Peru: Right Wing or Left Wing Coup?

15-01-2023: Coups, protests, riots, regime change operations and colour revolutions all seem to merge into one in recent times. If one was to follow the Western corporate media, it would indeed be difficult to tell one from the other. The current situation in Peru is a case in point. Much of the liberal Western media would have us believe that left-wing President Pedro Castillo was thrown out of office by a right-wing Congress, and the remaining government cracked down on defenders of the elected government with little justification. Yet the labels left-wing and right-wing no longer mean what they meant in the 20^th century. Especially since the civil war launched by the ruling classes of the West under the guise of a “Covid pandemic”, the political forces of liberalism are carrying out some of the worst acts of violence and terror which in decades past was the preserve of ultra-conservative right.

Electoral fraud

The base reason for the unrest in Peru today stems from the 2021 election, which “elected” Pedro Castillo of the Free Peru party by the slimmest of margins. The contested results claimed that Castillo received 50.125% of the votes while Keiko Fujimori of the Popular Force party received 49.875%.[1] In response, Keiko Fujimori and the Popular Force party repeatedly put forward audio and video evidence alleging many instances of fraudulent election practices which favoured Free Peru. In one case, a representative of Free Peru was interviewed for allegedly marking 67 ballots with the symbol of his party[2] during the second round of elections in June. Fujimori claimed that there was a clear intention to boycott the popular will of the votes by Free Peru through their efforts to distort or delay the results.[3]

Even though Fujimori and the Popular Force represent the “right” as against the “left” Free Peru, the rigging of elections to favour liberal (NOT socialist or “communist”) political forces follows a pattern since the “Great Reset” began with the onset of Covid repression. From the US to Brazil to Australia, elections have been more or less openly manipulated[4] to place liberal parliamentary parties in power. It is not at all beyond the “globalists” – in reality the deep states of Western capitalism – to use their soft power to advance their nefarious agenda. While working people of course should not simply switch their support to conservative parliamentary parties in response, they do have a stake in taking whatever action is necessary to expose election deceit enacted by liberal actors.

On the 8^th of December in Peru, Vice President Dina Boularte was sworn in after Castillo was arrested and detained. On the 7^th of December, Castillo had attempted to form an emergency government, which was to dissolve the Congress and disarm all citizens – hours before Congress was set to depose him as President of Peru.[5] Castillo had previously survived two previous votes for his impeachment, and undoubtedly would not have survived a third – hence his attempt to stage a coup.[6] His moves were rejected by the military, and some members of his own party. In fact, 101 Congress members voted to remove Castillo, with only six against, and 10 abstentions.[7]

Riots in response

In response, Castillo’s so-called “left” supporters unleashed an orgy of violence on the streets of Peru. By December 13, they blocked roads, seized airports and assaulted police – causing the deaths of seven civilians and 100 injured police.[8] A day earlier, it was reported that around two thousand Castillo supporters attempted to occupy the Alfredo Rodriguez Ballon International Airport. Ostensibly, they were demanding the resignation of Dina Boularte, new general elections in 2023, and the release of Pedro Castillo. Yet this appears to be political cover, as the rioters set fire to two control booths and destroyed several lights[9] which serve as night guidance beacons for planes that have to land at night- time! On the same day, pro-Castillo rioters pelted stones at the offices of television stations America Television and Canal N, causing glass breakage. Vandals also attacked the facilities of Panamericana Television, and a vehicle belonging to Exito Radio was destroyed and its occupants were beaten.[10] To say the least, this is hardly a genuine protest for social justice and democratic rights.

It was then claimed that “civil society” had called for a general strike on December 15. The Agrarian and Rural Front of Peru (FARP) and the National People’s Assembly (ANP) supposedly joined with the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) declared they will take to the streets to demand the closure of Congress, general elections and a new constitution. Fantastically, they claimed that they were part of a popular insurgency against the coup perpetrated by the Congress, the leadership of the armed forces, the mainstream media and the judiciary.[11] This would be the same Congress, armed forces, mainstream media and the judiciary that existed before the “election” of Castillo.

