Havana, Cuba, on December 14, rejected “the siege and the constant persecution, which was orchestrated from the Legislative power against the comrade Pedro Castillo and unfortunately materialized in his dismissal.”

    Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro also condemned the coup against Castillo. “We have taken a step to classify what took place in Peru as a coup, we will go to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) so that the rights of the people and Professor Pedro Castillo are respected,” said Maduro during the ALBA-TCP Summit, on behalf of all member countries.

    Vladimir Cerrón

    Vladimir Cerrón, progressive leader and the founder of Free Peru party that sponsored Castillo’s presidential candidacy in 2021, in a thread on Twitter on December 15 explained the factors that led to the current political crisis as well as why the people are on the streets and why it would be a mistake to criminalize their struggle.

    “Castillo won the Presidency in 2021, for 5 years, in elections against all odds. It was the first time in 200 years that the left won the government, but not power. From the first day, the national and international right felt hurt and planned the coup. External factors that facilitated the coup: with Castillo there was no truce, he faced vacancy motions, evident racism, the press insulted him with impunity, the Armed Forces and the National Police did not respect him, his ministers were frequently censured and he was prevented from representing us abroad. Internal factors that facilitate the coup: the problem begins when he was advised to govern without Free Peru, divide the bench, try to register two parties, invite our congressmen to dissent and not show solidarity in the face of the harsh repression suffered by the Party. They totally isolated him and he tried to give a self-coup driven by emotion and not reason. Congress responded with a vacancy and stripped him of his immunity, violating due process, ending it in a counter-coup, which deposed Castillo,” said Cerrón.

    “After his imprisonment, his sympathizers began to organize, but this quickly spread as a national contagion, setting up a popular insurgency, followed by a fierce repression, with 21 deaths so far…Castillo is the symbol of the first and only triumph of the Peruvian left in 200 years in a electoral process. He is a man with virtues and defects, but the people of the interior see him as the first peasant to become president, so the people see their vote violated in his impeachment, it was assumed that we had a leftist government, cabinet, bench and program, for 5 years, and now it is not like that. Castillo was not such a good president, he was criticized by the same people who want him free today. Certainly, he led a neoliberal government, hence his discrepancies with Free Peru, which demanded that he fulfills campaign promises and not become an electoral scam. The right underestimated these analyzes, it was announced that if they removed Castillo, there would be a social uprising, we did not imagine it would be at this level, not only demanding to restore Castillo, but also demanding a Constituent Assembly,” Cerrón added.

    “In this insurgency, the NGOs have no footing, it is a fight not contaminated by external agents, but rather the self-convened communities in all the regions and Castillo is the [point of convergence]. They are not financed by businessmen, drug traffickers, or other agents. What facilitates the insurgency? A more technologically interconnected Peru. We also have a racist society that the people are no longer willing to tolerate, the mockery of the bourgeoisie towards Castillo like the imprisonment of his daughter – the people felt it as theirs. In such circumstances, in the exercise of political rights, the population also feels this overthrow as their own overthrow. This insurgency had a rapid installation that did not give time for its planning and therefore lacks visible leaders for the moment. Thus, the peasant and community sectors have been telling the time (for daily protests), which the middle class has been joining as a reserve force. The adversaries classify it as a terrorist insurgency, supported by drug traffickers etc., it is a big mistake because in the communities’ psychology that is considered a collective insult,” said Cerrón.

    Castillo’s letter

    In a new letter shared on his Twitter account, Castillo denounced the involvement of the United States in the coup against him, and indicated that the reason behind it is the country’s copper reserves.

    “The visit of the US ambassador to the Government Palace was not free, nor was it in favor of the country. It was to give the order to take the troops out into the streets and massacre my defenseless people; and, incidentally, leave the way clear for mining exploitation, as in the case of Conga, Tía María and others. The Peruvian press will not only remain silent about this, but will deny it just as easily,” he wrote.

    Castillo’s letter recalled and drew similarities to the 2019 right-wing civic and military coup against the democratically elected Bolivian President Evo Morales, which was carried out to take over the country’s large lithium reserves.

