by josh.barker and JESÚS CHUCHO GARCIA Translated by KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO
March 30, 2023
Members of CEDET march against racism in Peru
(Photos by Oswaldo Bilbao and Antonio Quispes)
The current crisis rattling the Peruvian people is due to the impeachment of President Pedro Castillo.
A former union leader and schoolteacher, Castillo served as president of Peru from July 28, 2021, through December 7, 2022. He was impeached and arrested after he announced his intention to dissolve Congress, install an emergency government, and draft a new constitution. Legislators claimed he was attempting a coup d’état and had Castillo detained.
This led to an unprecedented spiral of violent protests, with people being killed in the streets in different parts of the country.
Afro Peruvian singer Susana Baca, a three-time Grammy award-winner who served as Peru’s minister of culture in 2011, condemned Dina Boluarte, who replaced Castillo as Peru’s president. The Peruvian National Police have violently repressed protests against the Boluarte presidency. So far, 67 people have been killed and more than 300 arrested by security forces. Amnesty International stated on March 17 that “thousands of people have been injured, several of them seriously, mostly in the southern regions of Ayacucho, Apurímac, and Puno.”
Baca told the investigative news program Hablemos Claro Exitosa, “I was very excited when they named her [Dina Boluarte] president, when they gave her the presidential sash. I said ‘at last a woman.’ We women have a very great intuition…But the only thing I can ask of this lady is [to] step down before she is accused of committing crimes against humanity.
“When you don’t have the qualifications for the position you hold, the best thing you can do is to step down. But before retiring, you have to get elections brought forward. We hope that because of this terrible situation, we will know how to make a better choice. That is the only way.”
The African presence in the Republic of Peru is the result of the painful slave trade and the ways in which slavery was maintained: through rigidly controlled productivity systems like sugar cane plantations and the nation’s gold and silver mines. Black people staged constant rebellions against enslavement, such as the one led by Francisco Congo in 1713, which led to the establishment of a liberated space called the Palenque de Guachipa.
Slavery was abolished on December 3, 1854, but social marginalization and racial discrimination have been a constant up through today. Afro Peruvian culture is expressed in its dances, cajon music, the quija de burro, the Peruvian waltz, marineras, the poetics of the Santa Cruz brothers, the creation of Pisco (an Afro Peruvian spirit drink), foods––from the carapulcra to the seafood batea to the ceviche. All represent a culture of resistance and creativity that gives a face to the cultural diversity of the country.
From the 1980s to the present day, Afro Peruvian social movements have been fighting against exclusion, racism, and racial demagogy.
Afro Peruvians have been speaking out about the current political climate in the nation.
Antonio Quispe, a lawyer, musician, and activist, said that “Peru is undergoing one of those cyclical crises that affect the capitalist system. This has existed since Peruvian society declared its independence from the colonial system: There is a coexistence of a conservative Peruvian society with the extreme tasks left unfinished by a liberal revolution. Today, when social protests have turned political, there is an obvious deficiency of leadership. This interim regime is a mockery of the 200 years of the Republic… its actions have not only exposed the infamous economic and social [class] inequality, but also a lack of class organization and political perspective from the popular sectors.
“The political crisis that we are living in Peru is against the economics of the people itself (particularly Afro Peruvians), who, despite not having suitable tools, continue to mobilize in search of better living conditions and opportunities. The slogans that are being chanted, almost spontaneously, reflect a history of exclusions and hardship.”
The human rights group Center for Ethnic Development (CEDET) said in a statement: “We express, first of all, our indignation and rejection of the loss of life that occurred during the period of December 7–9, 2022, and January 9, 2023, the date on which we write this proclamation.”
“Life being the principal and most sacred of all the rights of humanity, the attack against it constitutes the most flagrant opprobrium in a constitutional state of law. And here, treaties, norms, and all international jurisprudence fully agree that the government, through its officials, is politically, socially, and legally (criminally) responsible for its dissemination, protection, and effective compliance.
“Furthermore, it is evident the continuity of the exercise of power based on centralism, classism, and structural racism, because, as in the past, the victims of the crisis are the most vulnerable sectors, which, in their own way, or as they can, call for a fair and rapid solution to the crisis. We, therefore, demand from the Peruvian government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial), the immediate cessation of the deaths of Peruvians; the cessation of the criminalization of protest; and the creation of bridges of dialogue that guarantee a period of peace and tranquility.
“Secondly, and not because it is secondary but rather because of the structural and historical nature of its correlate which requires greater political and social dialogues and agreements, we raise our voices, demanding the updating of the Social Pact, which will lead us to a more supportive and equitable society. At the end of the day, a more humane society. It is the political model or system that has collapsed in our country; we have had six presidents in the period corresponding to one, and that is only the tip of the iceberg…
“We, therefore, demand the immediate holding of general elections, guaranteeing true popular participation. We also call on all the forces of the nation to reflect on the need to re-organize the basic structures of the national government, to make it a true leader of the common welfare, and able to respect the unrestricted fundamental rights of all individuals and communities, collectives and peoples of our territory.”
