The coup in Peru has turned back the clock in Latin America

Just when Latin America seemed to be moving away from flamboyant, demagogic leaders of Left and Right, and finally electing sensible governments, Peru has only narrowly avoided political and constitutional chaos.

Pedro Castillo, the Left-wing President of Peru who was elected in June 2021, has been arrested on the same day that he attempted to dissolve Congress, declare a state of emergency and re-write the constitution.

At noon on Wednesday, 7th December, Castillo moved to dissolve the legislative chamber, three hours before the congress was due to debate, for a third time in eighteen months, his impeachment, seeking to remove him from office. Castillo announced that the dissolution of the Congress would pave the way for fresh elections within at least nine months. By then he promised to draft a new constitution. In the intervening months a state of national emergency would be in place, with Castillo governing through emergency powers.

But Latin America’s golpes need the support of the military to succeed. Peru’s army refused to  back their leftist president, just as the Brazilian army refused to back the rightist Joao Bolsonaro when he tried to organise a Donald Trump-like uprising against the narrow win for Brazil’s veteran social democratic-style leftist, Lula da Silva. In Peru, Castillo was arrested and charged with six counts relating to corruption and an unconstitutional act of sedition in his attempted coup.

Pedro Castillo, 53, is a former elementary teacher and union activist from a peasant family. In the election last July, Castillo presented himself as a new clean face in Peruvian politics. With his party, Peru Libre, which proclaimed its Marxist heritage, Castillo focused the campaign message on the themes of education and agriculture. He won by fewer than 50,000 votes.

Castillo´s short presidency was characterised by continual clashes with the political and media establishment. His rightist opponents tried three times to impeach him. Their charges included:

• Castillo installing a quasi-criminal organisation within the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, awarding Ministry contracts to benefit friends and family members, including the Tarata III Bridge project.
• Within the armed forces, Castillo is accused of favouring some officers, close to the government, in the annual process of promotions.
• Covering up and obstructing investigations into family members and close friends.

Castillo’s own party turned against him after his failed coup effort, with the Congress voting to impeach him by an overwhelming majority. He is the fifth former Peruvian president in a span of four years. Britain is on its fifth prime minister in six years, but so far none has been arrested.

Announced by Peru’s police forces upon his arrest, Castillo final charge was for rebellion and breaking the constitutional order.

The Vice-President Dina Boluarte has been sworn in as the first woman president in the history of Peru. Boluarte, 60, comes from the same party as Castillo, but last month quit as a minister in protest at his behaviour.  She has called for dialogue between all political forces and a political truce to concentrate on fighting corruption.

Peru tops the league table of South American states for corruption, cronyism and favouring political supporters. Castillo has shown the Left is not vaccinated against the abuses of power with which the Latin American Right is regularly charged. Now Peru waits to see if Señora Boluarte can have the political skills to stay in power with the Right snapping at her heels and eager to get their snouts back in the trough.

While the majority of the international community have recognised the legitimacy of President Boluarte and denounced the coup, Mexico is an outlier. President Obrador criticised the political elite for hounding out a legitimate leader from office and appears to be offering asylum to Castillo.

Zooming out across Latin America, Castillo´s election last year seemed to follow the trend of a pink wave rolling across the continent. Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina have all seen Left-wing governments elected in the last two years.

And while many of these newly elected leaders campaigned in a style reminiscent of Latin Left-wing firebrands like Hugo Chavez, the transition to government has seen priorities focus on careful management of the economy. With the region’s inflation galloping towards 10% (in Peru it stands at 8%) and a cost of living crisis coming after the pain of the pandemic, the rise of the Left may be better understood, not so much as an endorsement of Left-wing policies, but as the punishment of poor mismanagement by Right-wing governments.

In Peru, there have been eight presidents in the last 20 years. Corruption has been the repeated indictment that has seen one after another fall. The presidential palace appears to be a poisoned chalice. A disillusioned electorate may welcome the fact that chaos and a coup were averted, but there is little for Peruvians to celebrate. The nation’s political class is riven by corruption and defined by an inability to govern. Boluarte´s challenge is immense as she looks to heal the cleavages polarising Peru´s society and attend to the dire economic straits the country faces.

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