In November, Castillo had met with the ANP[12] to sure up his support from liberal forces, but at the same time he had met with the Washington based Organisation of American States (OAS). He was working with a High Level Commission of the OAS to “resolve” the situation of being faced with, for example, the six investigations which had been opened against him, accusing him of corruption, criminal organisation, influence peddling, accomplice to collusion, personal concealment against the administration of justice and even plagiarism of his master’s thesis.[13] So Castillo was meeting with his “left” supporters – while prioritising linking arm in arm with the OAS, which is the premier body of US imperialism in Central and Latin America, to ward off his “right” opposition. So much for progressive humanitarianism! Something is not right with this picture.

Mayhem continues

The “left” supporters of Castillo object to being labelled criminals, terrorists, vandals and drug traffickers[14] – but they are unable to respond to the evidence the government puts forwards claiming that some of the weapons the rioters are using have links to criminal gangs. In addition, the murderous mayhem of these supposed “revolutionaries” continued. In the second week of January, pro-Castillo rioters launched a broadside against an airport in the city of Juliaca. Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otarola reported that 9000 people had participated, of which some 2000 led a merciless attack on police and airport buildings. He claimed that the rioters are clearly sponsored from abroad, with money from drug trafficking, which brought in “aggressive individuals” from cities around the country in over 200 vehicles.[15] It was reported that one police officer was burned alive after his vehicle was torched after being ambushed by a part of the mob in Juliaca.[16]

Whatever the politics of the new President Dina Boularte may be, her claim that the rioters are “terrorists” is not without foundation. She stated that once the Castillo supporters murder police officers, it is no longer a protest, but is terrorism.[17] Who are the forces behind such violence? We don’t have to look too far to find them, and they are familiar for those who can see the dark hand of imperialism when it comes to regime change operations. The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the regime change arm of the CIA, admit to pouring over half a million dollars into Peru just in the year 2021.[18] The funding goes under the name of funding innocuous sounding NGOs specialising in “anti-corruption”, “civil society participation”, “strengthening democratic governance” and “promoting transparency through independent news”. In other words, the NED funds NGO fronts to distort and undermine almost every aspect of Peruvian public and political life in the interests of Washington.

Where the US state department operates, invariably we find the nefarious operations of billionaire anti-socialist regime change operative George Soros. Peru is no exception, where Soros’ reactionary Open Society Foundation (OSF) has been operating for decades. Cynically, the OSF runs the Open Society Early Childhood Program which claims to be concerned about Peruvian children living in poverty and taking alleviation measures. But the game is transparently clear with the words of even half a quote from one of the OSF directors of a so-called childhood program, viz., “We seek not only to improve each child’s potential, but also to better educate citizens and create a democratic culture in each community we work with.”[19] In other words, the OSF is aiming to subvert Peruvian sovereignty and political independence, under the guise of helping children and “promoting democratic values”.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) – funded by the US government – has extensive operations in Peru. USAID also uses rhetorical cover, of any sort, to conduct its sabotage of Peru. Under the guise of the fraudulent “Covid pandemic”, the USAID supposed “worked with” the Transparencia “civil organisation” to produce an app and web platform allegedly for citizens to use to “denounce public sector corruption”.[20] Translated, the USAID is using a deceitful health program as a stalking horse to encourage Peruvians to find corruption where none may exist. Then, when the signal is given, these misled Peruvians can rise up against a “corrupt” government – to be replaced by one endorsed by Washington. Often though, USAID does not even bother with a verbal shroud. In the USAID’s grandiosely titled “Country Development Cooperation Strategy”, it openly states that “In line with Peru’s development goals and US foreign policy, USAID will help Peru reinforce its capacity to address joint interests and priorities of our two nations”.[21] It can hardly be more blatant. USAID, the NED, the OSF and others such as the Ford Foundation[22] engage in duplicitous activities for decades in Peru, waiting for the nod from Washington to pull the trigger on a contrived uprising. This may well mean murder, mayhem, riots, the burning down of public buildings, the stoning of television and radio stations, the sabotage of airports and more – as we are witnessing in Peru today.

