While the Peruvian Congress was preparing to vote on a third motion to impeach then-president Pedro Castillo, the former president announced the dissolution of Parliament on December 7, 2022. Immediately afterwards, the Legislature dismissed Castillo for “moral incapacity” considering that The ruler “violated the Constitution,” a decision that the Army supported. Finally, Dina Boluarte, vice president at the time, assumed the head of the Executive.
A year ago, the so-called “self-coup d’état” of Pedro Castillo occurred, an action that left him dismissed and detained, and which subsequently led him to prison.
365 days later, the Andean country remains mired in political instability and constant disputes in the Legislature.
The 17 months of the Government of the leftist Pedro Castillo were marked by constant accusations against him and attempts to remove him from his mandate.
His arrival to power was a shock to the most conservative sectors of the country, which immediately questioned even his own democratic election. Several business and civil groups declared war on him from the start and accused him of alleged corruption on repeated occasions. .
After his tortuous administration, on a day like today but in 2022, the acting president interrupted the usual programming on national television and read a speech that, without knowing it at the time, signed the death certificate of his mandate.
Cornered by a Parliament that placed accusations against him in the full room, Pedro’s castle began to collapse and ended in a speech that made public the closure of the Legislature and the formation of an emergency Executive that would govern by decree.
We denounce that the conspiracy to overthrow brother @PedroCastilloTe It was to massacre and punish our indigenous Peruvian brothers, plunder their natural resources and free Fujimori, despite his convictions and the refusal of the @IACHR.
The world is…
— Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) December 7, 2023
Immediately, the national and international press described the event as a “self-coup d’état” that had no support from any sector, not even the military. Minutes later, he was impeached by Congress, arrested by his bodyguard and imprisoned for crimes of rebellion and conspiracy.
The Executive declared December 7 as the “Day of Institutionality, the Rule of Law and the Defense of Democracy”, a slogan that provokes the opponents, who also in these 12 months have sought a way to defend their leader.
21 days later he published on his Twitter account an extensive response to the accusations against him:
“I have not committed the crime of conspiracy. Those who have done so are those who, from Congress and other institutions, have been plotting the fall of my Government, through successive requests for a presidential vacancy and other tricks. “If my family has had to leave the country and take refuge, it is because in Peru they were in danger, not only their freedom, but also their integrity and their own lives,” reads in X’s post.
“However, I will stay here to face any process because I have the truth on my side. You must be aware, gentlemen supreme judges, that, to date, I am incommunicado. I have not had access to a telephone number to call my family ” keep going.
A year ago, Peru witnessed the kidnapping that I suffered at the hands of criminal groups that today exercise corrupt control over our country. They usurped the will of my people after taking away their vote, and when they rose up in protest, they were massacred. Peruvian people:…
— Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) December 7, 2023
The vice president takes the reins
One cannot talk about the fall of Pedro Castillo without the assumption of Dina Boluarte: the then vice president of the country was sworn in as the new president with the hope of beginning a new transition period that never was.
Peruvians, some in support of the ousted president and others discouraged by the constant political instability, took to the streets seeking to bring forward the general elections, a request that was shouted in the capitals but was silenced inside Congress.
The protests intensified until they left a social crisis that affected most of the urban region of the Andean country, with more than 49 deaths and another twenty additional deaths linked to events.
Day of protest in the streets of Lima to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte
In the following months the Legislature grew larger and the Executive shrank considerably. Congress, despite having more than 90% disapproval in official polls, has taken on political weight that may make it last for several more years.
“The Executive is weak, she is a president who has already been repeatedly said that she lacks a party, a bench, she lacks citizen support, she lacks strong social, regional and local references,” the political analyst explained to the news agency, EFE. Fernando Tuesta.
“The priority of Congress is to survive until July 28, 2026, in the meantime it advances like a hurricane, destroying everything established” and in an “anti-reformist” desire, Tuesta added.
“No progress has been made, it has gone backwards,” declared the analyst, in reference to the cancellation of the university reform and the political reform, among others.
What awaits Peru in 2024?
Although the following year is shaping up to be a turbulent year with the same problems such as the lack of reforms, the social disapproval of politicians and the anger of a population that has not healed, Boluarte still must deal with a country with an insecurity that has left cases of extortion quintupled, homicides that have increased by almost 90% and an increase in crime that led the Government to declare a state of emergency in several areas of the Peruvian capital.
Political analysts consulted by the Clarín media outlet conclude that “it is unlikely that the cycle of political crisis, weak governments and unsatisfied social demands that has paralyzed successive Peruvian governments for seven years will be broken.”
On the former president’s restitution!” says the publication.
A year ago, Peru witnessed the kidnapping that I suffered at the hands of criminal groups that today exercise corrupt control over our country. They usurped the will of my people after taking away their vote, and when they rose up in protest, they were massacred. Peruvian people:…
— Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) December 7, 2023
Meanwhile, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) presented itself as Castillo’s hope, as his defense appealed to the entity with the aim of correcting “the irregularities” surrounding his client’s case.
“What we are going to take to the Inter-American Court is how the authorities have violated due process and how they have conspired against President Castillo,” Eduardo Pachas, Pedro Castillo’s lawyer, told EFE.
The defense has said that the speech that led to Castillo’s dismissal was about “words that were part of a speech,” but that his words “were not executable.”
“He was the president of Peru, he had immunity and Congress had not voted for his dismissal or vacancy. Let that be clear. Therefore, when the Police detained him (…) he had immunity. A crime has been committed against a guarantee , the right to individual freedom related to presidential immunity,” said Pachas.
With EFE and local media.
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