    This post was originally published on The Real News Network.

  • Five killed by police during anti-coup protests in Peru

    Peoples Dispatch logo

    This story originally appeared in Peoples Dispatch on Dec. 12, 2022. It is shared here with permission.

    Since Dec. 7, tens of thousands of Peruvians have been protesting in different parts of the country in rejection of the parliamentary coup that took democratically elected left-wing President Pedro Castillo out of office and led to his arrest. On Dec. 7, Peru’s right-wing dominated unicameral Congress approved the third vacancy (impeachment) motion against Castillo. Hours following his removal from office, he was arrested and charged with allegedly “breaching constitutional order” for having tried to dissolve the Congress before the vote on the motion.

    Citizens’ resistance

    For the past five days, the protesters have been organizing peaceful mobilizations and roadblocks across the national territory demanding that former President Castillo be immediately released and reinstated as the president of the country.

    In the capital Lima, despite heavy police repression, the protesters have maintained a nearly permanent protest in front of the Congress. Another central demand of protesters has been the effective dissolution of the right-wing-controlled parliament. Some have also demanded that fresh elections be organized to change the country’s legislature.

    The citizens are also demanding that a Constituent Assembly be called to draft a new constitution to replace the current neoliberal one, which was written and imposed in 1993 during the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori.

    The protesters have also expressed their rejection of the appointment of Castillo’s Vice President Dina Boluarte as the new president. They are calling for Boluarte’s resignation, arguing that she is not an elected leader. They also condemned her for making a political alliance with the right wing to govern.

    The citizens are also demanding that a Constituent Assembly be called to draft a new constitution to replace the current neoliberal one, which was written and imposed in 1993 during the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori (July 1990–November 2000). They have stressed that it is time that this long-standing demand of the Peruvian people be addressed and fulfilled. Before being overthrown, Castillo had declared that the Congress would remain dissolved until the Constituent Assembly was installed, making good on his presidential campaign promise.

    In addition to the capital, protests against the coup have been registered in regions across the country including Andahuaylas, Arequipa, Trujillo, Iquitos, Madre de Dios, Ica, Tacna, and Huacho provinces.

    Police repression

    The police have been responding to these peaceful protests with violence and repression. The police officers have been using tear gas and even live bullets against demonstrators.

    According to reports from local media and the National Ombudsman Office, at least two protesters, 15 and 18 years old, were killed in police repression on Sunday, Dec. 11, in the city of Andahuaylas, in Apurímac region. On Monday, Dec. 12, in the city of Chincheros, the local hospital confirmed that two protesters died as a result of the police repression, including a 16-year-old and 26-year-old Jonathan Lloclla Loayza. A fifth protester was killed in Arequipa by police.

    Videos on social media showed the police running over a woman and attacking the press. In the incident, over 20 people were severely injured and over a dozen were arrested. The hospital in the city reported that one of the deceased died due to a gunshot injury in the neck.

    In the early hours of Sunday morning, residents had been demonstrating outside the local airport in Andahuaylas and blocked the entrance. In an attempt to unblock the airport, the police agents brutally repressed the people. Videos on social media showed the police running over a woman and attacking the press. In the incident, over 20 people were severely injured and over a dozen were arrested. The hospital in the city reported that one of the deceased died due to a gunshot injury in the neck.

    The same day, the police also violently repressed the residents in Arequipa and Ica, who had blocked the Pan-American highway since Dec. 7 in protest. The police reopened the highway, but failed to dismantle other roadblocks maintained by the residents, mainly erected by peasant and Indigenous communities, across the provinces.

    The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Peru condemned “the death of a minor and a young man in Andahuaylas, Apurímac,” and called for “a prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation of the facts, providing access to justice to the next of kin of the victims.” The OHCHR also urged Peruvian citizens and authorities to maintain “calm” and avoid “escalation of tensions,” stressing that “the right to peaceful assembly must be guaranteed.”

    Upon the confirmation of two deaths in Andahuaylas, the protesters intensified the measures of protests across the country. The residents of Arequipa immediately organized the closure of the local airport in solidarity.

