A year after his political suicide, the legacy of former President Pedro Castillo and the circumstances surrounding his dismissal continue to generate debate and division in Peru, a country perennially stuck in a political crisis that has no signs of being resolved in the short and medium term.
In the midst of one of these crises, Castillo was elected president amid promises of profound changes for a country that, before his rise, had three presidents in just over two years. His arrest when he was trying to dissolve Congress and appoint an emergency government to get rid of his third motion of censure is a reflection of what has been turbulent Peruvian politics for years.
Castillo is currently in preventive detention in the Barbadillo prison, known as the prison of former presidents, where he shares facilities with other illustrious figures in Peruvian politics, currently in low hours, such as Alejandro Toledo and Alberto Fujimori.
There he remains while his investigation for alleged rebellion, conspiracy and abuse of authority continues. Just one year after his fall this Thursday, the Judiciary will evaluate his request to annul his preventive detention.
However, his release is far from taking place at the moment, since to this imprisonment another 36 months is added for an alleged case of corruption that places him as the leader of a criminal organization woven around the Ministry of Housing and Petro Perú. .
PERMANENT CRISIS
Castillo’s mandate was a faithful reflection of what Peruvian politics is. An instability that was evident in the five government teams – with more than 70 ministers – that he had in just 16 months. Unable to provide stability and direction to the country, he also had to deal with a hostile Congress, even losing the support of his own party, Peru Libre, after disagreements with his leader, Vladimir Cerrón.
Added to the leadership problems of some leaders is a system of parties that are criticized for their inability to meet the demands of the population and promote ungovernability in the country, with the recurring threat of a presidential vacancy hovering over the figure. of the president.
This recurring change of leaders is more linked to the design of Peruvian institutions, which make it easier for both Congress and the president to nullify the other’s powers, than to the cases of corruption that have been able to pursue those who once occupied Casa Pizarro.
This instability – with Dina Boluarte there are already six presidents in four years – has also meant that new structural reforms have not been promoted in the last three decades, seriously affecting its economy.
A FALL THAT HAS CHANGED NOTHING
The dismissal of Castillo brought one of its worst recent crises to Peru, with almost fifty deaths due to the repression of the security forces in the protests over his arrest and against the person who took command, who until then was his vice president, Dina Boluarte, whose mandate has been called into question.
The arrival of the first female president in the country’s history has not resolved this crisis as believed, the last chapter of which resists being written. The protests demanding her resignation and the calling of elections continue, also facing serious accusations of crimes against humanity for those deaths in the demonstrations at the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, the turbulent situation in the country does not stop and Boluarte’s name is heard in the same reproaches that once leveled Castillo, such as the questionable appointments of several high-ranking officials, the alleged plagiarism of his works, or the suspicions about the origin of the financing of their campaigns.
However, Boluarte, unlike Castillo, has had a more solid government team and has known how to deal with a Congress where none of her attempts to bring her down have succeeded. The president continues to ignore the demands of those who demonstrate demanding an advance of the elections, scheduled if she does not change her mind by 2026.
Until then, Boluarte has before him the major challenge of reaching agreements on governance and strengthening institutions with a Congress that has already shown on numerous occasions that it looks more to its own partisan interests and a civil society that does not forgive him how he achieved the goal. power and his coldness regarding deaths in the protests.
