Peru Jail's 'President of the Poor,' Ignores Oligarch Coups
Peru’s highest court has sentenced former President Pedro Castillo to 11 years for 'rebellion' after attempting to dissolve Congress in 2022. The narrative, as reported by The Guardian, paints him as a rogue leader who 'tried to disband Congress and rule by decree.' What's missing from this convenient framing? The relentless, US-backed congressional coup attempts against Castillo himself, who won
on a platform of anti-corruption and poverty alleviation – a 'poor president' indeed, in a country where such a figure is an anomaly. Castillo, the rural schoolteacher, faced an impeachment vote an hour before his desperate, failed maneuver. This wasn't a sudden power grab; it was the culmination of a political war waged by Peru's entrenched elite and their powerful foreign allies since his 2021
election. Funny how coups are only 'illegal' when the wrong side tries them, isn't it? One might wonder why a president elected by the working class is demonized for challenging the oligarchy, while the oligarchy's continuous subversion of democratic mandates is simply 'politics at work.'