On December 7th, the Peruvian Congress removed sitting President Pedro Castillo from office after he announced plans to shut down congress. This presidential announcement came hours before Castillo was set to face an impeachment trial. Violent protests and police brutality have followed in the wake of these decisions, leaving 58 citizens dead. This disaster in Peru is a recent example of the risks that a democratic government runs when they decline to protect ordinary citizens and let corruption become a common occurrence.
Following its independence from Spain in 1821, the majority of the population and wealth of the country has been heavily concentrated in Lima. The World Bank classifies Peru as an “upper middle income”. However, the more rural areas are home to Peru’s Indigenous populations and are filled with intense poverty. These areas have little access to health care, limited water, lack of electricity and face social exclusion from the wealthier part of the country. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN food and Agriculture Organization reported that more than half of Peruvians are considered food insecure. The government of Peru has made no effort to help these massive problems in the country which has left some of its most vulnerable citizens to die. This has created a severe distrust between the citizens and the top leaders. There is a common sense amongst the people that the government does not hear or see them enough to help.
This lack of assistance to vulnerable citizens is largely due to the mass corruption that plagues the government of Peru. For decades, all levels of the Peruvian government have been riddled with fraudulent and deceptive behavior. From President Fujimori’s bribery to blatant cronyism by Martín Vizcarra, the people of Peru are very familiar with their government being corrupt. A 2021 study run by Vanderbilt University found that Peru had the highest level of perceived political corruption with 88 percent of the citizens believing that more than 50% of the politicians were corrupt. The study also found that Peru had the second-lowest rate of satisfaction with the democracy in the country with only 21% of pollees saying that they were satisfied. Another study done by Transparency International’s 2022 Perceptions of Corruption study, shows that 59% of Peruvians feel that their personal finances have been impacted by the government dishonesty. It also found that more than 60% of Peruvian citizens believe that Peru’s congress is corrupt. These beliefs have caused a severe distrust and disruption towards the government. I believe that it has been the catalyst to the devouring of Peru’s democracy.
Another catalyst of the demise of Peru’s democracy also comes from the events that unfolded in 2016. After a 16-year return to a fairly well functioning democracy, the 2016 election became a “winner-takes-all” brawl. This high stakes between party foes reignited historic tensions between citizens of the country during the election of Keiko Fujimori. This battle between Fujimori supporters and the Anti-Fujimori crowd created an extremely polarized climate in Peru and one that fails to represent its people. After losing the election, Fujimori acted in revenge and used her parties new legislative majority to stop her opponent’s party from excelling. Using constitutional provisions, she effectively forced many cabinet members to resign. This started a war between the president and Congress that has persisted into 2023. It has effectively dismantled the system of checks and balances that is essential to democracy. Instead of working together, both the president and Congress have used these checks and balances to try and overpower the other which led to a democracy in peril.
With a majority of the population having little to no trust in the feuding government to protect them, they have taken to the streets. Since the December 7th removal of the president for launching a self-coup, the people have been protesting unfair elections, corrupt leaders, and ultimately the lack of democracy that is being upheld in the country. While there have been thousands of peaceful protesters, there has also been an outpour of violence across the country. Much of this has been due to the fact that the government agencies have had a ruthless response to the protesting. In many of the recent protests, the National Police of Peru have fired both lethal and non-lethal weapons onto protestors. These attacks have been particularly directed at Indigenous people and those in poorer areas. Many people have died from state repression and others have been killed by road blockades. Government official have consistently avoided directing police and security entities to respect peaceful protests and has taken no accountability for the police violence that has occurred. Instead, they have focused the attention on the citizens, blaming them for the disorder that has occurred.
This denial and shifted blame have invoked even more anger from the citizens. It has further proved that the government of Peru is so far removed from the issues that its people face and that they have no plan to fight for the citizens of the country. There is a distinct separation between the wants and needs of the people and the wants of the leaders in power. The governmental authorities are carelessly sacrificing democracy for their own pursuits. This has limited them in being able to accurately represent the wants and needs of the people that they swore to protect. Currently in Peru, democracy is hanging in the balance. Politian’s must abandon their personal agendas and put the country first. It is apparent that the democracy many have worked so hard to build may be destroyed is the corruption and neglect by the government continues. Leaders have an incredible opportunity to positively use the democratic institutions that are set up to elevate the life and longevity of the country and the people. If not, it is possible that they will no longer have the systems that they do today.
Your highlighting of several factors that are pushing Peru’s democracy to a potential breaking point is justifiably concerning. The most significant concern to me that you bring forth is the government’s legitimacy to its constituents. Juan Linz (1978) describes several elements that lead to democratic breakdown. He espouses the government’s legitimacy, granted by its citizens, as a necessary element for democratic governance. While Peru’s political actors continue to behave in democratically eroding ways, President Boluarte’s attempts (Villegas, 2023) to move elections from 2026 to as early as this December may be cause for an optimism. If this action reflects an honest attempt to reaffirm the citizens role in governance, Peru may be taking a first step out of turmoil.
Linz, Juan J. (1978). “Crisis, Breakdown, and Reequilibration: Elements of breakdown” in Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan, The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp 14-50.
Villegas, A. (2023). Peru president unveils new bill for 2023 election amid Congress infighting. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/peru-president-unveils-new-bill-2023-election-amid-congress-infighting-2023-02-02/
It’s disheartening to see a common trend across the world where those in power often neglect the basic needs of their citizens, eroding the trust between the government and the people. This phenomenon is sadly universal, and it raises a fundamental question about the motives of those who hold public office. Are they driven by a genuine desire to serve the public, or is their pursuit of power purely self-serving? It’s a stark reality.
In my own country, Myanmar, the situation is dire. Many people live below the poverty line, and the military regime seems oblivious to the hardships faced by the population. Even in major cities, we grapple with limited access to healthcare, inadequate water resources, and a lack of electricity – all in today’s modern world.
You’ve made an important observation about the critical role of checks and balances in a government. It’s essential to have a system where both the executive (government) and the legislative (parliament or congress) branches work together for the benefit of the public.
However, what we often see is an abuse of institutional power, where these two branches engage in conflicts and power struggles that serve their own interests rather than the interests of the people they are meant to represent. This power grab can undermine the very essence of a democratic system.
In your post, the President’s use of constitutional mechanisms to force government members to resign ignited a prolonged conflict between the executive and legislative branches. This conflict has eroded the checks and balances that are supposed to ensure a fair and balanced governance system.
The real question here is why do some leaders prioritize their own interests over the well-being of the country and its citizens? Ideally, both government and congress should be working in harmony to achieve the common good. When they engage in power struggles and manipulation, it’s the democratic foundations of the nation that are put at risk.
In the end, a government should be “for the people, by the people,” not just in words but in actions. Without a proper system of checks and balances, the risk of authoritarianism and the erosion of democracy becomes all too real.