    The social organizations from Apurímac called for an indefinite regional strike, starting at zero hours on Dec. 12. The Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru (FARP), an umbrella organization bringing together over a dozen Indigenous, peasants, women’s movements and social organizations, also called for an indefinite national strike beginning Tuesday, Dec. 13.

    In response to increasing popular pressure, in the early hours of Monday, Dec. 12, President Boluarte announced that she would send a bill to Congress to advance the general elections to April 2024.

    She also declared a “state of emergency in the areas of high social conflict,” which was denounced as a clear attempt to criminalize protests by various social movements.

    Despotism of the Peruvian right

    The right-wing opposition majority Congress, which has an 11% approval rating, waged almost constant attempts to overthrow Castillo and destabilize his government as soon as he entered office in late July 2021. On Dec. 12, Congress advanced its attacks and approved a bill to lift Castillo’s immunity, making way for his prosecution. The decision was made by 64 votes in favor, 45 against.

    Castillo had been preliminarily detained for a period of seven days. Following the removal of his immunity, now, the Prosecutor’s Office can use its powers to request up to 36 months of preventive detention for Castillo.

    The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating Castillo for the crimes of rebellion and conspiracy, abuse of authority and public disturbance for announcing the dissolution of Congress. Castillo has alleged that the office is controlled by the oligarchy.

    Peruvian activist Daniela Ortiz, in an interview with Multipolarista editor Ben Norton, pointed out that the parliamentary coup against Castillo was aimed at “putting the right in power.”

    “It is not about taking down Castillo, it is about putting themselves in power, because it is something that we have seen before. He is not the first president to be taken out by the right wing, he is actually the third president. And we’re not talking of just any right wing. We’re talking about the Fujimori right wing that wants to be in power and continue that dictatorship that we had with Alberto Fujimori. Now, we have Keiko Fujimori, his daughter, and all the people from her party, Popular Force, who are aiming basically to take power and not let anyone be in the executive power. It has been happening for many years. The Popular Force has been controlling the congress and creating the laws to be able to control the executive power and not let the Peruvian people have the president that we have elected,” said Ortiz.

    Ortiz added that “the demand to close the Congress was a popular demand. Many of the recent marches, blockades and demonstrations were not against Castillo, but were to push him to work on the agenda he entered with… And what happened was that he did what the people were asking him to do… Many of us understand that the detention of Castillo is absolutely illegal. Even under the rules that they have imposed.”

  • Haiti: Widespread protests against threat of foreign military intervention

    Hundreds of thousands of Haitians took to the streets protesting the government’s request for foreign military intervention to resolve the gang-related crisis in Haiti. Tanya Wadhwa reports.

  • Haitians reject US, OAS calls for foreign intervention

    Peoples Dispatch logo

    This article originally appeared in Peoples Dispatch on Oct. 11, 2022. It is shared here under a Creative Commons 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    On Monday, Oct. 10, under the banner of “Down with Ariel Henry, Down with the Foreign Occupation,” hundreds of thousands of Haitians took to the streets across the country against a resolution passed by de-facto prime minister and acting President Ariel Henry, requesting the international community to send armed help to resolve gang-related crisis in Haiti.

    In the capital Port-au-Prince, thousands of citizens gathered in the Cité-Soleil commune and marched towards the Pétion-Ville commune via the Delmas commune, demanding Henry’s unconditional resignation and an end to all kinds of foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs. Protesters raised slogans such as “the United States is the problem, it cannot be the solution.”

    Protesters raised slogans such as “the United States is the problem, it cannot be the solution.”

    At the Delmas 40 B crossroads, the protesters were brutally repressed by the police. Police officers used tear gas and fired live bullets against them. According to reports from local media, at least one protester was killed in the repression.

    Similar massive demonstrations were also organized in other main cities. The mobilizations were held as a part of the week-long protests against the US-backed Henry administration. On Saturday, Oct. 8, various civil society organizations, trade unions and left-wing opposition parties called for nationwide protest actions against the multidimensional crisis facing the country due to the misgovernment of the ruling far-right Haitian Tèt Kale Party (PHTK). Oct. 10 was the first day of the nationwide protests, which will continue until next Monday, Oct. 17.

