Violence in Peru: The Roots of Inequality
Image courtesy of Alvaro Palacios via Unsplash
Early in December, Peru’s former president, Pedro Castillo, made efforts to eliminate Congress to avoid yet another trial calling for his impeachment. Castillo was then forcibly removed from his position that same month by the impeachment’s passing. This removal sparked violence from Castillo’s supporters, and tension across the country quickly heightened after his successor, former vice president Dina Boluarte, took office as the new President of Peru. The transition was met with strong public disapproval, and the country has since fallen into a spiral of violence, protests, and anger. Peru’s fragile state and its resulting brutality has led to suffering felt deeply throughout the country. Peruvian deaths from demonstrations and protests have ranged far and wide, from medical students to teenage volunteers to police officers.
In the beginning, Castillo did not have any experience in politics; rather, he came from a humble background as a teacher from the rural south of Peru and an active member of peasant patrols. He was the first Indigenous president, not from the elite groups of Peru, and this made him loved publicly as much of the largely-Indigenous country finally felt represented. Even in the face of critics, his widespread base of supporters remained loyal. In areas such as Puno, a largely-Indigenous community, 90 percent of Peruvians casted their vote for Castillo when he ran in 2021, inspired by his pledge to focus on the poor and rural communities in Peru. The groups that put their support towards Castillo are no longer willing to support the Peruvian government under Boluarte’s control when they are considered “second-class citizens” in their own country as her administration fails to focus major, necessary attention on the rural areas.
While on the surface violent protests appear to be in response to Boluarte’s succession of Castillo, there is evidence from Peru’s indigenous groups pointing to deeper roots of anger. These groups, along with peasant communities in the Andes and the Amazon, are historically marginalized, creating a division that is decades old between Lima’s politicians and the marginalized that deepens each year. For generations, political instability has resulted from civil inequalities that have its roots in Peru’s feudal history. In the 1800s, still only a fraction of the population was able to vote. Indigenous people, who comprised over 60 percent of Peru’s population, were excluded from government and the right to choose their government. In the years since then, these groups were still looked at as subjects rather than citizens as the richer groups kept them locked into the structures of feudalism, with dominant elites safe guarding their power over the poorer, Indigenous groups. The first time an Indigenous person was given the power to create change in these dynamics was with the election of Castillo. As such, his removal seemed to signify the disregard and elimination of Indigenous voices.
The government has “given no value to life,” causing over 48 deaths and still failing to move towards any semblance of change. In the face of brutal escalation of violence, the state of Peru is being described as “a massacre.” The government under Boluarte maintains an unspoken alliance with Peru’s far-right politicians and lawmakers. This elite group of politicians, which paints the marginalized communities who are protesting as terrorists, has maintained the practice of dehumanizing protestors in order to legitimize unfair governments for decades.
Allies of indigenous groups are also protesting, showing their support for these discredited communities “who have been treated like garbage for centuries by the ‘elites’”. Surveys show that 58 percent of Peruvians believe authorities are employing excessive force in the face of these protests. 83 percent support moving the presidential elections forward to 2024 to elect a new government as soon as possible, yet another testament to their deep disapproval of Boluarte. Only three in ten Peruvians support her administration.
As Indigenous people and farmers are killed, the racism and classism of elite Peruvians becomes increasingly apparent. The protests display the fight against the extreme inequality that divides the vast regions of Peru that are home to poor, Indigenous groups from the elite landscape of Lima. These poorer regions have long been deprived of good doctors, education, money, and infrastructure, due to systemic inequality and a lack of government support to address these issues. After Castillo’s promise to push for inclusion of the Indigenous peoples, Boluarte’s contrasting support of the Peruvian elites is not being taken lightly.
Although the presidential elections have been moved forward two years to 2024, as an attempt by President Boluarte to calm the protests, the wait will be too long. The protests and massacres will only continue to escalate. The number of people joining the protests is increasing, and as protests increase, brutal responses from the government and police will escalate as well. Without the resignation of President Boluarte, the state of chaos and violence will continue to surge. The UN Human Rights Committee recently launched an investigation looking into the deaths in Peru. Peru’s own attorney general has also started an investigation examining Boluarte’s government and allied politicians for homicide and genocide. As many question “why so many lives [must] be spent just because that woman does not want to leave the government,” Peruvians continue the fight to gain justice for the deaths of so many and receive reparations for the decades of injustice and inequality the lower classes and Indigenous groups of their country have faced.
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