Five years, six presidents: In Peru, resilience is exhausting
| Lima, Peru
Last Wednesday around noon, Nicol Sarmiento was working at her office job in Lima when a co-worker told her the president was closing Congress.
The move by Pedro Castillo, a leftist former schoolteacher who took office just 16 months earlier, was widely condemned as an attempted coup. By the time Ms. Sarmiento took her lunch break, Mr. Castillo had been impeached and arrested, and an hour later, his vice president took office to replace him.
鈥淚t happened so fast,鈥� says Ms. Sarmiento. 鈥淲e were all in shock.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onPeru has had six presidents and three Congresses in five years. Does that reflect a strong, nimble democracy 鈥� or the urgent need for a system overhaul?
But it wasn鈥檛 an entirely new sensation. Over the past five years, Peru has had three Congresses and six presidents, including its听newest leader and first female president, Dina Boluarte, an attorney and former civil servant whose听government is looking to be short-lived. There have been seven impeachment attempts since 2016. A flood of corruption scandals have tainted the political class, landing three former presidents in pretrial detention, leading a fourth to kill himself to avoid arrest, and fueling endless power struggles between the legislative and executive branches.
Ms. Sarmiento, who is 21 years old, says she has no memory of a politician inspiring hope in Peru: 鈥淚鈥檝e only read about it because of history.鈥�
Celebrated early this century for ending the dictatorship of former rightwing strongman Alberto Fujimori, Peru has more recently lurched from crisis to crisis,听testing the limits of its young democracy.听The latest drama raises big questions: Is the repeated political and constitutional upheaval a sign that Peru鈥檚 system of governance needs a major overhaul 鈥� or is it somehow evidence of a healthy democracy? For now Peru鈥檚 democratic institutions have withstood the pressures, but citizens and analysts vent frustration at a political system and the leaders it engenders who could undermine stability in the future.
鈥淭his means a democracy, for sure, but a democracy of a very low level,鈥� says Eduardo Dargent, a political scientist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 see any political capacity in the state to help address a series of problems, so I think it is little consolation to say that we鈥檙e fine.鈥�
The system 鈥渘eeds a transformation, of course, but a transformation whose diagnosis is complicated.鈥�
鈥淔ragile鈥� democracy
In many ways, Peru is a microcosm of the problems dogging democracies around the world: entrenched corruption and inequality have deepened distrust in institutions, growing tribalism has led to gridlock, historic social divisions have resurfaced,听conspiracy theories have created confusion, and amid the chaos, politicians with authoritarian tendencies try to get an edge.
The closest Peru has come to a blatant break with democracy since it was restored in 2000 was last week during Mr. Castillo鈥檚 attempted self-coup. He made a televised address to the nation, outlining plans to rule by decree until new legislators could be elected to write a new constitution, a nighttime curfew, and the 鈥渞eorganization鈥� of the judiciary and prosecutor鈥檚 office, where he is a suspect in multiple criminal probes. His announcement on Dec. 7 was strikingly similar to one delivered by Mr. Fujimori听30 years earlier, marking the start of his autocratic rule.
Mr. Castillo had, ironically, beat Mr. Fujimori鈥檚 daughter Keiko Fujimori in last year鈥檚 runoff election by capitalizing on fierce opposition to the Fujimori political dynasty. A union activist and farmer from a poor Andean village, Mr. Castillo unexpectedly surged ahead in the first-round election after promising radical change to empower poor, working-class, and Indigenous Peruvians.
Instead, Mr. Castillo failed to propose any significant reforms and faced a constant wave of corruption allegations, leading to a third impeachment motion that was scheduled for a vote听hours before his failed power grab. 鈥淐astillo鈥檚 presidency was a sad spectacle of corruption and political incompetence,鈥� says Julio Carri贸n, a听Peruvian political scientist at the University of Delaware.听鈥淗is ineptitude extended to trying to be an authoritarian president.鈥�
Unlike Mr. Fujimori鈥檚 self-coup of 1992, Mr. Castillo was met with opposition from every institution in Peru, most crucially the armed forces. As ministers in his cabinet resigned en masse and he tried to reach the Mexican Embassy to seek asylum, Mr. Castillo was arrested by officers in his own security detail. Prosecutors promptly charged him with rebellion,听and he is now detained at the same prison where Mr. Fujimori is serving a 25-year-sentence for human rights violations and corruption.
