Peru: Thousands of peasants attended the symbolic swearing-in of Pedro Castillo in Ayacucho | Andean celebration of joy and hope with the presence of Alberto Fernández

From Lima

It was a popular festival. An Andean feast. An afternoon of enthusiasm, joy and hope. Thousands of peasants, inhabitants of the Andean region of Ayacucho, traveled to the historic Pampa de la Quinua for the symbolic swearing-in of Pedro Castillo. The place is almost an hour by car from the city of Huamanga, capital of Ayacucho. Thousands arrived by bus or on foot from Huamanga, from different towns, from the countryside of Ayacucho. From his first day in office, the Peruvian president received a massive reception in this region, where he won the elections with 82% of the vote. He reached the immense Pampa de la Quinua, surrounded by hills, by helicopter from Huamanga, where he had traveled by plane from Lima. He traveled with his wife, Lilia paredes. During the return trip, he was accompanied by the Argentine President Alberto Fernandez. The current president and the former Bolivian president also traveled with them, Luis Arce Yes Evo Morales. They were joined in Ayacucho by the Chilean president Sebastien Piñera.

The Pampa de la Quinua was chosen for this symbolic oath because it was there in December 1824 the battle of Ayacucho which sealed the independence of Peru and the region. On July 28, 1821, General José de San Martín proclaimed the independence of PeruThis is why these days the bicentenary of this independence is celebrated, but the confrontation continued for a few more years until the battle of Ayacucho puts an end to the independence process. To this historical symbolism was added the symbolism of this swearing-in in front of thousands of Andean peasants and settlers, sectors marginalized by the elites and low support for the new president, of peasant origin. Ayacucho, one of the poorest regions, It was the epicenter of the internal war that rocked the country in the 1980s and 1990s, which left nearly 70,000 dead, mostly Ayacucho peasants.

A sanctuary

In the Pampa de la Quinua, considered a sanctuary, a obelisk, surrounded by the flags of the countries of America whose citizens participated in the independence of Peru. Among them is the Argentine flag. In front of the obelisk there is a large esplanade, where the stand was raised for the authorities. Many stayed behind the scene and could not see what was going on as sheets placed to stop the wind covered them. They started to hear “Castillo, the city comes first.” The start of the ceremony was stopped and the tissues began to be removed. President Fernández and Evo collaborated in this task. Fernández was seated to Castillo’s right, Arce to his left.

While the ceremony had already begun, settlers continued to arrive from the hills. The crowd waved to the Peruvians and Tawantinsuyo, with the colors of the rainbow equal to the Bolivian wiphala, which represents the Inca past, and they raised banners with the names of their places of origin and requests such as the request for a new Constitution. The event started with the national anthem sung in Quechua. Another gesture of claim of indigenous peoples, which marked the beginning of the presidential administration of Castillo. The Peruvian president received a varayoc, a stick used by the indigenous Andean peoples. There was Andean music and dancing.

“In this land of Ayacucho, the independence of Peru and America has been consolidated,” began his brief speech. “The sky under which they fought and died for a dream is the one that accompanies us today. On this bicentennial day, Peru pays tribute to these heroes of American freedom and declares his will so that the dream of Bolívar, San Martín and the heroes survive today and tomorrow. We are here to renew the promise of fraternity and development, ”he continued.

“New times are coming, better times if we are more united every day”, declared the president, in front of the enthusiasm of the crowd. “We are a great country and we will be even more so if we are able to dialogue and build together the path of peace and prosperity. Let’s fight for our country let us renew in this soil where thousands died for the freedom of a continent the promise of a more just, more worthy, more human country. Let us together break the chains of poverty and underdevelopment, ”he said.

The crowd chanted: “This is the city, and the city is with Castillo.” Enthusiasm was overflowing. Castillo declared that Peru “is the heir of an ancient history, we are the country of all races and all bloods”. “In front of the memory of the centuries and the memory of the American blood that the heroes of freedom gave, I call on my people to fight together, united as a nation so that there are no more deferred dreams. Let’s build the future together ”. He offered “all the space” of his government to the indigenous peoples. He ends by making a new invocation to unity: “The moment of great unity has come, there are no longer any losers or winners.

One of the assistants at this historic ceremony was the representative of Parlasur, Oscar Laborde, who was chairman of the Mercosur election observation mission in Peru. “In this ceremony in Ayacucho, there was a lot of excitement, a lot of excitement. Through the towns, streets and squares that we passed through to get to the Pampa de la Quinua, we saw a lot of excitement in the population, a lot of enthusiasm, they greeted and applauded. The Ayacucho was the popular complement to the official ceremony in Congress. It is a historic moment, a great challenge for Castillo. Because of the relationship I see between presidents, with the nuances and political differences, I believe that there are conditions to move forward in an articulation and that South America becomes an important actor at the international level“, underlined Laborde Page 12 after the ceremony in Ayacucho.

Ministerial Cabinet

At the end of the event, the crowd overran security and surrounded Castillo, who left to applause and cries of support. At the time of sending this note, he was preparing to take an oath in his first ministerial cabinet, headed by MP Guido Bellido (see separate note). The names of the ministers were kept secret until the last minute. In the name of Pedro Francké in economics and Hernando Cevallos in Health, already advanced by Page 12 as very likely ministers, the former guerrilla fighter joined as almost certain Minister of Foreign Relations. Hector Béjar, 85, who was in the guerrillas of the sixties and is today a respected intellectual.

a respected intellectual.