It has been 1 year since the coup against Pedro Castillo in Peru. The US-backed dictatorship that replaced him launched numerous massacres against Indigenous protesters who were calling for the return of democracy.
Throughout 2022, right-wing pro-Fujimori parties in congress were preparing to launch a legislative coup against President Castillo. In order to prevent this, on December 7th that year, Castillo announced new congressional elections and thereby suspending the existing congress until the new one was elected.
In response, congress voted to impeach Castillo in an illegal session. The police and military, institutions shaped by the Fujimori dictatorship, sided with congress over the President and proceeded to arrest Pedro Castillo. This cleared the way for congress to install Dina Boluarte as President without a general election.
Immediately, social movements, primarily in rural indigenous regions, began protesting against the coup. These protests escalated into a general strike in which most of the key highways across the country were blocked by protesters erecting barricades.
In response, the new Boluarte regime declared a state of emergency and gave the police and military the green light to use live ammunition to clear roads and break up the protests. This is when the massacres across Quechua and Aymara regions began. CREDIT RED MEDIA