鈥淔ew will dispute that Peru鈥檚 democracy is fragile, but recent events show that institutions can still pose a barrier to open authoritarianism,鈥� says Mr. Carri贸n.
But many political analysts wonder if history would have played out differently if Mr. Castillo had been more popular or politically connected. Peru has one of the highest levels of tolerance for radical measures to address deep-seated problems in Latin America, such as a military coup or the dissolution of Congress to control corruption, or an end to elections in exchange for a basic income and services, according to听surveys by听the听Latin American Public Opinion Project at Vanderbilt University.
Peru鈥檚 electoral institutions this century have proved to be strong, says Adriana Urrutia,听a political scientist who heads the pro-democracy Peruvian organization Transparencia. For example, they withstood听Ms. Fujimori鈥檚 attempt to overturn last year鈥檚 election based on unfounded claims of electoral fraud.听But elected officials themselves continue to disappoint, focusing narrowly on their own gains while neglecting the country鈥檚 most pressing problems.听
鈥淭here are no political actors on the horizon capable of building a slightly more solid system,鈥� says Mr. Dargent, the political scientist,听who sees that as the chief obstacle to sorely needed reforms.听
鈥淭he rules of the game in place favor dynamics of private and not collective interests,鈥� Ms. Urrutia says. Electoral laws lead to weak party discipline and a prohibition of the immediate reelection of officials,听removing听healthy incentives, she says. 鈥淎 national debate over听reforms to change the rules of the game is urgent.鈥�听
Unattended demands
It is unclear however, if Peru will get the chance for such a debate.听On her sixth day in office, President Boluarte continued to struggle to contain a wave of protests that have grown larger and increasingly violent. Protesters have demanded immediate new general elections and the closure of Congress, and some want a new constitution and the release of Mr. Castillo from jail. Police crackdowns on protesters have been criticized by human rights groups as disproportionate and abusive, and only seem to energize demonstrators more.听
After听two teenagers were killed in clashes with police in a highland city on Sunday, Ms. Boluarte announced听she was sending Congress a law to create a legal path for elections in 2024, two years before her term ends. On Monday, a dozen road blocks by protesters were in place and a second regional airport was taken by demonstrators.听Several groups of protesters declared themselves in a state of insurgency.
While Mr. Castillo was unpopular, with an approval rating that ranged from 19% to 31% this year, just 8% of Peruvians thought the opposition-run Congress was doing a good job, according to polls by the Institute of Peruvian Studies.听Ms. Boluarte鈥檚 Cabinet picks, announced on Saturday, appear aimed at pleasing centrist and right-wing lawmakers, not angry protesters.听
In the meantime, far-left politicians have portrayed Mr. Castillo not as an attempted coup-monger but as the victim of a right-wing conspiracy. A lawmaker who served as his first prime minister claims Mr. Castillo was drugged into reading his message to the country, with no evidence other than his shaky delivery.
Some who voted for Mr. Castillo find the听conspiracy听theory credible. 鈥淭hey never wanted to let him work,鈥� says Julio Fernandez, a farmer from Mr. Castillo鈥檚 home region of Cajamarca. 鈥淭he Congress and the media and economic powers never accepted him.鈥�
鈥淩ight now what鈥檚 most worrisome is this escalation of violence,鈥� says Ms. Urrutia. President Boluarte, she says, needs to quickly find a way to 鈥渃hannel different demands and tend to the crisis.鈥�
As presidents have come and gone over the years, calls for change have been repeatedly ignored, especially in rural Peru, says Ms. Urrutia, where the poverty rate is twice as high as in cities and access to basic public services is limited.
鈥淭he demands are still there, unattended. They鈥檙e still growing,鈥� she says.
But Victor Salinas, a young motorcycle deliveryman who migrated here from Venezuela in 2018, says at least Peru still has the opportunity to elect better leaders in the future.
鈥淔rom as long as I can remember our president was [Hugo] Ch谩vez,鈥� says Mr. Salinas. 鈥淧eople voted for him, and then when they looked again he鈥檇 turned into a dictator.鈥�
Mr. Castillo 鈥渨anted to stage a coup to turn into a dictator here, but thank God it didn鈥檛 happen,鈥� he says.听
鈥淰iva el Peru!鈥�
