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What’s behind Peru’s political crisis? Who are the players? And what might happen next?

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Peru has been gripped by protests and political intrigue since the ouster of its former president, Pedro Castillo, earlier this month.

The South American country’s security forces have imposed a state of emergency for 30 days, banning demonstrations, curtailing freedom of movement and allowing police to search homes without a warrant.

Protests and highway blockades have continued, however. At least 17 people have been killed in the protests so far, according to Peruvian authorities.

Castillo’s opponents say he was impeached in a constitutional fashion after overstepping his authority by trying to dissolve the country’s congress ahead of an impeachment attempt by lawmakers.

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Supporters of the former union leader say he was unjustly removed and imprisoned by the country’s political establishment, arguing he should be allowed to continue governing or new elections should be held.

Security forces detain a supporter of ousted Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, on the Pan-American North Highway in Chao, Peru, on Thursday. Peru’s new government has declared a 30-day national emergency amid violent protests following Castillo’s ouster, suspending the rights of ‘personal security and freedom’ across the Andean nation. (Hugo Curotto/The Associated Press)

The Andean nation is the world’s second-largest exporter of copper but is rife with structural inequalities and poverty.

CBC News breaks down Peru’s political crisis, how the country came to this point and what might happen next.

Who is in charge now?

Dina Boluarte, who served as Castillo’s vice-president, was sworn into office on Dec. 7, the same day Castillo was ousted.

She is the country’s first female president and was not a particularly high-profile politician before gaining power.

As the unrest continues and police exercise sweeping powers, Boluarte’s hold over the government appears strained.

More than 70 per cent of Peruvians disapprove of Boluarte’s ascension to the presidency, according to polling data cited by local newspaper La Republica. Forty-four per cent approved of Castillo’s attempts to shut down the congress, the same poll said.

Peruvian politicians in suits and sashes attend an event at the government palace.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, centre front, and newly named cabinet members gather for a group photo after their swearing-in ceremony, at the government palace in Lima on Dec. 10. (Guadalupe Pardo/The Associated Press)

Two cabinet ministers, Education Minister Patricia Correa and Culture Minister Jair Perez, have resigned in the face of ongoing violence since Castillo’s ouster.

“State violence cannot be disproportionate and cause death,” Correa said via Twitter on Friday.

Who is former president Pedro Castillo?

Castillo was a political outsider who led a rural teachers’ union in one of  Peru’s poorest regions before winning the presidency in a run-off election in 2021.

He campaigned on reducing inequality, improving social inclusion and fighting corruption. His message resonated with the rural poor and Indigenous communities who had been largely left behind by Peru’s mining-driven economic boom.

A man gestures while seated at a table.
Castillo is shown at a news conference at the presidential palace in Lima, Peru’s capital, on Oct. 11. Today he sits in a jail cell and is under investigation for ‘rebellion and conspiracy.’ (Martin Mejia/The Associated Press)

Rivals painted Castillo as a Marxist radical; he was elected by a margin of fewer than 50,000 votes.

In office, many analysts considered the 53-year-old a largely ineffective leader. Fellow lawmakers attempted to impeach him three times before he tried to dissolve congress, and he spent much of his tenure fighting off challenges from other politicians rather than delivering on promised results.

Where is Castillo now?

Today, Castillo sits in a jail cell in pretrial detention while he is investigated for “rebellion and conspiracy.”

His supporters, who are protesting and blocking roads, consider that profoundly unfair.

“This should not have happened,” one pro-Castillo demonstrator told CBC’s The National. “He was kidnapped. Our pain is because of this injustice.”

What are other countries saying about Castillo’s ouster?

Some Latin American nations — particularly those with left-leaning governments, including Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia — have lined up in Castillo’s favour.

Chile, which is governed by a left-leaning leader, and Brazil’s incoming president have said Castillo was deposed through legitimate constitutional means.

Canada, the European Union and the United States have backed the new government and criticized Castillo.

The United Nations and the Organization of American States have both accepted the transition as legitimate and have recognized the new government, CBC’s Evan Dyer reported.

The UN, however, has expressed “deep concern” over reports of deaths during protests and the detention of minors involved in demonstrations.

A policeman holding a high-powered weapon surveys protesters in a poor area of Peru.
Police arrive to clear debris from a highway, placed by supporters of Castillo protesting his detention, in Arequipa, Peru, on Thursday. (Fredy Salcedo/The Associated Press)

How is the unrest impacting tourism?

With such historic sites as Machu Picchu and the colonial city of Cusco, as well as a budding food scene, Peru has become a popular tourist destination.

