I figured that the elites in Peru would find a way put the relentlessly corrupt Keiko Fujimori in power, but I am happy to be wrong.
That being said, if he actually delivers on his promises to move toward a more just and equal society, I would expect that the aforementioned elites, as well as elements of the US state security apparatus, will attempt to overthrow him:
Mr. Smith went to Washington. Now, Mr. Castillo has come to Lima.
The rise of Pedro Castillo, a previously obscure leader of a rural teachers union, to Peru’s highest office is the most glaring example yet of the power of the pandemic to upend politics in Latin America.
The ravages of the coronavirus, and the surges in poverty and inequality it has caused, have provoked nearly 1 million people to protest in Colombia and saw a communist elected mayor of Santiago, the capital of Chile, the region’s free-market model.
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In an address to Congress, he celebrated Peru’s Indigenous peoples and blamed the Spanish conquest and the legacy of colonialism for the inequalities that persist in the nation today.
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He outlined a vision for a much-changed country — one where attending universities would be free, but unemployed youth who were not in school would be conscripted by a military redeployed for engineering and public works projects. Indigenous languages would be used inside government offices and by state officials in parts of the country where they predominate. Immigrants who commit crimes, he said, would be summarily deported within 72 hours.
This guy is rather "eclectic", isn't he.
The priority for his new government, he said, will be coronavirus vaccinations, access to health care, economic revitalization, improving education and aiding the rural poor.
He sought to temper fears that his government would enact a series of far-left policies including nationalizations and land seizures, saying property rights would be guaranteed. “We will do none of that,” he said.
At the same time, however, he pledged to target “monopolies” that have driven up prices for everything from gasoline to medicines, and suggested the state might intervene in some sectors “to reduce costs.” He put on notice the foreign investors who he suggested had negotiated overly generous contracts with past governments to extract Peru’s natural resources.
“The state must have the freedom to promote, to monitor and regulate according to the interests of the majority,” he said.
Yeah, that will get the CIA and State Department in his corner.
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Yet he faces a number of challenges from the start, including a struggle within his inner circle for influential positions within a cabinet he has yet to announce. He confronts a hostile, fractured Congress run by his political enemies, with a history of impeaching presidents.
Yep, you can be sure that someone at Langley is already drafting impeachment scenarios.
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He has vowed to insert the state more deeply into the country’s lucrative mining sector, but has not explained when, how or to what extent. He is a social conservative who has opposed same-sex marriage but tried to focus his candidacy more on the nation’s economic plight, with pledges to fight the pandemic, poverty and unemployment.
Yeah, changing the status quo in resource extraction, even a little, will attract people who want to destabilize his administration.
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Peru has had four presidents in five years. Two were forced out amid corruption allegations, and another over the use of excessive force against protesters. More than 50 lawmakers in the 130-member legislature are under investigation or facing criminal charges. Keiko Fujimori has been in and out of jail in the past two years amid allegations of money laundering and campaign finance violations.
A profoundly dysfunctional polity, that.
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Yet his election produced as much fear as hope. Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Castillo after he was declared winner. Privately, U.S. officials have expressed concern about the anti-American sentiments that pervade his party.
Why would anyone in Latin America have Latin America have anti-American sentiments?
Perhaps it might have something with supporting the worst possible rulers to further the interests of American capital for almost 200 years.
Given developments in Brazil, Ecuador, and Bolivia, I would expect some sot of similar form of coup, whether by the military or by "lawfare" will have him removed before he finishes his term.
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