Xigasho: NACLA
With his wide-brimmed peasant hat and oversized teacher’s pencil held high, Peru’s Pedro Castillo traveled the country ahead of the June 6 election exhorting voters to get behind a call that has been particularly urgent during this devastating pandemic: “No más pobres en un país rico”— No more poor people in a rich country. In a cliff-hanger election with a huge urban-rural and class divide, it appears that the rural teacher, farmer, and union leader is about to make history by defeating powerful far-right candidate Keiko Fujimori, scion of the country’s political “Fujimori dynasty.”
With 95 percent of the vote counted, Castillo led with 50.3 percent over Fujimori’s 49.7 percent. With her opponent in the lead by a narrow margin, now Fujimori is challenging the results, alleging widespread fraud. Her campaign has only presented evidence of isolated irregularities, and so far there is nothing to suggest a tainted vote. However, she can challenge some of the votes to delay the final results, and much like in the United States, even an allegation of fraud by the losing candidate will cause uncertainty and raise tensions.
Castillo’s victory will be remarkable not only because he is a leftist teacher who is the son of illiterate peasants and whose campaign was grossly outspent by Fujimori. But also, there was a relentless propaganda attack against him that touched on historical fears of Peru’s middle class and elites. This campaign was la mid ah to what happened recently to progressive candidate Andrés Arauz, who narrowly lost Ecuador’s presidential elections in April, but even more intense.
Grupo El Comercio, a media conglomerate that controls 80 percent of Peru’s newspapers, led the charge against Castillo.
Grupo El Comercio, a media conglomerate that controls 80 percent of Peru’s newspapers, led the charge against Castillo. Its media outlets accused him of being a terrorist with links to the Shining Path, a guerrilla group whose conflict with the state between 1980 and 2002 led to tens of thousands of deaths and left the population traumatized. Castillo’s link to the Shining Path link is flimsy: while a hogaamiyaha with the education workers’ union SUTEP, Castillo is said to have been friendly with the Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights (Movadef), a group alleged to have been the political wing of the Shining Path. In reality, Castillo wuxuu ahaa a rondero markii kacdoonku ugu firfircoonaa. Ronderos wuxuu ahaa kooxo isdifaacid beeraley ah oo ka difaacay beeshooda jabhadaha isla markaana sii wadaya inay ka hortagaan dambiyada iyo rabshadaha.
Laba toddobaad doorashada ka hor, Maajo 23, 18 qof ayaa lagu xasuuqay miyiga magaalada Peru ee San Miguel del Ene. Dawladdu markiiba loo aaneeyey weerarka ku haray haraaga Wadada ifaysa ee ku lugta leh ka ganacsiga daroogada, in kasta oo aysan kooxna wali qaadin masuuliyada. Warbaahinta ayaa weerarka la xiriirisay Castillo iyo ololihiisa, iyagoo cabsi ka qabay rabshado badan haddii uu ku guuleysto xilka madaxweynaha. Castillo wuu cambaareeyay weerarka wuxuuna xasuusiyay reer Peru in xasuuq la mid ah kan la mid ah uu ka dhacay ka hor ilaa Doorashooyinkii 2011 iyo 2016. Dhinaceeda, Fujimori soo jeediyay Castillo ayaa lala xiriiriyay dilka.
Peruvian newspapers spread fear about Castillo during the campaign.
Billboards along Lima’s main highway asked: “Would you like to live in Cuba or Venezuela?” referring to a Castillo win.
On the economic front, Castillo has been accused of being a communist who wants to nationalize key industries and would turn Peru into a “kaligii talisnimo arxan daran” like Venezuela. Billboards along Lima’s main highway asked: “Would you like to live in Cuba or Venezuela?” referring to a Castillo win. Newspapers linked Castillo’s campaign to the devaluation of the Peruvian currency and warned that a Castillo victory would hurt low-income Peruvians the most because businesses would shutter or move overseas. Time and time again, the Castillo campaign has caddayn inuusan ahayn shuuciye ujeeddadiisuna aysan aheyn in la qarameeyo warshadaha laakiin loo baahan yahay in dib loogala xaajoodo qandaraasyada dalal badan si faa iidooyinka ugu badan ay ula sii joogaan bulshada deegaanka
Meanwhile, Fujimori was treated with kid gloves by the media during the campaign, with one newspapers claiming that “Keiko guarantees work, food, health and an immediate reactivation of the economy.” Her past as a first lady during her father Alberto Fujimori’s brutal rule is largely ignored by corporate media. She is able to claim that “fujimorismo defeated terrorism” without being challenged on the horrors that fujimorismo inflicted on the country, including the forced sterilization of over 270,000 haween ah iyo 22,000 oo rag ah for which her father is on trial. He is currently in prison over other human rights abuses and corruption, though Keiko promised to free him if she won. The media also ignored the fact that Keiko is out on bail as of last year, pending a baaritaanka lacagta la dhaqay, oo aan lahayn xasaanad madaxweyne, waxay u badan tahay inay ku dambayso xabsi.