Global Affairs Canada recommends travellers “exercise a high degree of caution due to crime, social conflicts and strikes.”

It has also advised against non-essential travel to four regions — Arequipa; Cusco, including the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu; Ica; and Puno — due to “violent demonstrations related to the political situation.”

Some of those areas are popular tourist attractions. More than 3,900 Canadians were in the country as of Friday, and many have been unable to leave.

“We feel the safest when we are at the hotel and we don’t go very far,” Canadian tourist Jennifer Korver told The National from Arequipa, a hotbed of unrest in the country’s south.

The backs of police officers are pictured in front of an historic church in Peru.
Police officers stand guard in the Plaza de Armas, a popular tourist attraction in downtown Cusco, Peru, in 2020. (Martin Mejia/The Associated Press)

What happens next?

For now, the unrest seems likely to continue. Boluarte has become Peru’s sixth president in as many years. Supporters of Castillo had been calling for his reinstatement or at least new elections.

After initially suggesting she should be able to finish Castillo’s remaining 3.5-year term, Boluarte has recently suggested holding new elections in December 2023. That may not excite critics.

Some analysts say Peru’s broader political unrest requires deeper solutions. Some have suggested a new constitution; others say the country needs better structured political parties to allow governments to last longer and actually get things done.

“It’s the latest cycle of this long cycle of instability,” Patrick Clark, a professor at Toronto’s York University who studies the country, told The National of recent unrest. “I think these protests are out of this exasperation people have.”

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Holder bows out of politics ahead of election – Telegraph-Journal

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Former cabinet minister is the latest Tory rebel to exit politics

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Progressive Conservative stalwart Trevor Holder, the province’s longest-serving MLA in the legislature, is bowing out of politics, becoming the latest Tory rebel to make that call ahead of the provincial election.

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In the legislature Thursday, Holder, who has served the Saint John riding of Portland-Simonds for the last 25 years and was a cabinet minister under three premiers, made the announcement, thanking all his colleagues “regardless of political stripe” who later rose in the House to give him a round of applause.

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“All I ever wanted – along with all of you – was a chance to help make (New Brunswick) better than it already is,” said Holder, who described himself as a “north-end kid” from Saint John.

Holder didn’t make himself available to the media after his announcement. He also didn’t formally resign on Thursday, sending a note out to reporters that he “won’t be back in May” but hasn’t “set the official date yet” for his resignation.

News of his exit comes less than a year after Holder resigned as the province’s minister of post-secondary education, training and labour, citing the impact of Premier Blaine Higgs’s top-down leadership style on caucus decision-making.

Holder was the second minister to resign from cabinet last June amid Tory caucus infighting over changes to the province’s gender identity policy for public school students.

Fellow Saint John MLA and Tory stalwart Dorothy Shephard was the first to resign from cabinet last summer, giving up her post as minister of social development before announcing last week she won’t reoffer in the upcoming election this fall.

Shephard also cited Higgs’s leadership style in her decision to leave cabinet.

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During his speech Thursday, Holder made a point to thank Higgs “for the conversations over the last number of days leading up to my decision here.”

Higgs later told media he didn’t know Holder’s exact plans for the future but knew the Saint John MLA had “opportunities.”

“He’s a great statesman in the legislature and certainly his care for his community is genuine,” the premier said.

When asked if he had addressed Holder’s concerns about caucus decision-making, Higgs said he thought so but acknowledged he’s “always struggled with things not getting done at a certain level of pace.”

“It’s rare if you ever come out of caucus or cabinet with unanimous decisions,” he said.

“There’s always a degree of differences, and that’s not going to change, but leadership requires real decisions and you’re not everything to everybody, so you do what you believe is right and you do with it conviction and you hope it’s just the right thing to do.”

Holder ‘a truly progressive conservative’: Coon

Both opposition leaders spoke glowingly of Holder’s commitment to provincial politics.

“He was a real asset to the legislature, he was a real pleasure to work with, so it’s a loss to see him leaving the legislative assembly,” Liberal leader Susan Holt told media Thursday.

That was echoed by Green leader David Coon.

“(Holder’s) very committed to improving our system of government and he’s made real contributions to doing so,” Coon said. “I’m sad to see him go. He’s truly a progressive conservative in the truest meaning of that term.”

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In his 16-minute speech, Holder spoke of the importance of bipartisanship, describing his relationship with former Liberal cabinet minister Victor Boudreau.

They used to “tear each other” up in the House, Holder recalled, but “when I was in opposition, (Boudreau) helped me with my constituents, and when I was in government, I did my best to do the same for him – and this is how this legislature needs to work.”

