Unarmed Peruvian protester demanding the release of President Castillo and the dissolution of Congress being shot at point blank by the police. Photo: EPA.
Through the social media account of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, ousted by the Congress on December 7 and controversially detained since that same day, the image of a handwritten note attributed to him was released this Monday, December 12, in the afternoon. In the letter, he urges Peruvians “not to fall for the dirty game of new elections.” This coincides with the announcement made by de facto ruler Dina Boluarte, who was sworn in by a Congress that Castillo had already dissolved following Article 134 of the Peruvian constitution.
“What was said recently by a usurper is nothing more than the same snot and drool of the right-wing coup,” says the note, presumably signed by Castillo, concerning Boluarte’s call for early elections in 2024. Boluarte made this announcement under pressure from massive protests after initially stating that she would rule until 2026.
In the note, written on a page torn from a notepad with the letterhead of the Center for Higher National Studies (Cean) dated this Monday, Castillo began with a greeting to the “Dear great and patient Peruvian people.”
Querido pueblo peruano, grandioso y paciente: pic.twitter.com/4IbZbhnM5D
— Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) December 12, 2022
Castillo identifies himself as “the same one who all of you elected to serve as constitutional president of the Republic 16 months ago.”
The president, ousted by an already dissolved Congress that has been persecuting him since before he took office as president, said that he is experiencing “the most difficult period” of his government and that he has been “humiliated, held incommunicado, mistreated and kidnapped; but even so, clothed with the confidence and struggle of you [the Peruvians], with the majesty of the sovereign people, but also infused by the glorious spirit of our ancestors.”
“I speak to you to reiterate that I am unconditionally faithful to the popular and constitutional mandate that I hold as president, and I will not resign or abandon my high positions and sacred functions,” Castillo wrote. He later added that Boluarte—the de facto ruler—usurps power and is part of the same agreement with which Congress impeded his government and finally ousted him.
In a later tweet from his social media account, the text of the manuscript is transcribed:
…humillado, incomunicado, maltratado y secuestrado, pero aún así revestido de la confianza y lucha de ustedes, de la majestad del pueblo soberano, pero además infundido por el glorioso espíritu de nuestros ancestros. (2/4)
— Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) December 12, 2022
Lo dicho recientemente por UNA USURPADORA no es más que los mismos mocos y babas de la derecha golpista.
Por lo que el pueblo no debe caer en su juego sucio de nuevas elecciones.
¡Basta de abusos!
¡Asamblea Constituyente ahora!
¡Libertad inmediata! (4/4)— Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) December 12, 2022
December 7
On Wednesday, December 7, President Castillo decreed a temporary closure of Congress to call elections for a legislature with constituent powers to take place within nine months. Elections for a constitutional assembly was the central promise of his campaign with which he came to power 16 months earlier, although he now faces a charge of sedition under the allegation that the temporary closure of Congress would amount to a coup. This decree was not part of the motion of censorship with which he was dismissed by 101 votes even though he had already dissolved Congress.
Another relevant issue is that Boluarte. Just hours before Castillo’s dismissal, Boluarte was exonerated from an investigation with which the Congress also intended to dismiss her. The now-president indicated months ago, when she began distancing herself from Castillo, that she would not accept the presidency. However, she ended up being sworn in by the same sectors that supposedly oppose her, proposing in her inauguration speech “a truce” and announcing a “broad-based” government. The parties that currently or previously supported Castillo denounced this truce as a way of joining the “coup and racist right” that bombarded the president’s administration during the little less than a year and a half he was president.
New election in six months
Meanwhile, Peru registers riots, strikes, roadblocks and even the closure of the Arequipa airport. These demonstrations have already resulted in several deaths and injuries while demanding the resignation of Boluarte, the release of President Castillo, the dissolution of Congress and elections for a constituent assembly no later than June 2023 instead of 2024, as proposed by Boluarte. By Monday afternoon, three deaths had been reported in Andahuaylas, Apurimac region, with a fourth death in Arequipa.
President Castillo Speaks Out Against ‘Machiavellian Plot’ to Overthrow Him (+New De Facto Cabinet)
The National Unitary Front to Fight for the Rescue of Peru is promoting pressure measures that would include the closure of a dairy plant, marches and demonstrations to ensure that elections are held in the next six months, and the immediate resignation of Boluarte.
Castillo’s statement against the trap of “early elections” might point to a new direction for the popular uprising supported by many Peruvians tired of the right-wing political class that has “ruled” the country for several decades just to favor the local oligarchy and international corporations.
During the takeover of the Arequipa Airport, thousands of people marched towards the air terminal facilities. According to local media in the region, they were met with harsh repression that left at least four injured.
Lethal weapons
One of the main issues denounced by protesters calling for the freedom of Pedro Castillo is the use of lethal weapons by the Peruvian police.
They point out that Pedro Angulo, president of Boluarte’s de facto council of ministers, had confessed to the use of firearms in the repression of demonstrations, even when he had mentioned a meeting with Boluarte in which she had emphasized avoiding the use of lethal weapons against demonstrations.
The appointment of Angulo, a highly questioned politician with various legal proceedings against him for corruption, sexual harassment and amongst others, was itself another element that ignited popular discontent.
(Últimas Noticias) by Victor Castellanos, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
