Dina Boluarte an ‘usurper’: Pedro Castillo as protests against Peru President leave 7 dead

Ousted Peruvian president Pedro Castillo has called his successor an “usurper”, and vowed to continue as head of state as the death toll from growing protests against the new government of Dina Boluarte rose to seven. Demonstrations in support of Castillo spread from city to city on the sixth day of unrest, with widespread vandalism and looting showing little sign of simmering down. All the victims died in clashes with police as a result of gunshot wounds, six of them in the southern city of Andahuaylas, which became a hub for the protests. Five of those victims were aged 18 or under, according to Peru’s human rights ombudsman and the local hospital. Reports of children mourning their dead schoolmates emerged on social media, reported The Guardian.

Hundreds of people also protested in Lima, the capital, where riot police used tear gas to push protesters back. The protests rocking Peru heated up particularly in rural areas, strongholds for Castillo, a former schoolteacher and political newcomer from a poor Andean mountain district. Protesters set fire to a police station, vandalised a small airport used by the armed forces, and marched in the streets.

Eighty-six per cent of Peruvians disapprove of Congress, more than the 61% disapproval rating for Castillo, according to a November opinion poll by the Institute of Peruvian Studies. The same poll indicated that the vast majority of Peruvians, 87%, would prefer fresh general elections and a renewed congress in the event that Castillo was ousted. “The crisis has not abated,” said Fernando Tuesta, a political science professor at Lima’s Pontifical Catholic University and former head of Peru’s electoral authority, speaking to The Guardian. “Despite the proposal to bring forward the elections, the government of Dina Boluarte, already weak, has to deal with an unreliable congress, a cabinet with holes in it, and, above all, it has to know how to placate the demonstrations, which are growing angrily,” he said. “If it’s not handled well, [Boluarte] may become the centre for the attacks,” he added.

Castillo’s claims of being abducted and mistreated by opponents

In a handwritten letter from prison, Castillo derided his successor and vowed to continue as head of state and to not abandon his “high and sacred functions”. In the letter posted on Castillo’s Twitter account on Monday, the former leader addressed the “great and patient Peruvian people”, saying he had been “humiliated, [kept] incommunicado, mistreated and kidnapped” but added he was “still clothed with your trust and struggle”. He dismissed his successor as the “snot and slobber of the coup-mongering right”. Through the tweets, Castillo also refused to hand over the power to incoming president Dina Boluarte. “I speak to you to reiterate that I am unconditionally faithful to the popular and constitutional mandate I ostentatiously hold as President, and I WILL NOT RESIGN OR ABANDON MY HIGH AND SACRED FUNCTIONS,” he wrote, adding that the people of Peru should not fall for the opposition’s “dirty game of new elections.” “Enough of abuse! Constituent Assembly now! Immediate freedom!” he concluded. 

The missive came five days after Castillo was removed from office and detained on charges of rebellion, following his attempt to shutter congress and rule by decree in an effort to avoid his third impeachment. It came shortly after Boluarte gave in to protesters’ demands for early general elections amid escalating unrest in the country.