(Abancay) “We’re not going to stop there. If the elites and the Parliament do not back down, we can go as far as an insurrection”, announces, determined, Juan Ochicua, a 53-year-old Peruvian peasant.
A hundred people from his indigenous village of Quishuara traveled 80 km in a truck to briefly and peacefully block the road between Abancay and Andahuaylas, two towns in Apurimac (southeastern Andes), the epicenter of the unrest in Peru which left 21 dead and shakes the country.
“The Constitution authorizes civil disobedience and insurrection against an illegal government”, he adds while his companions chant “What do the people want?” Dissolution of Parliament! “.
“Indigenous people are not respected in Peru. We are economically mistreated. Politically marginalized,” he adds.
It is deep and poor Peru. Some pants are torn. Worn jackets at the sleeves do not close due to missing zippers. Some shoes have holes. We chew coca leaf transported in plastic bags.
Castillo “trapped”
Here at 2700 meters above sea level, the Andean landscape with its arid mountains is magnificent, but difficult for these peasants living from potato cultivation.
“We manage to survive. In Apurimac we have the largest mining company in the country (Chinese MMG) in Las Bambas (copper). The money was to be invested here in irrigation infrastructure. It is the big companies in agreement with the Parliament which take the wealth of the country”, protests Freddy Quispe, a 45-year-old farmer.
Six of the 21 dead in the country during the demonstrations were killed in Apurimac, a small department of 500,000 inhabitants.
These began after former President Pedro Castillo’s failed attempt on December 7 to dissolve parliament and rule by decree.
Of indigenous origin, the deposed president, who was arrested when he wanted to take refuge in the Mexican embassy, is very popular in the Andean regions where he represented a kind of revenge of the indigenous province on the capital Lima and its elites.
“We set a trap for him. We tricked him into declaring the auto-coup,” said Maximo Chirinos, a teacher in Abancay, a town of 100,000 inhabitants on the mountainside and administrative capital of Apurimac, which is also the native region of the new President Dina Boluarte. She was Mr. Castillo’s vice-president and succeeded him in power.
She is now hated by her people who reproach her for not having resigned after the arrest of the president and hold her responsible for the repression.
A few people give him credit for his respect for the constitution, believing that he should be given some time. But the vast majority, even those who campaign for an end to the demonstrations, are asking for his resignation.
Trying to stop the sling, Mme Boluarte promised to bring the elections forward from 2026 to 2024, then to 2023, while declaring a state of emergency which bans meetings and demonstrations and allows the army to intervene.
On Monday, opponents of the president nevertheless called a demonstration. Anti-riot police forces, helmets and equipped with shields block the road in front of the church of Guadalupe but dispatch emissaries to speak with the persons in charge.
“Dina Murders”
Prosecutor Vicky Caichihua Castro firmly warns: “The freedom to demonstrate is a right. However, we are in a state of emergency and the state of emergency restricts these rights. Demonstrations are prohibited but we will let you exercise your right. Attention ! Peacefully! The police will accompany you. If there are acts of vandalism, she will intervene! »
“No balaclavas, no slingshots or stones,” adds a police officer.
Officials agree, swearing that the violence and degradation of recent days are the work of pro-Fujimori (former president) infiltrators or special police forces. A very widespread theory among the demonstrators.
A procession of some 600 people moves behind a banner “Dina murders”. The president is in the crosshairs.
“Dina murders, Shame on Apurimac”, “Dina listen, the people repudiate you”, cries the crowd.
Among the demonstrators, Rosario Medrano Aguirre, a 72-year-old shopkeeper, straw hat on her head and black jacket adorned with a red badge of Tupac Amaru, a mythologized indigenous leader who fought against the Spaniards.
“Tupac, it’s wrestling time!” The people of Apurimac demonstrate because the State, the parliamentarians and the usurper Dina Boluarte are trampling on our rights, they want our wealth. Mme Boluarte betrayed the Apurimac, she hurts women. She has no heart. So many deaths! “, she says.
“These right-wingers eat well, drink well and dress well with our money. And the indigenous people have no medicine, no good education,” she added.
“Let her (Boluarte) dissolve Parliament, let her resign! Otherwise we are all going to Lima to close the parliament! “, she swears.