The current crisis rattling the Peruvian people is due to the impeachment of President Pedro Castillo.
A former union leader and schoolteacher, Castillo served as president of Peru from July 28, 2021, through December 7, 2022. He was impeached and arrested after he announced his intention to dissolve Congress, install an emergency government, and draft a new constitution. Legislators claimed he was attempting a coup d’état and had Castillo detained.
This led to an unprecedented spiral of violent protests, with people being killed in the streets in different parts of the country.
Afro Peruvian singer Susana Baca, a three-time Grammy award-winner who served as Peru’s minister of culture in 2011, condemned Dina Boluarte, who replaced Castillo as Peru’s president. The Peruvian National Police have violently repressed protests against the Boluarte presidency. So far, 67 people have been killed and more than 300 arrested by security forces. Amnesty International stated on March 17 that “thousands of people have been injured, several of them seriously, mostly in the southern regions of Ayacucho, Apurímac, and Puno.”
Baca told the investigative news program Hablemos Claro Exitosa, “I was very excited when they named her [Dina Boluarte] president, when they gave her the presidential sash. I said ‘at last a woman.’ We women have a very great intuition…But the only thing I can ask of this lady is [to] step down before she is accused of committing crimes against humanity.
“When you don’t have the qualifications for the position you hold, the best thing you can do is to step down. But before retiring, you have to get elections brought forward. We hope that because of this terrible situation, we will know how to make a better choice. That is the only way.”
The African presence in the Republic of Peru is the result of the painful slave trade and the ways in which slavery was maintained: through rigidly controlled productivity systems like sugar cane plantations and the nation’s gold and silver mines. Black people staged constant rebellions against enslavement, such as the one led by Francisco Congo in 1713, which led to the establishment of a liberated space called the Palenque de Guachipa.
Slavery was abolished on December 3, 1854, but social marginalization and racial discrimination have been a constant up through today. Afro Peruvian culture is expressed in its dances, cajon music, the quija de burro, the Peruvian waltz, marineras, the poetics of the Santa Cruz brothers, the creation of Pisco (an Afro Peruvian spirit drink), foods––from the carapulcra to the seafood batea to the ceviche. All represent a culture of resistance and creativity that gives a face to the cultural diversity of the country.
From the 1980s to the present day, Afro Peruvian social movements have been fighting against exclusion, racism, and racial demagogy.
Afro Peruvians have been speaking out about the current political climate in the nation.
Antonio Quispe, a lawyer, musician, and activist, said that “Peru is undergoing one of those cyclical crises that affect the capitalist system. This has existed since Peruvian society declared its independence from the colonial system: There is a coexistence of a conservative Peruvian society with the extreme tasks left unfinished by a liberal revolution. Today, when social protests have turned political, there is an obvious deficiency of leadership. This interim regime is a mockery of the 200 years of the Republic… its actions have not only exposed the infamous economic and social [class] inequality, but also a lack of class organization and political perspective from the popular sectors.
“The political crisis that we are living in Peru is against the economics of the people itself (particularly Afro Peruvians), who, despite not having suitable tools, continue to mobilize in search of better living conditions and opportunities. The slogans that are being chanted, almost spontaneously, reflect a history of exclusions and hardship.”
The human rights group Center for Ethnic Development (CEDET) said in a statement: “We express, first of all, our indignation and rejection of the loss of life that occurred during the period of December 7–9, 2022, and January 9, 2023, the date on which we write this proclamation.”
“Life being the principal and most sacred of all the rights of humanity, the attack against it constitutes the most flagrant opprobrium in a constitutional state of law. And here, treaties, norms, and all international jurisprudence fully agree that the government, through its officials, is politically, socially, and legally (criminally) responsible for its dissemination, protection, and effective compliance.
“Furthermore, it is evident the continuity of the exercise of power based on centralism, classism, and structural racism, because, as in the past, the victims of the crisis are the most vulnerable sectors, which, in their own way, or as they can, call for a fair and rapid solution to the crisis. We, therefore, demand from the Peruvian government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial), the immediate cessation of the deaths of Peruvians; the cessation of the criminalization of protest; and the creation of bridges of dialogue that guarantee a period of peace and tranquility.
“Secondly, and not because it is secondary but rather because of the structural and historical nature of its correlate which requires greater political and social dialogues and agreements, we raise our voices, demanding the updating of the Social Pact, which will lead us to a more supportive and equitable society. At the end of the day, a more humane society. It is the political model or system that has collapsed in our country; we have had six presidents in the period corresponding to one, and that is only the tip of the iceberg…
“We, therefore, demand the immediate holding of general elections, guaranteeing true popular participation. We also call on all the forces of the nation to reflect on the need to re-organize the basic structures of the national government, to make it a true leader of the common welfare, and able to respect the unrestricted fundamental rights of all individuals and communities, collectives and peoples of our territory.”
No comments:
Post a Comment