[News] Peru’s de facto president blames protesters for their own deaths at the hands of state forces

[Anti-Imperialist News]

peoplesdispatch.org
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/06/16/perus-de-facto-president-blames-protesters-for-their-own-deaths-at-the-hands-of-state-forces/>
Peru’s de facto president blames protesters for their own deaths at the
hands of state forces
Peoples Dispatch - June 16, 2023
------------------------------
[image: image.png]

Peru’s de facto president Dina Boluarte rejected the call for new social
protests against her government on June 14. (Photo: Twitter)

Peru’s de facto president Dina Boluarte, on Wednesday, June 14, expressed
her annoyance over the announcement of new social protests against her
government. Talking to the local press, after attending a bilateral meeting
with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso in Piura, Boluarte once again
stigmatized social organizations and their struggle and blamed them for
creating violence and chaos in the country.

Boluarte’s statement came after social movements and trade unions called
for a third massive march in the capital, known as the ‘*Toma de Lima*’ or
‘Takeover of Lima’, to demand her resignation, closure of right-wing
dominated Congress, new general elections, and a new constitution. The
march will be held on July 19, for which thousands of members of Indigenous
and peasant communities as well as diverse social organizations and trade
unions from all regions of Peru are expected to arrive in Lima.

In a press conference
<https://twitter.com/presidenciaperu/status/1669450256457629698?s=20> held
after the Council of Ministers meeting on June 15, Boluarte addressed one
of protesters’ primary demands and told the press that, “The idea of
holding early elections is over. We will continue working responsibly,
respecting the rule of law, democracy, and the constitution, until July
2026.”

Boluarte said that during the first six months of her government, she has
had to constantly face “violent” demonstrations and criticized
organizations for calling new protests.

“In the six months that we have been in government, we have practically
been firefighters putting out almost 500 violent demonstrations. Right now,
I call on these people who are once again announcing a third takeover of
Lima or the third takeover of Peru, how many more deaths do they want?
Doesn’t it hurt your souls to have lost more than 60 people in these
violent mobilizations,” said Boluarte.

In addition, she denied that the deaths in the protests were caused or
sought by her government, ignoring the report by the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which confirmed that the Peruvian state
committed human rights violations during the anti-government protests that
broke out following the legislative coup against former left-wing president
Pedro Castillo in December 2022 and continued till February 2023. She said
that the deaths caused in protests only served to “benefit” the people who
were asking for her resignation.

“Right now, they are not satisfied with the fact that I have not resigned.
They are still asking for it and want to use the Peruvian population to
continue generating anxiety, violence, chaos, crisis. Where else are we
going to go to now?,” she said.

The IACHR, in its report
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/05/06/iachr-slams-perus-de-facto-government-for-human-rights-violations-against-protesters/>
released in early May, noted that 57 people died in these protests, and
said that response to the demonstrators by state forces was characterized
by the “disproportionate, indiscriminate and lethal use of force.” It added
that in some cases, the actions could be classified as “extrajudicial
executions” and “massacres.”

Peru’s Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating Boluarte, along with some
of her ministers and police chiefs, for the alleged crimes of genocide,
homicide, and serious injuries. On June 6, she appeared before the
Prosecutor’s Office to respond to the accusations against her. She denied
her responsibility for the crimes charged against her, and protected
herself by using the right to remain silent.

In addition, Boluarte has lashed out at opposition leaders -without
mentioning any by name- for disapproving of her management before
international organizations.

“These people who traveled to Europe, with a false narrative, speak ill of
Peru. Shouldn’t that be classified as treason against the homeland? Who
finances their trips so that they pass across Europe speaking ill of
Peru?,” she said.

“We are working without stealing from the people! Why don’t they say that
out there instead of lying [saying] that we are a civil-military
government?…We are a democratic government,” she added.

She was implicitly referring to former presidential candidate Verónika
Mendoza, who participated last week along with various other progressive
leaders from the region in the second edition of Latin America Day held in
the European Parliament.

During her speech, Mendoza mentioned that “June 7 marked six months since
the civil-military regime headed by Mrs. Boluarte began,” who she said was
the visible face of a “conservative and mafia-like authoritarian coalition.”

The Boluarte government has been highly unpopular since the day it assumed
power. People have condemned the de facto leader for betraying the
progressive ticket she was elected on after she entered into a political
alliance with the country’s right-wing forces to govern. According to a new
survey conducted by the IPSOS Peru, 77%
<https://twitter.com/ipsosperu/status/1668093845949513730?s=20> of the
Peruvian citizens disapprove of the Boluarte administration, and 81%
<https://twitter.com/ipsosperu/status/1668093935871205376?s=20> reject the
performance of the Congress.
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