    For the past seven weeks, since Aug. 22, Haitians have been tirelessly mobilizing against increasing poverty and food insecurity amid soaring prices of essential commodities and basic services; acute shortage of fuel amid brutal increase in prices; widespread gang-related kidnappings, killings and violence; and the crushing devaluation of the national currency, the Haitian Gourde, against the $USD.

    Watch: Radyo Rezistans live from the protests

    Protesters have criticized that during the past one year of Henry’s illegitimate leadership, the economic, political and social crises have deepened in the country. Many have denounced that activation of criminal gangs, following the assassination of the country’s de-facto president Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, is a part of Henry’s strategy to remain in power, where he was put and held up by the US, the UN, the OAS and the Core Group. Several also have stated that Henry’s open call for foreign invasion, using gang-violence as pretext and criminalizing people’s movements demanding his resignation, provides further evidence of his intentions.

    Nevertheless, the Haitian people have stressed that they will defend their sovereignty, will not allow another foreign occupation, and will themselves find a concrete solution to their situation. They have clarified that the application of the Montana Agreement is the ultimate goal of their struggle. The Montana Agreement advocates for the installation of a transitional government to govern the country for two years, in order to recover the nation from the institutional crisis caused by the PHTK, rebuild society, and organize elections for the next government.

    Henry’s call for foreign intervention

    Last week, on Oct. 5, Henry, while addressing the nation, expressed his intention to request the assistance of the international community to deal with the humanitarian crisis caused by criminal gangs. The statement came after the gangs blocked access to the main fuel terminal, limiting the operation of hospitals and water treatment companies amid a resurgence of cholera in the country, which has already left at least sixteen dead.

    On Oct. 6, the Council of Ministers met to discuss the PM’s proposal. On Oct. 7, the Council authorized Henry to request foreign military support to curb gang violence. According to the decree published in the Official Gazette, the prime minister is authorized to request the presence of a specialized armed force in the country, “to stop the humanitarian crisis caused, among other reasons, by the insecurity derived from the actions of the gangs and their sponsors.” It also stated that the foreign military presence would help “resume the distribution of fuel and drinking water throughout the country, reactivate hospitals, restart economic activities, the movement of people and goods, and reopen schools.”

    On Oct. 9, Henry wrote a letter to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, officially asking the UN to intervene militarily in the country. It is important to note that in the past weeks, Guterres, on French international radio, seconding Henry’s false claims, said that mass protests in the streets against the Henry government are being led by gangs.

    National condemnation of Henry’s call for foreign military intervention

    The resolution on the military intervention generated widespread criticism among civil society organizations, political and social leaders, and citizens in general, who considered that the decision put the sovereignty of the Caribbean country at stake.

    Former senator and former presidential candidate Jean Charles Moïse, leader of the left-wing Platfòm Pitit Desalin party, pointed out that neither Henry nor his ministers have the authority or legitimacy to request a foreign military presence in the country. Charles Moïse added that the country’s sovereignty had been threatened and called on the people to stand up against it.

    The Organization of People in Struggle party (OPL) expressed its disagreement with the entry of foreign military forces and reiterated that the country needs support so that the National Police can carry out its work.

    Reyneld Sanon, coordinator of Radio Resistance and Haitian Popular Press Agency, in a statement, rejected the decision of the PHTK and its allies “to request international imperialist forces to occupy the country for a third time.” Sanon denounced that the decision insults “our ancestors, who fought to break the chains of slavery.” He assured that “in the case that the foreign military occupation force arrived in Haiti, all Haitians, progressive groups, popular organizations, and left-wing political parties, will stand to fight.”

    Reyneld Sanon, coordinator of Radio Resistance and Haitian Popular Press Agency, in a statement, rejected the decision of the PHTK and its allies “to request international imperialist forces to occupy the country for a third time.” Sanon denounced that the decision insults “our ancestors, who fought to break the chains of slavery.”

