The new president of Peru has tried this morning to settle the open crisis as a result of the arrest of Pedro Castillo, who wanted to dissolve Congress with an attempted coup. His successor, Dina Boluarte, in a very precarious situation due to the protests that have taken place around the country since then, has declared a state of emergency in the south, where two protesters have died at the hands of the authorities, and has assured that he will propose that hold new elections in April 2024.
Boluarte has been forced to set a date for the electoral advance due to the pressure she has received from the street. Days ago she had shown her intention to remain in office until 2026, when her term expires. However, protests by citizens demanding the dissolution of Congress —what Castillo attempted in an authoritarian manner— and a call to the polls have grown around the country.
It remains to be seen if it will be enough for Congress and the protesters to want to remain in office for a year and three months, instead of tackling this crisis with an electoral call. The president has offered a more leisurely option. “I will send to Congress a bill to advance the elections to be agreed with the political forces represented in parliament,” she explained this Monday.
Knowing that the nation is immersed in a deep institutional crisis, Boluarte has also announced that it will promote a reform that allows citizens to have a system “free from all practices of corruption.” Peru has had six presidents in the last four years and almost all of them have been impeached for lying, stealing or breaking the law. “I call on all the parties and the Peruvian people to participate in this process so that a wave of democratic will guides and guides us”, she continued in a message to the nation read at midnight.
The interim president had assured days ago that she did not intend to hold on to the position. “If society and the situation warrant it, we will advance the elections in conversation with the political and democratic forces of Congress. We will sit down to talk, ”she maintained. To appear strong, she appointed a cabinet to replace the ill-fated Castillo government. That is the Executive that Boluarte expects to maintain for another 15 months.
Castillo, who came to power a year and a half ago after winning the elections, was never able to take the political initiative and lived submerged in his own chaos and at the mercy of the continuous impediments that Congress placed on him, which tried to oust him on two occasions. previous. The third time was the charm, after the president gave himself a coup last Wednesday and announced the dissolution of the chamber. He failed because he did not have the support of the military or the police and ended up arrested for sedition.
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Castillo’s supporters took to the streets from then on. They ask that he be released and that Boluarte call elections. They believe that the current situation represents a victory for Congress, which has achieved the goal of ousting Castillo and staying on its feet at the same time. Congressmen have become an obstacle for Peruvian presidents, who usually come to power without large benches and spend their terms trying to oust heads of state. They use a figure called a vacancy for permanent moral incapacity, a mechanism that should be used to remove leaders with mental problems. However, it is applied with great ease, since only two thirds of the congressmen are needed to achieve it.
Instability has ignited part of the country. In the center of Lima, followers of Castillo camp, who assure that they will not move from there until there is a new call for elections. They wear T-shirts that read: “Shutdown Corrupt Congress! Pedro Castillo, freedom”. Every night they try to surround the chamber, but the police contain them with tear gas.
It is in the south of the country where the protests are most intense, which is why Boluarte has decreed a state of emergency in that area. Two young people have died in the last few hours in the city of Andahuaylas, in the Apurímac region, where there have been clashes between the authorities and protesters. Apurímac is the place of origin of Boluarte, who never had a very fluid relationship with Castillo. From prison, the president has accused him of being part of a plot to take away his command.
The social leaders of that region have declared themselves in rebellion, they do not recognize the new president. For this Monday they have announced an indefinite strike that could be extended to other areas of Peru. Castillo’s fall occurred in the midst of four consecutive days of partying, which may have dampened the reception of the attempted coup. These days are going to be the true litmus test for Boluarte and his intention to continue for a long time in the Presidency.
Meanwhile, Congress met on Sunday afternoon to discuss the document with which the nation’s prosecutor has launched an investigation against Castillo for the crime of rebellion. The session had to be suspended after one of the congressmen attacked another from behind. Tension has gripped the country.
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