The international media was no different in its unbalanced coverage of Castillo and Fujimori. Bloomberg warned that “Elites ayaa gariiraya "markii loo maleynayay in Castillo uu madaxweyne yahay, Oo ah Financial Times cinwaanka screamed “Peru’s elite in panic at prospect of hard-left victory in presidential election.”
Peru’s economy has grown impressively over the past 20 years, but that growth did not raise all boats.
Peru’s economy has grown impressively over the past 20 years, but that growth did not raise all boats. Millions of Peruvians in the countryside have been abandoned by the state. On top of that, like many of its neighbors—including Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador—Peru has underinvested in health care, education, and other social programs. Such choices so decimated the health care system that Peru now has the shameful distinction of leading the entire world in per capita Covid-19 deaths.
In addition to the public health disaster, Peruvians have been living through political turmoil marked by an extraordinary number of high-profile cases of corruption and four presidents in three years. Five of its last seven presidents faced corruption accusations. In 2020, Congress impeached and unseated President Martín Vizcarra, also accused of corruption, and replaced him with Manuel Merino. Many denounced the maneuver as a parliamentary coup, leading to several days of massive street protests. Just five days into his tenure, Merino resigned and was replaced by current interim President Francisco Sagasti.
Written in 1993 under the regime of Alberto Fujimori, the current constitution entrenched neoliberalism into its framework.
One of Castillo’s key campaign promises is to convoke a constitutional referendum to let the people decide whether they want a new constitution or wish to keep the current one. Written in 1993 under the regime of Alberto Fujimori, the current constitution entrenched neoliberalism into its framework.
“The current constitution prioritizes private interests over public interests, profit over life and dignity,” reads Castillo’s madal. His campaign proposes that a new constitution include: recognition and guarantees for the rights to health, education, food, housing, and internet access; recognition for Indigenous peoples and Peru’s cultural diversity; recognition of the rights of nature; redesign of the state to focus on transparency and citizens’ participation; and a key role for the state in strategic planning to ensure that the public interest takes precedence.
Dhanka siyaasadda arrimaha dibedda, guushii Castillo waxay u noqon doontaa dharbaaxo weyn oo ku timaadda danaha Mareykanka ee gobolka iyo tallaabo muhiim ah oo dib loogu soo nooleynayo isdhexgalka Latin America. Wuxuu ballanqaaday inuu Peru ka saarayo Kooxda Lima, oo ah guddi ku meel gaadh ah oo ka socda waddamada u heellan isbeddelka nidaamka ee Venezuela.
In addition, Castillo’s Peru Libre party has loo yaqaan expelling USAID and for the closure of U.S. military bases in the country. Castillo has also expressed support for countering the Organization of American States and xoojinta labadaba the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). The victory is also a good omen for the Left in Chile, Colombia, and Brazil, each of which will have presidential elections over the next year and a half.
Castillo will face a daunting task, with a hostile Congress, a hostile business class, a hostile press, and most likely, a hostile Biden administration. The support of millions of angry and mobilized Peruvians demanding change, along with international solidarity, will be key to fulfilling his campaign promise of addressing the needs of the poorest and most abandoned sectors of Peruvian society.
Medea Benjamin, oo ah aasaasaha kooxda nabadda ee CODEPINK iyo qoraa buugaag ah oo ku saabsan Bariga Dhexe iyo Latin America, waxay ku sugan tahay Peru iyadoo ay la socdaan wafdi kormeerayaal doorasho ah oo ay soo qabanqaabisay Progressive International.
Leonardo Flores waa khabiir ku xeel dheer siyaasada Latin America isla markaana u ololeeya CODEPINK.
ZNetwork waxa lagu maalgeliyaa oo keliya deeqsinimada akhristeyaasheeda.
Nalasoo