The Bolivian president’s chaotic epoch since he was ousted by Castillo and the US Ambassador to Peru (Kenna)

Dina Boluarte became Peru’s first female President on Wednesday, capping off a dramatic day which saw her predecessor arrested for the alleged crime of rebellion and impeached by lawmakers.

The protests erupted after Castillo was removed from power by lawmakers last week, following his attempt to dissolve Congress ahead of a third impeachment vote. The crisis has only deepened the instability gripping the country, which has had six presidents in as many years.

He was impeached in Congress in spite of the cabinet resignations, fiery responses from top officials, and condemnation from regional neighbors.

The United States urged the leader to reverse the move in order to allow the democratic institutions to function according to the constitution, said US Ambassador in Peru Lisa Kenna.

Since he took office in July 2021, Castillo’s administration has been a chaotic mess of far left infighting, endless corruption scandals and ineptitude.

He ran on a platform promising to rewrite the constitution and increase wealth redistribution by granting states greater control over markets and natural resources, pledges that he has struggled to deliver amid rising inflation in Peru, his lack of political experience and strong conservative opposition in Congress.

The government of the leftist leader had been mired in chaos since inauguration, with dozens of ministers appointed, replaced, fired or quitting their posts in little over a year – piling further pressure on him.

Indicators of alleged corruption: The case of the ex-President Castillo and the apex of the Peruvian presidential palace

Three of the six investigations that the office had opened resulted in a complaint being filed against Castillo. The complaint allows Congress to carry out its own investigation against the former President.

Castillo has repeatedly denied all allegations and reiterated his willingness to cooperate with any investigation. He claims the allegations are a result of a witch-hunting against him and his family from groups that didn’t accept his election victory.

The former President is under criminal investigations for his alleged involvement in corruption schemes while he was in office. Prosecutors claim he led a criminal network that interfered with public institutions and benefited certain companies and allies.

The former President is being investigated for his involvement with efforts to influence the process of promoting officers in the armed forces and national police.

The sister-in-law of her spouse is under investigation for being a member of a criminal organization and money-laundering group. She was in custody until a judge revoked herpreventive detainer. She has also denied any wrongdoing.

Castillo said during his speech from the Presidential Palace that his family had been attacked to destroy him because they did not want him to finish his term.

In the same speech, Castillo admitted some of his closest allies should face justice over allegations of corruption, saying, “If they betrayed my trust, let justice take care of them.”

Her ascendency may not necessarily ease Peru’s toxic and embittered political landscape as she would need to gain cross party support to be able to govern.

Many Peruvians have been calling for a total reset. According to a poll by the Institute of Peru Studies, sixty five percent of people in the country support early elections to refresh the presidency and Congress.

Why did Castillo lose his first election? What he didn’t tell him about his failed coup attempt to remove him from the Philippine House

The fact that the high-stakes gamble may have been unnecessary was the most telling detail of Castillo’s failed coup attempt.

The power grab was so flagrant that many members of Congress who had previously backed the erratic political novice, felt they had no choice but to vote to remove him. The impeachment debate was moved forward on an emergency basis and Castillo was ousted by 101 votes to six just under two hours after he had made his dramatic TV appearance.

The result is that lawmakers had already twice tried to impeach him but on each occasion failed to reach the required two-thirds supermajority. The scenario appeared likely to repeat after the frantic vote counting on Wednesday morning.

The calculus was changed by Castillo’s trembling hands as he clutched the sheet of paper on which his speech was written.

That then followed a brief period of uncertainty over the now ex-president’s whereabouts, until it emerged that his SUV had become stuck in Lima’s frequently gridlocked traffic on its way to the Mexican Embassy, where Castillo had been planning to request asylum.

He appeared in court on Thursday looking worse for wear after having spent his first night in the cells. The judges ordered the ex-president to remain in preliminary confinement for another week after rejecting his lawyer’s request for a writ of habeas corpus.

Also a political neophyte, it remains unclear whether the 60-year-old lawyer has the political skills to build a legislative alliance within the conservative-dominated Congress and bring the Andean nation’s six years of political turmoil to an end.

But Boluarte appears better qualified than Castillo — who faces half a dozen different corruption investigations, including one for allegedly falsifying his master’s thesis — and should at least get a honeymoon period of several months.

Defending President Pedro Castillo in Lima, Peru During the Recent Political Crisis and Appeals to the Justice of a Presiding Judge

Even though the country’s democratic institutions have been tested, they have managed to survive this latest assault.

There have been only small protests and violence in the streets and most citizens appear to understand that, although lawmakers’ motives in seeking to oust Castillo may have been, in part, self-serving, ultimately the president simply had to go.

