Monthly Archives: January 2023

Indigenous leader shot dead as Peru protests pit rebel campesinos against ruling elite More than 60 were killed in anti-government protests following sudden impeachment of former president Pedro Castillo after his botched coup

Indigenous leader shot dead as Peru protests pit rebel campesinos against ruling elite More than 60 were killed in anti-government protests following sudden impeachment of former president Pedro Castillo after his botched coup
  • January 31, 2023
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Anti-government protester is detained by police in Lima during march against Dina Boluarte, Peru's new president CREDIT: AP Photo/Martin Mejia As they descended on Cusco, the former capital of the Inca empire turned global tourism magnet, Remo Candia insisted to his followers that their anti-government protests remain peaceful. By all accounts, the Quechua-speaking villagers heeded his pleas as they entered the picturesque Andean city. Yet it made little difference. Candia, 42, a cheerful, energetic community leader was shot from distance by security forces as the demonstrators gathered in a town square. He died in hospital…Read more …

The Real Reason Behind Peru’s Political Crisis It can be boiled down to a single historical factor: corruption.

The Real Reason Behind Peru’s Political Crisis It can be boiled down to a single historical factor: corruption.
  • January 25, 2023
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Riot police clash with protesters in Puno, Peru, on Jan. 9. JUAN CARLOS CISNEROS/AFP VIA GETTY When Peru erupted in protests following the ousting of then-President Pedro Castillo in December, there was a broad understanding that the discontent had been festering for decades. Castillo’s impeachment, after his attempted self-coup, was just the final straw for his supporters—mainly the rural poor who believed the former teacher’s populist promises to eradicate poverty by confronting the Lima establishment that for decades had ignored and marginalized them. Since then, 55 Peruvians have died, most at the hands of…Read more …

Discontent, death toll rise as Peru’s poor demand change

Discontent, death toll rise as Peru’s poor demand change
  • January 12, 2023
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LIMA, Peru — The mourners, thousands of them, stood by the coffins of 17 people killed by security forces in the remote region of Puno, staring down riot police and chanting, “Dina, murderer.” The underdeveloped, largely Indigenous region around Lake Titicaca has been shaken by protests since Peru’s deeply unpopular Congress removed the incompetent and allegedly corrupt president Pedro Castillo last month. Castillo, a former rural schoolteacher and union leader, had won office in 2021 on promises to lift up the country’s poor. The people of Puno do not have the same faith in his…Read more …