First elected at the age of 25 in June 1999, Holder has won a total of six elections over the course of his 25-year provincial political career. He’s a former minister of environment and local government, tourism and parks, wellness, culture and sport, and tourism, heritage and culture. He also served as deputy speaker.

Holder thanked his wife Brenda Thursday, along with their two daughters, Margaret and Katherine, for their support over the course of his political career.

Holder’s and Shephard’s departure announcements are the latest in a string of changes within the Tory caucus ahead of the election.

In February, fellow Saint John colleague Arlene Dunn abruptly resigned from her ministerial and MLA duties. Meanwhile, colleagues Daniel Allain, Jeff Carr and Ross Wetmore – who were part of the Tory rebels who supported a Liberal motion on Policy 713 changes – have announced they won’t reoffer in the next election.

Wetmore had announced his retirement intentions before the Policy 713 kerfuffle.

Fellow rebel Andrea Anderson-Mason, MLA for Fundy-The Isles-Saint John West, has yet to announce her plans.

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Opinion: Canada's foreign policy and its domestic politics on Israel's war against Hamas are shifting – The Globe and Mail

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The vote in the House of Commons last week on Israel’s war against Hamas represents a shift in both Canada’s foreign policy and its domestic politics.

The Liberal government is now markedly more supportive of the rights of Palestinians and less supportive of the state of Israel than in the past. That shift mirrors changing demographics, and the increasing importance of Muslim voters within the Liberal coalition.

Both the Liberal and Conservative parties once voiced unqualified support for Israel’s right to defend itself from hostile neighbours. But the Muslim community is growing in Canada. Today it represents 5 per cent of the population, compared with 1 per cent who identify as Jewish.

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Although data is sparse prior to 2015, it is believed that Muslim Canadians tended to prefer the Liberal Party over the Conservative Party. They were also less likely to vote than the general population.

But the Conservative Party under Stephen Harper deeply angered the community with talk about “barbaric cultural practices” and musing during the 2015 election campaign about banning public servants from wearing the niqab. Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was promising to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada if elected.

These factors galvanized community groups to encourage Muslims to vote. And they did. According to an Environics poll, 79 per cent of eligible Muslims cast a ballot in the 2015 election, compared with an overall turnout of 68 per cent. Sixty-five per cent of Muslim voters cast ballots for the Liberal Party, compared with 10 per cent who voted for the NDP and just 2 per cent for the Conservatives. (Telephone interviews of 600 adults across Canada who self-identified as Muslim, were conducted between Nov. 19, 2015 and Jan. 23, 2016, with an expected margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points 19 times out of 20.)

Muslim Canadians also strongly supported the Liberals in the elections of 2019 and 2021. The party is understandably anxious not to lose that support. I’m told that Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly often mentions the large Muslim community in her Montreal riding. (According to the 2021 census, 18 per cent of the people in Ahuntsic-Cartierville identify as Muslim.)

This is one reason why the Liberal leadership laboured so mightily to find a way to support last week’s NDP motion that would, among other measures, have recognized the state of Palestine. The Liberal caucus was deeply divided on the issue. My colleague Marieke Walsh reports that dozens of Liberal MPs were prepared to vote for the NDP motion.

In the end, almost all Liberal MPs ended up voting for a watered-down version of the motion – statehood recognition was taken off the table – while three Liberal MPs voted against it. One of them, Anthony Housefather, is considering whether to remain inside the Liberal caucus.

This is not simply a question of political calculation. Many Canadians are deeply concerned over the sufferings of the people in Gaza as the Israel Defence Forces seek to root out Hamas fighters.

The Conservatives enjoy the moral clarity of their unreserved support for the state of Israel in this conflict. The NDP place greater emphasis on supporting the rights of Palestinians.

The Liberals have tried to keep both Jewish and Muslim constituencies onside. But as last week’s vote suggests, they increasingly accord a high priority to the rights of Palestinians and to the Muslim community in Canada.

As with other religious communities, Muslims are hardly monolithic. Someone who comes to Canada from Senegal may have different values and priorities than a Canadian who comes from Syria or Pakistan or Indonesia.

And the plight of Palestinians in Gaza may not be the only issue influencing Muslims, who struggle with inflation, interest rates and housing affordability as much as other voters.

Many new Canadians come from societies that are socially conservative. Some Muslim voters may be uncomfortable with the Liberal Party’s strong support for the rights of LGBTQ Canadians.

Finally, Muslim voters for whom supporting the rights of Palestinians is the ballot question may be drawn more to the NDP than the Liberals.

