Today was so overwhelming I dont even know where to begin. Covid is definitely not the top story right now. The whole country has been protesting for a week now, which finally convinced most of the new cabinet to resign. A majority of the cabinet resigning forced Merino himself to resign today at noon.
There were already protests planned for today at 2pm, in response to the police killing two young protesters yesterday. Merinos resignation just two hours before protests were scheduled to start certainly calmed some of the anger. Instead of demanding that Merino step down, the protests were left with their secondary purpose, to hold a vigil for the two people killed and to protest police brutality.
I stayed home, but most of my Peruvian friends went to the protests today. I lived vicariously through my journalist neighbor Washington Roman Rojas (yes, his first name is Washington) as he went to the protests today. I watched his videos on his facebook page and was so impressed with how many people were in the main square and also relieved to see all of them wearing masks.
Just like the ronda campesinas that protect many neighborhoods have their own junta to keep the place safe. Unlike American militias, these are not armed juntas.
Brian Pintado Snchez, 22 and Jordan Into Sotelo Camargo, 24. Some news sources are also reporting of another 16 missing, though the police maintain that they have only arrested six people. One Peruvian newspaper is actually reporting 94 injured and 42 missing after last nights protests. Missing people here bring fears of so many South American governments who have disappeared political dissidents, like the 30,000 people who have never been found after Argentinas dirty war. Only 104 of over a thousand missing people have been found in the wake of Pinochets reign over Chile.
The fear of the police or other armed forces working for the government in Peru is real. Its not just the other countries in South America which are known for disappearing people. According to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, Peru registered the highest number of enforced disappearances in the world between 1987 and 1990. It didnt stop in 1990. Since March, the headlines in Peru are almost always about Covid, drowning out ongoing attempts to find missing people, such as a conference in February this year in Ayacucho, when families tried to get media attention for their family members who have yet to be found.
So, when people start disappearing at protests, most families fear more than a dead cellphone battery that prevents their family member from checking in with them. Nobody knows how far the congress will go in its attempt to take control of the country, now that
The political crisis shouldnt distract us from the pandemic that is still spreading rapidly around the world. Taxis here now have a plastic partition to separate the driver from the passengers in the back and all have Covid information posted along with hand sanitizer.
they have gotten Martin Vizcarra out of the way. Former president Vizcarra, who was removed from office last Monday with nothing more than a vote by congress, continues to call his removal illegal and illegitimate.
Now that Merino is out, there is a very scary power vacuum in Peru. How long will it take to replace Merino? Will the people accept the replacement, or will they continue to protest in the streets? How violent will the protests get? How many people will disappear? Will the military step in to fill the vacuum and stage their own military coup?
Today I received this email from US Embassy in Lima: Due to ongoing political events, marches and protests are planned to occur today and over the next few days in Lima and throughout Peru. The nationwide protests have resulted in tens of thousands of protesters with media outlets reporting two deaths and multiple injuries during yesterdays demonstrations in Lima.
