Peru News and Links

 Opinion: two photos, two interpretations of events in Puno, show Peru is a very divided country. Two images, two worlds, and two paradigms, illustrate the current social conflict in Peru's Puno Region. The images were featured in two articles on Monday, February 20 about social and political unrest in the city of Puno by two major Peruvian newspapers. Aymaras marching in Puno, Peru (source La República) In the first image, appearing in the Lima-based La República , men are lined up in rows, walking down a street dressed smartly in their best black suits wearing ties and black dress hats. Many have long white scarves around their necks. Behind them are women wearing matching long red dresses and blankets of the same color. They are also wearing matching black hats under Puno’s midday sun. These are Indigenous Aymara who are protesting what they see as racism and oppression by the national government in Lima led by President Dina Boluarte and the national Congress. Peruvian Army col...

Amnesty accuses Peruvian authorities of ‘marked racist bias’ in protest crackdown (full article) By Tara John and Claudia Rebaza, CNN Relatives and friends of victims of recent clashes with the Peruvian police -- within protests against President Dina Boluarte -- carry pictures of their loved ones during a march commemorating one month of their death on February 9, 2023, in Juliaca, Puno region. Amnesty International has accused Peruvian authorities of acting with “a marked racist bias” in its crackdown on protests that have roiled the country since December, saying “populations that have historically been discriminated against” are being targeted, according to a report released on Thursday . Drawing on data from the Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office, Amnesty says it “found that the number of possible arbitrary deaths due to state repression” were “disproportionately concentrated in regions with largely Indigenous populations.” Amnesty also says that areas with majority indigenous population...

Congress: Juan Carlos Lizarzaburu caused controversy by referring to symbol of Andean original peoples as a "chifa tablecloth" (Spanish) In the midst of today's debate in the plenary session of Congress for the advancement of elections and the proposal for a constituent assembly, Juan Carlos Lizarzaburu of Fuerza Popular referred to the Whipala as being from a "chifa tablecloth". "Stop talking about natives and the Tahuantinsuyo Flag, which was won in a radio contest decades ago and in Bolivia, the Whipala, that chifa tablecloth was adopted by some socially resentful," said the parliamentarian who challenged his colleagues. The Tahuantinsuyo Flag is the official flag of the City of Cusco and co-official flag of the Department of Cuzco. It is also used as the flag for Quechua languages, the unofficial national flag of the Quechua people, and to represent the Inca heritage in general. The Tahuantinsuyo Flag The Wiphala is a square emblem commonly used as...

‘They don’t see us as humans.’ In Peru, protests over racism and neglect spill from the Andes (full article) Villagers block a bridge during antigovernment protests in rural Peru. (Angela Ponce) Kata Linthicum ANTA, Peru - As antigovernment protests spread across the Peruvian highlands last month, Remo Candia Guevara, a 42-year-old community leader in this rural farming town, grew increasingly anguished. National police had repeatedly shot into crowds of unarmed protesters, killing dozens. Candia blamed President Dina Boluarte. “She’s an assassin,” Candia said in a video interview with a local journalist on Jan. 10. “Many young people have died, cut down by her bullets.” The next day, Candia and thousands of others marched through the streets of Cusco, a nearby city known for its Inca ruins and narrow, colonial-era streets. As they clashed with police, gunfire erupted and Candia fell to the ground, bleeding from his stomach. He died at a hospital that night. His death and others have f...