Regardless, the days of Liberal/Conservative bipartisan consensus in support of Israel are over. This is the new lay of the land.

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Recall Gondek group planned to launch its own petition before political novice did – CBC.ca

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The third-party group helping promote the recall campaign against Mayor Jyoti Gondek had devised plans to launch its own petition drive, as part of a broader mission to make Calgary council more conservative.

Project YYC had planned with other conservative political organizations to gather signatures demanding Calgary’s mayor be removed, says group leader Roy Beyer. But their drive would have begun later in the year, when nicer weather made for easier canvassing for supporters, he said.

Those efforts were stymied when Landon Johnston, an HVAC contractor largely unknown in local politics, applied at city hall to launch his own recall drive in early February. Since provincial recall laws allow only one recall attempt per politician per term, Project YYC chose to lend support to Johnston’s bid.

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“Now we have to try to do door-knocking in the winter, and there’s a lot of preparation that you have to contemplate prior to starting. And Landon didn’t do that,” Beyer told CBC News in an interview.

Project YYC has helped gather signatures, created a website and erected large, anti-Gondek signs around town. It has supplied organizational heft that Johnston admits to lacking.

Their task is daunting.

According to provincial law, in order to force a recall plebiscite to oust the mayor before the term is up, they have two months to gather more than 514,000 signatures, an amount equal to 40 per cent of Calgary’s population in 2019.

They have until April 4 to collect that many signatures, and by March 21 had only 42,000.

Beyer criticizes the victory threshold for recall petition as so high that it’s “a joke,” and the province may as well not have politician recall laws.

So if he thinks it’s an impossible pursuit, why is he involved with this?

“You can send a message to the mayor that she should be sitting down and resigning … without achieving those numbers,” Beyer said.

Project YYC founder Roy Beyer, from a Take Back Alberta video in 2022. He is no longer with that provincial activist group. (royjbeyer screenshot/Rumble)

He likened it to former premier Jason Kenney getting 52 per cent support in a UCP leadership review — enough to technically continue as leader, but a lousy enough show of confidence that he announced immediately he would step down.

Gondek has given no indication she’ll voluntarily leave before her term is up next year. But she did emerge from a meeting last week with Johnston to admit the petition has resonated with many Calgarians and is a signal she must work harder to listen to public concerns and explain council’s decisions.

The mayor also told the Calgary Sun this week that she’s undecided about running for re-election in 2025. 

“There used to be this thing where if you’re the mayor, of course you’re going to run for another term because there’s unfinished business,” Gondek told the newspaper.

“And yes, there will be unfinished business, but the times are not what they were. You need to make sure you’re the right leader for the times you’re in.”

The last several Calgary mayors have enjoyed multiple terms in office, going back to Ralph Klein in the 1980s. The last one-term mayor was Ross Alger, the man Klein defeated in 1980.

Beyer and fellow conservative organizers launched Project YYC before the recall campaign. The goal was to elect a conservative mayor and councillors — “a common-sense city council, instead of what we currently have,” he said.

Beyer is one of a few former activists with the provincial pressure group Take Back Alberta to have latched themselves to the recall bid and Project YYC, along with some United Conservative Party riding officials in Calgary. 

Beyer’s acknowledgment of his group’s broader mission comes as Premier Danielle Smith and her cabinet ministers have said they want to introduce political party politics in large municipalities — even though most civic politicians have said they don’t want to bring clear partisanship into city halls.

Although Beyer admits Project YYC’s own recall campaign would have been a coalition effort with other conservative groups, he wouldn’t specify which ones. He did insist that Take Back Alberta wasn’t one of them.

A man in a grey baseball cap speaks to reporters.
Calgary business owner Landon Johnston speaks to reporters at City Hall on March 22 following his 15-minute conversation with Mayor Jyoti Gondek. (Laurence Taschereau/CBC)

Johnston says he was approached by Beyer’s group shortly after applying to recall Gondek, and gave them $3,000 from donations he’d raised.

He initially denied any knowledge of Project YYC when documents first emerged about that group’s role in the recall, but later said he didn’t initially realize that was the organizational name of his campaign allies.

“They said they could get me signatures, so I said, ‘OK, if you can do it by the book, here’s some money.’ And it’s worked,” he said.

Johnston has said he’s new to politics but simply wants to remove Gondek because of policies he’s disagreed with, like the soon-to-be-ended ban on single-use plastics and bags at restaurant takeouts and drive-thrus.

He’s no steadfast conservative, either. He told CBC’s Calgary Eyeopener that he voted for Rachel Notley’s NDP because one of its green-renovation incentives helped his HVAC business.

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