Social scientists have not yet deciphered what happens every December in Peru, a month full of revelations, betrayals, breakups, secret agreements and the return of its old ghosts to the fore. As if the scriptwriters of a streaming platform had started working overtime, this week former President Alberto Fujimori – who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2009 for being the direct perpetrator of two massacres and two kidnappings – was released thanks to a controversial ruling by the Constitution released court challenging Inter-American Court of Human Rights; Prosecutor Patricia Benavides was suspended for six months for allegedly leading a criminal organization; Former President Pedro Castillo served a year in prison for his frustrated coup; Dina Boluarte achieved an approval rating of 11% in her first year in office – the lowest of the last six presidents; and protests have resumed nationally, although still without the noise or massiveness of the recent past.
On Wednesday, the Fujimoristas fulfilled their most fervent wish: that their leader leave his cell and cross the gates of the Barbadillo prison in Lima. Unlike December 24, 2017, when he left between midnight and was pardoned on the eve of Christmas Eve, this time the verdict was known a day in advance, prompting his fans to gather outside the prison. There was uncertainty until the last moment. Especially because the executive did not make public that it would abide by the Constitutional Court's decision, even though it knew of the Inter-American Court's order not to release him. Only when everything was finalized did Justice Minister Eduardo Arana and Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea speak about it on television. “Complying with the ruling of the Constitutional Court in no way neglects the obligations arising from international treaties and the inter-American human rights system,” said the Chancellor.
The truth is that this Friday the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a statement emphasizing its rejection of the decision of the Peruvian state. “The Commission reiterates that granting pardons or other exemptions from responsibility to persons convicted of serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity can lead to a serious form of impunity,” they point out. In the same letter, they remind the country that “it is obliged to comply with the measures adopted by the Court in the exercise of its powers.”
Alberto Fujimori welcomes his family in Lima (Peru) on December 6th. DECEMBER 6, 2023, LIMA (PERU). – The former president of Peru is released from Barbadillo prison after 16 years in prison. Keiko Fujimori
Add to this the complaint of the judges of the Constitutional Court, Manuel Monteagudo and César Ochoa, who have pointed out that they were not consulted on a matter as sensitive as the release of Fujimori. Despite these irregularities, the scene occurred: the Peruvian-Japanese citizen, who ruled Peru in the 1990s and carried out a self-coup in 1992, left prison with an oxygen tank accompanied by his children Keiko and Kenji. “Justice and humanity finally prevailed,” said the Fuerza Popular leader, alluding to her father’s 85th birthday.
The relatives of the victims of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta massacres offered a press conference in which they called Fujimori's release “illegal” and mentioned that they will take the case to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS). According to the Attorney General's Office, Fujimori has not yet paid the 57 million soles ($15,405,000) in civil reparations to the state for three cases in which he was convicted by the judiciary. His lawyer Elio Riera has avoided the subject, but has also made it clear that he will seek the overturning of the convictions in the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta cases, as well as the kidnappings of journalist Gustavo Gorriti and businessman Samuel Dyer. “These judgments can be challenged through constitutional measures. They are in progress. “I hope to discuss these cases and prove the former president’s innocence.”
While the population was fascinated by what was happening to the Fujimori, a pot full of crickets was discovered in the State Department. The country's prosecutor, Patricia Benavides, has been suspended for six months by the National Board of Justice (JNJ). Benavides is accused of pulling the strings of a criminal organization rooted in her sector that planned to elect the ombudsman, disqualify a top prosecutor and oust the JNJ in return for dropping investigations against members of Congress. His closest advisor, Jaime Villanueva, took advantage of the effective collaboration and claims to have acted on orders from his boss.
December 7th marked a double anniversary, both infamous: Pedro Castillo's attempt to form an emergency government and dissolve Congress, and with it his direct prison sentence; and the first year that Dina Boluarte held power. A year in which he managed to stay afloat, but his legitimacy only diminished. According to Datum Internacional, only 11% of Peruvians approve of his management. Last week, the president, along with her prime minister, Alberto Otárola, was constitutionally charged with murder for the killing of demonstrators protesting for her resignation in the first months of her term in office. The complaint questioned for delay was formalized by respondent Benavides on the same day that she was accused of leading a criminal network, which led to a rift between the two.
By a supreme decree, Boluarte designated December 7 as “Day of Institutionality, the Rule of Law and the Defense of Democracy,” in reference to the capture of Pedro Castillo. But that same Thursday, thousands of citizens in twenty provinces called for his resignation. The slogan remains unchanged, as does the call for early elections and a Constituent Assembly to draft a new Magna Carta. This time the mobilizations were peaceful and there were no clashes or street occupations like a year ago. It was believed that anti-Fujimorism, considered by several analysts to be the largest informal political group in Peru, would take to the streets en masse, but that has not yet happened. Of course, opinions are still mixed. Trade union organizations, university unions and independent groups continue to fight. It's just another December in Peru. And it's just beginning.
Follow all international information on Facebook and Xor in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_