    Jean Launy Avril, a Haitian political science professor and anthropologist, emphasized that “the Haitian people do not need humanitarian refuge from any country. They have the right to live in peace in their country, without intervention, without interference, without gangs, without anti-popular governments and sepoys.”

    In a series of tweets, Launy Avril said that “the solution to the Haitian crisis must be in the hands of the Haitian people, their social and political organizations and must be recognized by the UN.” “We demand that the international community respect the right of the Haitian people to mobilize and demand a more promising future. The Haitian people are sovereign, they have been in the streets for more than a month demanding profound changes to put an end to the bad governments and the system that oppresses them,” he added.

    He recalled that “in a recent letter to the UN, Haitian social and political movements assured that it is the people, who are in the streets protesting, and that they are not bandits, and denounced the political persecution by repressive forces of the de-facto PM.”

    Launy Avril pointed out that “military intervention has never been a solution; in Haiti the evidence is clear. The UN brought it Cholera, mass killings, more poverty, more people forced to seek bread in other countries.” “The UN with its MINUSTAH (Stabilisation Mission) soldiers raped girls, and have left countless boys and girls without parents, living in more poverty, the invasions of Haiti have only left pain,” he added. He also said that “the MINUSTAH massacred the civilian population, between 2004 and 2008, with multiple massacres in Cité-Soleil, and with a new invasion they are going to massacre the townspeople who fight for Haitian sovereignty.”

    He stressed that “the Haitian people do not want and will not accept more elections organized by foreigners. They are always fraudulent and place their puppets against the interests of the people.”

    Likewise, Madame Boukman, an Haitian anti-imperialist blogger, in a series of tweets, rejected the call for military intervention and exposed the collusion between criminal gangs, the government and the imperialist forces.

    “Haiti’s US-controlled police force is under-equipped by design through an arms embargo. All weapons must be approved by the US State Department. Meanwhile, an unlimited flow of illicit high caliber weapons enter Haiti from the US to arm the gangs to keep Haiti permanently destabilized,” Boukman denounced.

    “The gangs are low-level foot soldiers that take orders from the high level gangs in suits (imperialists, bourgeoisie and politicians). The system that upholds them needs to fall for them to fall, just like Duvalier Tonton Macoute’s gangs fell when the masses overthrew him,” she added.

    “Ariel Henry, a de facto, unelected puppet imposed on Haiti after he participated in the assassination of Jovenel Moïse, was ordered by his imperialist bosses to publicly call for a foreign invasion. He does not represent the masses,” she criticized.

    In another tweet, she pointed out that the “2004-2019 UN proxy military intervention to “stabilize” Haiti resulted in Cholera, child sex rings, massacres, mass rape, endemic kidnapping, electoral fraud, chronic insecurity, gang infestation, indefinite detention, and chronic inequality, among other issues.”

  • Ecuadorians continue to resist as national strike enters second week

    Peoples Dispatch logo

    This story originally appeared in Peoples Dispatch on June 21, 2022. It is shared here with permission under a Creative Commons license.

    Since June 13, hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians have been mobilizing across the country as a part of an indefinite national strike against the right-wing government of President Guillermo Lasso and his anti-people economic policies. The strike was called for by various Indigenous, peasant, and social organizations, with a set of ten demands that address the most urgent needs of the majority of Ecuador’s population.

    Their demands include: reduction and freeze of fuel prices; employment opportunities and labor guarantees; an end to privatization of public companies; price control policies for essential products; greater budget for public education and health sectors; an end to drug trafficking, kidnappings, and violence; protection for people against banking and finance sectors; fair prices for their farm products; ban on mining and oil exploitation activities in Indigenous territories; and respect for the 21 collective rights of Indigenous peoples and nationalities.

    The Lasso administration has been responding to these demands with brutal repression. Since last Monday, the police and military officials have been repressing the demonstrators with pellets, tear gas, and water cannons. According to the Alliance for Human Rights Organization, an Ecuadorian NGO, between June 13 and 19, state security forces committed 39 types of human rights violations against citizens participating in the national strike, detained 79 and injured 55 people, in addition to killing an 18-year-old Indigenous boy.