Maybe, just maybe, the new government and Congress will finally find some common ground in addressing ordinary Peruvians’ numerous serious challenges, from endemic food insecurity to the social fallout from the pandemic in a society which has had the highest Covid 19 mortality in the world.

LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian judge on Thursday ordered ousted President Pedro Castillo to remain in custody for 18 months as nationwide protests set off by the political crisis showed no signs of abating and the death toll rose to at least 14.

The judge’s decision came a day after the government declared a police state as it struggles to calm the violence that has been particularly fierce in impoverished Andean regions that were the base of support for Castillo, a leftist former schoolteacher, himself of humble roots.

The ousting of the political neophyte whose surprise election last year resulted in immediate pushback from the political elite has drawn thousands of his loyal supporters to the streets.

Judge Juan Carlos Checkley Soria’s ruling came after Congress stripped Castillo of the privilege that keeps Peru’s presidents from facing criminal charges.

Castillo and his legal team refused to participate in Thursday’s virtual hearing, arguing it lacked “minimum guarantees.” A public defender representing him said the judge’s decision will be appealed.

Lima protests against Dina Boluarte’s ouster in the wake of the national emergency declaration – pressure on the government and Congress

A group of protesters and police in riot gear gather in central Lima Thursday evening. As per the nationwide emergency declaration issued Wednesday, a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed in at least 15 communities.

The protesters were demanding Castillo’s freedom, the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, and the immediate scheduling of general elections to pick a new president and members of Congress. They have burned police stations, taken over an airstrip used by the armed forces and invaded the runway of the international airport in Arequipa, a gateway to some of Peru’s tourist attractions.

Thousands of tourists were affected by the protests. The passenger train that carries visitors to Machu Picchu suspended service, and roadblocks on the Pan-American Highway stranded tractor trailers for days, spoiling food bound for the capital.

“I was about to return to Ecuador on Monday, and unfortunately, they told us that all flights were canceled due to the protests,” said Karen Marcillo, 28, who has had to sleep at the Teniente Alejandro Velasco Astete airport in Cusco.

The impact on tourism comes as the country recovers from the effects of the Purge, which reduced the number of visitors by 400,000 last year.

“She’s doing a good job right now,” said Cynthia McClintock, a political science professor at George Washington University who has studied Peru extensively. “But it’s a big challenge.”

While some protesters “seem to want kind of instability at any cost,” McClintock said, others saw Castillo’s ouster as an opening to express simmering grievances, such as deep inequality, poverty and lack of public services.

Lawmakers are seeking to keep their jobs so Boluarte may be given some breathing room. They cannot pursue re-election and would be jobless if a general election for Congress is scheduled, as protesters want.

Boluarte’s proposal that general elections could be held in December 2022, four months earlier than congress had proposed, was seen as an attempt to appease the protesters.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/16/1143328638/peru-judge-18-months-detention-pedro-castillo

A prosecutor in Andahuayla says Castillo was a flight risk and could return to work if freed

Rural, impoverished communities outside of Lima are strongholds of Castillo due to his lack of political experience.

In Andahuaylas, where at least four people have died since the demonstrations began, no soldiers were on the streets Thursday despite the government declaration allowing the armed forces to help maintain public order.

Some grocery store owners there were clearing the roads littered with rocks and burned tires, but planned to close their doors because of the expected protests led by people from nearby rural communities.

Chinchay, the government’s top prosecutor, insisted Castillo was a flight risk, saying he was trying to reach the Mexican Embassy to seek asylum after he left the presidential palace.

In issuing his ruling, the Judge Checkley said a “concrete flight risk” still exists and “remains latent over time. Castillo’s attempts to reach the Mexican embassy were just one of many factors he cited, including the fact that the Mexican president and foreign minister had expressed willingness to offer him asylum.

Castillo’s public defender, Italo Díaz, rejected assertions the former president is a flight risk. He told the judge that he could return to his job if freed, because Castillo’s family depended on him.

The National Police facility, where Castillo is being held, is a built-for-presidents facility. Police were in riot gear on Thursday as Castillo supporters gathered at the facility.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/16/1143328638/peru-judge-18-months-detention-pedro-castillo

Mauro Castillo asks the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intercede for his “rights and the rights of my brothers who cry out for justice”

The military and the police have the power to search people’s homes without judicial order if there is a state of emergency.

In a handwritten letter shared Wednesday with The Associated Press by his associate, Mauro Gonzales, Castillo asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intercede for his “rights and the rights of my Peruvian brothers who cry out for justice.” The commission investigates allegations of human rights violations and litigates them in some cases.