Upside down politics

Much of the liberal left have fallen for the Peru narrative of another “leftist” Latin American political leader being overthrown by the right, in concert with the deep state of the US Empire. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) claim that the “leaderless and spontaneous” character of the protests (read: riots) in Peru makes them vulnerable to a further crackdown.[23] The SEP remains oblivious to the vast scale of underhanded soft power exercised by the US state department in Peru and Latin America for decades. The riots are made to appear as “leaderless and spontaneous” precisely in order to conceal the real and active leadership of the deadly mayhem – Washington itself. In this sense, the riots are neither leaderless nor spontaneous under any definition of those terms.

Politics in Peru – and in most other countries around the world in the wake of the Covid deception – is upside down. While it is true that Keiko Fujimori and the Popular Force accused Pedro Castillo and Free Peru of being “communists” who “want another Venezuela”,[24] in practice part of their direction is against the “globalists”, who are operating in cahoots with US imperialism. It is apparent that US imperialism – through an array of intermediaries – rigged the 2021 vote to place Castillo in power. Then, when the “right-wing” Congress voted overwhelmingly to remove Castillo, US imperialism activated its proxy forces in Peru in a bid to place Castillo back in power. These proxy forces are more than willing to commit murder, manslaughter, riots and the destruction of public property – even while claiming to be progressive humanitarians, fighting for human rights, democracy and even “socialism”.

The liberal left internationally are confounded by such developments, and struggle to comprehend how they have manipulated along with many others. Imperialism is currently using liberalism (NOT “socialism”) to drive its agenda of regime change, war and political repression. And it is using apparently liberal left parties and organisations to do so. We should not be fooled. Workers in Peru should demand the expulsion of all US government backed NGOs, at the very least. Peru, and Latin America generally, will not be sovereign until these forces are driven from the continent. At the same time, only a genuine left-wing force has the chance of leading the working masses of Peru where Fujimori and Castillo and all of their backers cannot – towards their own workers’ republic, as part of a socialist federation of Latin America. Authentic Leninist-Trotskyist vanguard parties must be forged before the US Empire can use its liberal underlings to destroy the progress achieved thus far.

WORKERS LEAGUE

www.redfireonline.com

E: workersleague@redfireonline.com

[1] www.indianexpress.com/article/world/peru-castillo-claims-election-win-fujimori-fights-result-7361076/ (10-01-2023)

[2] http://www.rpp.pe/politica/elecciones/elecciones-2021-fiscalia-indaga-caso-de-cedulas-marcadas-por-personero-en-centro-de-votacion-en-carabayllo-noticia-1340803 (10-01-2023)

[3] www.rpp.pe/politica/elecciones/keiko-fujimori-hay-una-clara-intencion-de-boicotear-la-voluntad-popular-elecciones-2021-noticia-1341000 (10-01-2023)

[4] www.redfireonline.com/2022/11/21/election-fraud-a-new-normal-for-the-liberal-world-order/ (10-01-2023)

[5] www.en.mercopress.com/2022/12/07/castillo-stages-coup-d-etat-in-peru-announces-emergency-gov-t (10-01-2023)

[6] www.news.yahoo.com/peru-president-castillo-ousted-coup-192501797.html (10-01-2023)

[7] www.reuters.com/world/americas/perus-president-says-will-dissolve-congress-calls-elections-2022-12-07/ (10-01-2023)

[8] www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2022/12/13/deadly-leftist-riots-sweep-peru-latin-american-socialists-support-failed-coup/ (14-01-2023)

[9] http://www.rpp.pe/peru/actualidad/arequipa-manifestantes-ingresan-al-aeropuerto-internacional-alfredo-rodriguez-ballon-noticia-1452895 (14-01-2023)