    REPRESSION

    On Saturday, June 18, President Lasso declared a state of emergency in the Pichincha, Cotopaxi, and Imbabura provinces, where protests had been the strongest, increasing the militarization of the provinces and suspending various Constitutional rights.

    On Sunday, June 19, the national police occupied the the Benjamin Carrion Cultural Center in the capital Quito to use its facilities as a base to house the policemen who came from other provinces to contain the social protests. Hours before the police takeover, the officials of the State Attorney General’s Office raided the center, arguing that they had received an anonymous complaint, according to which protesters were storing explosives there. The authorities, however, found nothing.

    The forceful takeover and the raid received widespread rejection from human rights organizations and opposition leaders. Several leaders said that the center was targeted because during the October 2019 national strike, it provided humanitarian shelter to citizens in response to the excessive police repression by the government of former president Lenin Moreno.

    “It is with great sadness that I have to say that culture has died today. Tyranny, darkness, and terror have won over life, joy, diversity, and plurality. Today, terror is settling on the most important cultural institution in the country. The last time the House of Culture was controlled by the police was 46 years ago during the dictatorship. Now we are in a dictatorship. This house of freedom of thought has fallen into the hands of terror,” lamented Fernando Cerón, President of the center.

    On Monday, June 20, President Lasso, continuing his policies of repression and criminalization of social protests, extended the state of emergency to six provinces: Pichincha, Imbabura, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, Tungurahua and Pastaza.

    RESISTANCE

    Nevertheless, defying the state of emergency and enduring brutal police and military repression, hundreds of thousands continue to remain on the streets against neoliberalism.

    The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), one of the main organizers of the strike, assured that the strike would continue until their demands were accepted.

    According to CONAIE, Indigenous communities have been maintaining roadblocks in at least 16 of the 24 provinces of the country since last Monday. On the eighth day of the strike, CONAIE reported that Indigenous people from all parts of the country had been arriving in Quito to press for their demands.

    CONAIE condemned that the demonstrations and roadblocks had been attacked by the security forces as well as right-wing extremist mobs, who unleashed attacks on women, children, and senior citizens. The confederation also criticized the state of emergency and repression.

    “The decree of the state of emergency limits rights and confronts the people against the people. As of the 8th day of the national strike, 81 detentions, 52 injuries, 4 serious injuries, 11 with impacts on the eyes and face, 1 death were registered,” stated CONAIE.

    “In a state of law and democracy, human rights are not violated, nor is violence, police and military repression legitimized,” stressed the confederation. “In a rule of law, the right to protest is guaranteed, the life and integrity of social leaders, human rights defenders are not threatened, and racism, discrimination and xenophobia are not promoted,” it added.

    ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE OPPOSITION

    The opposition sectors also condemned the Lasso government for resorting to repression and violence instead of dialogue to deal with the situation. On June 21, the opposition-controlled National Assembly, with 81 of the 137 votes, approved a resolution urging the government to dialogue with the Indigenous organizations and other sectors. Through the resolution, the unicameral congress also called on organizations such as the UN, the Red Cross, and the Catholic Church to attend the negotiations and propose mechanisms to solve the crisis.

    This post was originally published on The Real News Network.

  • Ecuadorians continue to resist as national strike enters second week

    Defying the state of emergency, enduring brutal police and military repression, hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians continue to remain on the streets against neoliberalism, reports Tanya Wadhwa.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • Colombia: Leftist vice-presidential candidate threatened during campaign rally

    The leftist Historic Pact presidential ticket, headed by Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez, is favoured to win the upcoming presidential elections in Colombia on May 29. However, the candidates face ongoing threats, reports Tanya Wadhwa.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • Mexico decriminalises abortion in historic ruling

    Mexico’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the laws that penalise women and pregnant persons for terminating their pregnancy are unconstitutional, reports Tanya Wadhwa. With the historic decision, the country’s top court decriminalised abortions across the nation.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.