Dina Boluarte, the First Lady of the Philippines, and the Founding of the “Pink Tide” in the 2021 Rio de Janeiro
In a nationally broadcast address Monday, Dina Boluarte announced she was giving in to protesters’ demands and sending Congress a proposal to move up elections.
Boluarte, who was elected on Wednesday, was the first female President of the country after lawmakers chose to defy Castillo, who was attempting to get Congress dissolved and hold early elections in order to keep his job.
Hours after Castillo stunned the country by ordering the dissolution of Congress, Boluarte was sworn in to replace him. Castillo was arrested on charges of rebellion.
The political parties in Peru have begun to call for early elections because they say it is the only way to fix the political corruption that has seen six presidents in under five years.
“I know that there are some voices that indicate early elections and that is democratically respectable. I believe that the assumption of the Presidency on this occasion is a bit of a reorientation of what must be done with the country,” Boluarte told journalists on Thursday, adding that she will later look “at alternatives to better reorient the destinations of the country.”
Boluarte, in her first speech as President, called for a political truce and said that she would fight corruption with the help of the Attorney General’s Office and the Comptroller’s Office.
Boluarte’s first task is to fight corruption in all forms. “I have seen with revulsion how the press and judicial bodies have reported shameful acts of robbery against the money of all Peruvians, this cancer must be rooted out.”
Castillo was mired in several investigations on whether he used his position to benefit himself, his family and his closest friends by using their influence to gain favor or preferential treatment.
Castillo has repeatedly denied all allegations and reiterated his willingness to cooperate with any investigation. He argues the allegations are a result of a witch-hunt against him and his family from groups that failed to accept his election victory.
His arrest marks a humiliating downturn in Castillo’s short political career. The former teacher rose from obscurity to be elected in July 2021, by a narrow margin. and was seen as part of a “pink tide” of new left-wing leaders in Latin America.
He ran on a platform promising to change the constitution and increase wealth redistribution by giving states control over markets and natural resources, but his lack of political experience and strong conservative opposition in Congress have made it difficult to deliver.
Boluarte’s decision came after thousands of demonstrators took to the streets around Peru for another day on Sunday to demand that she resign and schedule elections to replace her and Congress. The deaths of at least two people in a remote community were reported due to the protests.
Many of the people demonstrating in the political crisis are demanding that Pedro Castillo, the center- left president who was ousted by the legislature, be released from custody.
Rural areas where Castillo hails from, a poor mountain district, were the strongholds of the protests. Protesters set fire to a police station, vandalized a small airport used by the armed forces, and marched in the streets.
Peru President Proposes Moving Up Elections amid Protests: The 15-Year-Old Student Died in Andahuaylas
A 15-year-old boy died of an injury suffered during a protest in the remote Andes community of Andahuaylas, Congresswoman Maria Taipe Coronado said as she made an impassioned plea from the legislative palace for Boluarte to step down.
“The death of this compatriot is the responsibility of Mrs. Dina for not submitting her resignation,” charged Taipe, who is affiliated with the party which helped Castillo and Boluarte to their election last year as president and vice president respectively before both were kicked out of that party. “Since when is protesting a crime?”
Taipe said authorities were using repressive tactics to quell protests. It’s not clear how the boy was killed and state media didn’t give any details about the second death.
Anthony Gutiérrez, director of a local hospital, told a radio station that the second protester to die was an 18-year-old person. There were at least 26 people injured.
“The life of no Peruvian deserves to be sacrificed for political interests,” Boluarte tweeted Sunday following Taipe’s speech in Congress. I send my sympathies to the family of a person who died in Andahuaylas. I repeat my call for dialogue and an end to violence.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/12/1142168523/peru-president-proposes-moving-up-elections-amid-protests
The power struggle continues in the Andes–a country struggling through the worst drought in a half-century after the pandemic
Hundreds of people gathered near the legislative palace on Sunday. There were police officers who used tear gas against those gathered while the Legislature was about to start. Police also chased and beat protesters as they ran from the scene amid clouds of gas.
The power struggle in the country has continued as the Andes region and its thousands of small farms struggle to survive the worst drought in a half-century. The country has recorded 4.3 million infections and 217,000 deaths from the Pandemic in the past five years.