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<a id="gmail-label" href="https://blackagendareport.com/political-repression-under-peruvian-coup-regime" rel="bookmark"><span><b><font size="4">Political Repression Under Peruvian Coup Regime</font></b></span>
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<span><a href="https://blackagendareport.com/author/Clau O'Brien Moscoso">Clau O'Brien Moscoso</a></span>
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01 Mar 2023
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<div class="gmail-field gmail-field--name-field-image-caption gmail-field--type-string gmail-field--label-hidden gmail-field--item">(Photo: Valia Aguirre, <a href="http://wayka.pe">wayka.pe</a>)</div>
<div class="gmail-field gmail-field--name-body gmail-field--type-text-with-summary gmail-field--label-hidden gmail-field--item"><p><em>The
people of Peru continue to protest the coup which ousted President
Pedro Castillo Terrones. Clau O'Brien Moscoso reports from Peru.</em></p>
<p>National Strike, Day 52</p>
<p>As the coup against President Pedro Castillo continues into its third
month, the political repression on the ground has been severe and
growing. From a single mother who fundraised approximately 2000 soles
(roughly under $500) to buy food, medicine, and other necessities for
protesters coming to Lima from provincial regions, to community leaders
from the FREDEPA (Front for the Defense of the People of Ayacucho)in
Ayacucho taken to a military base to be tortured before being taken by
helicopter to the capital city, it is the predominantly indigenous
campesino populations and those in solidarity with them and the
organized masses as a whole that are being targeted. The rigged judicial
system that currently operates at the behest of the dictatorship has
put protesters into what is called “<a href="https://perso.unifr.ch/derechopenal/assets/files/obrasportales/op_20131108_01.pdf" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">preventative detention<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>”
ranging from 9 months to 3 years on trumped up charges that have yet to
yield any substantial evidence. Just this past week, coup leader Dina
Boluarte and her Prime Minister Otárola sent a bill (“<a href="https://www.prensa-latina.cu/2023/02/22/cuestionan-en-peru-nuevo-proyecto-contra-protestas-sociales" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">proyecto de ley<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>”)
to Congress to increase penalties and fines across the board for any
arrests made during the State of Emergency, effectively criminalizing
protests. The masses understand this is a reaction to the sustained
mobilizations happening across the country and that the regime fears the
power of the people, otherwise these extreme measures would not be
necessary. But despite this political repression, there has not been one
day without mobilization, speak outs, vigils, bloqueos (roadblocks) or
strikes. Here are some of the stories of political repression under the
US-backed Boluarte/Fujimontesinista dictatorship.</p>
<p>One of those targeted is Yaneth Navarro Flor, a teacher from
Andahuaylas (the first region to live through a massacre) who is
currently sitting in pre-trial detention in Lima for 30 months of
“preventative detention” for supposed “disturbances” and “organized
crime.” The judge that ordered those 30 months of preventive detention, <a href="https://limagris.com/pj-ordena-30-meses-de-prision-preventiva-contra-yaneth-navarro-amiga-cercana-de-pedro-castillo/" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">Margarita Salcedo Guevara<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>,
is going by the only so-called evidence that the Peruvian National
Police collected when Yaneth was arrested, which was a little under 1900
soles, a notebook stating purchases made- purchases like toothpaste,
goggles, helmets, blankets, etc and a voice note to Castillo’s sister
saying Andahaylas is in the struggle until the end. The judicial system,
and more broadly this dictatorship, has not been able to provide any
evidence and yet they say they are in a <a href="https://www.infobae.com/america/peru/2022/12/13/movadef-sendero-luminoso-y-el-mrta-estan-detras-de-la-violencia-en-protestas-advirtio-el-jefe-de-la-dircote/" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">war against terrorism<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>
and any supporters of terrorists. According to her close friend Karina,
“Yaneth is a warrior woman from Apurimac who has 3 children, takes care
of her elder parents and is pregnant; she is a single mother and has no
one that can take care of her family.” Speaking in her own words at her
trial, Yaneth declared, “what do I lose in those 30 months? I will lose
probably the last years of my parents’ lives, seeing my teenage
daughters grow up, seeing my 1-year-old baby girl grow, and my baby
inside my belly who is now condemned to grow in an unsuitable
environment.” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zhfUxOC2Vo" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">The judge and the Limeña press,<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>
paid for by the oligarchy and this dictatorship, has gone so far to
call Yaneth “a bad mother for being involved in these acts of
vandalism.” Under this dictatorship, solidarity is equivalent to
vandalism and financing terrorism.</p>
<p>In another act of severe political repression, social movement leaders from the historic organization <a href="https://wayka.pe/fredepa-la-historia-de-los-lideres-sociales-de-ayacucho-acusados-de-terrorismo/" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">FREDEPA<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>
from the province of Ayacucho were rounded up and brutally arrested
during home raids, tortured at a military base then taken by helicopter
to the capital city of Lima to be charged with terrorism. In scenes not
seen since <a href="https://www.cels.org.ar/especiales/plancondor/en/" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">Operation Condor<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>
days, the Peruvian Armed Forces’ use of unmarked vehicles, helicopters,
coordinated round ups and charging long standing community
organizations as “terrorists” have only served to fuel the people’s just
struggle. According to an investigation done by media outlet Wayka
Peru, “On the night of January 12, they were detained by order of the
Prosecutor's Office, which attributes them to being part of a terrorist
organization in addition to having organized and financed the protests
in Ayacucho. Their relatives denounce that they were kidnapped since
they were not taken to a police station, but directly to Los Cabitos, a
military base where human rights were violated (disappearances, murders,
and torture) during the government of Fernando Belaunde Terry and the
dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori.” These social movement leaders now
face <a href="https://www.infobae.com/peru/2023/02/12/juzgado-dictara-resolucion-sobre-prision-preventiva-contra-camarada-cusi-este-miercoles-15/" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">18 months<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a> of preventative detention in Lima, away from family and community.</p>
<p>Two days after the start of the general strike on January 4th, members of the <a href="https://agorapopular.wordpress.com/agora-popular/" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">Asociación Cultural Ágora Popular de la Plaza San Martín<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>,
a cultural association focusing on political education, were ambushed
during the demonstrations and taken to the Cotabambas police station.
According to one of the members Julio, a young labor leader from the
northern region of Piura:</p>
<p>“On January 6th when the mobilizations really started to be felt in
the capital city, we were ambushed in the mobilizations on Abancay Ave
from all 4 corners by police with around 250 protesters. We were
cornered by police with batons and shields and rounded up on a bus where
we were verbally assaulted and taken to Cotabambas. Finally, after 4
hours of detention, they let us free but not without violating all our
rights.”</p>
<p>Though the people who had been arrested that night were eventually
released, they continue to be persecuted during the daily
demonstrations.</p>
<p>These are just a few of the cases of the severe political repression
the people of Perú now live through. Despite the brutality with which
the Peruvian Armed Forces have submitted the masses to under the orders
of the bloody Boluarte/ Fujimori dictatorship, the people continue to go
out every day demanding the liberty and restitution of President Pedro
Castillo, the closure of Congress, a Popular Constituent Assembly and
for justice for our 77 fallen comrades and thousands severely injured
during this coup.</p>
<p><em><strong>Clau O'Brien Moscoso is an organizer with the Black
Alliance for Peace in the Haiti/Americas Team. Originally from Barrios
Altos, Lima, she grew up in New Jersey and now lives between both
countries.</strong></em></p><p><font size="1"><a href="https://blackagendareport.com/political-repression-under-peruvian-coup-regime">https://blackagendareport.com/political-repression-under-peruvian-coup-regime</a></font></p>
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