Thousands of protesters in Peru have converged in the capital Lima to show support for ousted former President Pedro Castillo and to demand the resignation of current President Dina Boluarte.
The mass demonstrations on Thursday aim to keep up the pressure against the government, with protesters also calling for the dissolution of parliament and fresh elections.
Counterprotests already under way are rejecting those demands, a sign of divisions wracking the country.
Here is what to know about the unrest:
What sparked the protests?
The country has been rocked by violent unrest since Congress removed Castillo and replaced him with his vice president, Boluarte, on December 7.
Castillo, 53, had been accused in multiple corruption investigations and narrowly avoided two impeachment attempts by Peru’s opposition-led legislature. Before the third impeachment effort on December 7, Castillo tried to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. The constitutional court called Castillo’s announcement a “coup d’etat”.
The legislature immediately voted to replace him in the latest blow in a years-long clash between Peru’s executive and legislature. Boluarte then ascended to the job as Peru’s sixth president in five years.
Many of the protesters are Castillo supporters with a similar background to the former president. They are Indigenous and from rural Peru’s mountainous regions, and have argued that Boluarte doesn’t represent them.
Demonstrations began in the south and spread quickly in rural areas across the country.
In the five weeks of protests, 43 people have been killed in confrontations with security forces, according to Peru’s human rights ombudsman.
Protesters say that no dialogue is possible with a government that they say has unleashed so much violence against its citizens.
”We are from Chota in Cajamarca. We have come to Lima to defend our country, considering we are under a dictatorial government … which has stained our country with blood,” Yorbin Herrera, a protester from Cajamarca, told Al Jazeera.
As well as Boluarte’s resignation, the mass demonstrations in Lima will call for the dissolution of parliament and fresh elections.
“I am upset. Angry. Traumatised and shocked by what is happening here,” Luis Garro, another anti-government protester, told Al Jazeera.
“I believe that the people are going to force Dina Boluarte and the Congress out,” he added.
The protests that have engulfed much of Peru in the past month have largely been grassroots efforts without a clear leadership.
‘There is a long history of exclusion’
Experts say the worst political violence Peru has experienced in more than two decades has shined a spotlight on the deep divisions in the country that go back for years.
“The political situation in Peru has several layers … [and] if you look a bit further down into the social order of things … this can’t just be about one specific moment in 2023, or 2022,” Alonso Gurmendi, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Oxford, told Al Jazeera.
“There is a long history of exclusion of people from Indigenous descent, and Indigenous people in Peru have been left out of the economic growth [Peru has seen], where even if GPD is growing, and the macroeconomics numbers are doing well, every day people are left alone if they cannot privatise their basic needs,” he said.
“There is no good health care; there is no public housing, [and] public education is not well funded.
“So the population feels there is a double system and all of these protests boil down to this difference, between the part of Peru that is able to take advantage of the ‘economic miracle’, and the part of Peru that isn’t, that is still left behind,” Gurmendi said.
People say goodbye to demonstrators as they depart for Lima to protest against the government of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte in the city of Ilave, Puno, in southern Peru [File: Juan Carlos Cisneros / AFP]
What is the current government saying?
President Dina Bolouarte says she’s willing to talk to the demonstrators – but that they must gather peacefully.
“We know that they want to take Lima because of everything that is coming out on social media on the 18th and 19th [of January],” Boluarte said in a speech on Tuesday.
“I call them to take Lima, yes, but in peace, calmly; I’ll wait for you at the government house to be able to talk about the social agendas that you have because you well know that the political agenda that you are proposing is not feasible,” she added.
Boluarte has said she supports a plan to move up elections for president and Congress, originally scheduled for 2026, to 2024.
A “march for peace” supporting Boluarte was also under way in Lima on Thursday, with dozens of members from community groups and political parties wearing white T-shirts in rejection of the protests.
What happens next, and can the current president stay?
Analysts say it’s difficult to predict, but they don’t foresee better times for the country.
“It’s very difficult to say [what will happen],” Juan Claudio Lechin, a political analyst in Lima, said on Al Jazeera’s Inside Story.
“[But] if [Boluarte] has the guts to stay, she can stay because she has the army and the police, and she has the backup of approximately 80 percent of the population; the difference is that this part is not mobilised, whereas the other part, is being mobilised … with very aggressive actions,” he added.
Gurmendi said politicians in power have failed to see what is driving those demanding Boluarte’s resignation.
“The political establishment in Lima is unable or unwilling to understand the root cause of the protests,” Gurmendi said. “They seem to be convinced that this is just a ‘terrorist attack’ in the country with no legitimacy.
“So, unfortunately, I don’t see this playing out in any way that is peaceful, not at least for some time,” he said. “I actually think the country requires a longer process of a national discussion about how to change the system … so that it includes everyone.”
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
