[News] New Wave Of Protests Begin As US Troops Enter Perú

[Anti-Imperialist News]

popularresistance.org
<https://popularresistance.org/new-wave-of-protests-begin-as-us-troops-enter-peru/>
New Wave Of Protests Begin As US Troops Enter Perú
By Clau O'Brien Moscoso, Black Agenda Report.
June 14, 2023
------------------------------
[image: image.png]

Above Photo: Protester arrested during the January Takeover of Lima, Peru.
AP.
A Third Takeover of Lima is the next action planned in the mobilization
against the coup government in Peru.

*National Strike, Day 161.*

As the parliamentary coup against democratically elected president Pedro
Castillo enters its sixth month, the people of Perú continue the protests
and begin a new wave of coordinated actions throughout the country to
prepare for a third Takeover of Lima in July. Despite the coup regime’s
various attempts to stifle the uprising that began December 7th and has
continued both in the capital city of Lima and in the outer provinces and
regions, despite the Supreme Court
<https://www.telesurtv.net/news/peru-corte-suprema-protestas-ilegales-20230517-0014.html>
ruling declaring protests are not a protected right and Congress trying to
take Perú out of the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights
<https://ojo-publico.com/politica/extremos-del-congreso-buscan-retirar-al-peru-convencion-ddhh>,
the people have not stopped making their voices heard. With the entrance of
hundreds of US military personnel
<https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Boluarte-Authorizes-the-Entry-of-US-Military-Into-Peru-20230531-0014.html>
starting on June 1st, it is yet to be seen what this deployment means for
the movement and the people’s struggle for a plurinational and sovereign
nation, but plans continue for a renewed wave of protests.

June 7th marked Flag Day in Perú as well the 6 month anniversary of the
Boluarte/ Fujimori coup regime that claimed the lives of over 80 Peruvians
during the uprising. Peruvians, particularly in the southern regions of
Puno, Arequipa, and Apurímac raised the black and white Peruvian flag
honoring those killed in the 6 months of dictatorship. Merchants in
mercados throughout the country raised the black and white flag, the
families of victims and others in places like Ayacucho, Junin and in Lima
staged a “lavado” <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1T1F_VbYhA> (wash) in
public squares where they were washing flags in buckets of soap and water
(to metaphorically get the blood of their slain children and other martyrs
and abuses of this dictatorship off the flag), and continuous organizing
towards the July 19th Third Takeover Of Lima where delegations of people
from outer regions into Lima to demand the ouster of the Boularte regime,
the closure of Congress, and justice for the victims, among other demands.

As with much of this popular uprising, the southern region of Puno has
provided leadership to the struggle. On May 30th, all of Puno observed a
full strike (paro seco) that had all storefronts, hostels, and restaurants
closed in observance of this decision made by Popular Assembly. Through
various formations, both longstanding and newly formed in these past six
months, popular assemblies have been converging throughout the regions and
macro regions of the country to plan for the upcoming delegations heading
to Lima, but also to plan more local actions like the strike on May 30th,
and more importantly, what the demands of a popular, sovereign and
plurinational constituent assembly should be. Other regions, like Arequipa
<https://twitter.com/elbuho_pe/status/1666152779113431046?s=46>, have also
agreed to the Third Takeover of Lima for mid July while also planning local
actions in the lead up to the mass march on the capital, according to
Yasmani Cayo, presidente del Frente de Defensa
<https://twitter.com/elbuho_pe/status/1666152779113431046?s=46> del Avelino.

The Boluarte regime declared an additional 60 days of a State of Emergency
<https://andina.pe/agencia/noticia-poder-ejecutivo-prorroga-estado-emergencia-puno-60-dias-942526.aspx>
for Puno in response to the planned protests. The next day would result in
tense scenes in the city of Juliaca in Puno with police and mourners
jostling to lower the flag at half mast, but no deadlier interactions
reported. With this round of renewed protests and major mobilizations to
the capital city of Lima, the mobilized masses have yet to face the
brutality of what training the Peruvian Armed Forces are receiving from the
additional 1,000 US military troops. As President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USvTRwfa4RQ> recently stated when asked
about the entrance of US troops to Perú, “that is interference, that is
aggression. A country that respects itself does not allow that. That is an
attack against the sovereignty of a nation, it is to end self
determination…Behind this, it shows the interest to assault and be present
in the problems of our countries as an element of domination.”

As government contracts from the Department of Defense flood into Lima,
particularly the Naval Medical Research Unit Six (NAMRU-6
<https://twitter.com/CanariesBlue/status/1667465654390214657>), the primary
source of infectious diseases research in the Latin American region for the
US Navy,  it’s clear that the US is stationing itself further entrenched in
Perú not only to help clamp down the popular uprising inside the country,
but also as a threat to the region of what happens when the people elect a
government promising to have the resources of the country benefit the
masses.
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