“Democracy yes, blow no”, shouted the followers …

From Lima

Faces of joy and firmness, a lot of deep Peru, an atmosphere of celebration and also of struggle, flags, music, the celebration of the electoral victory of the rural teacher and trade unionist Pedro Castillo and slogans in defense of this historic popular victory against attempts by the right to ignore it and their threats of a coup, they took the center of Lima and other cities of the country this Saturday. A few blocks from this massive mobilization in the capital, the right has also demonstrated. Between the two, a strong police cordon, which did not need to act. In the concentration of right-wing Keiko Fujimori supporters, with a majority elite presence, the coup speech of ignoring Castillo’s triumph was insisted.

“Great national march for the defense of democracy and the fatherland. No to the coup d’etat ”was the slogan of the call for popular mobilization to defend Castillo’s victory. “Democracy yes, blow no”, we have heard over and over again in response to voices from the right calling for the cancellation of the elections won by the left. A woman holds up a sign saying, “We have come a long way to defend our votes. She came from an Andean community. A man with a megaphone shouted “Keiko listen, accept your defeat” and people repeated the slogan in chorus. “The people have already chosen, Castillo has already won”, celebrated the crowd.

“Here are the people in the streets defending their victory, we will not let them steal it from us,” he said. this newspaper a woman walking behind a banner with the inscription “Alone united can we defeat the Fujimori mafia and the coup.” A little further on, another banner had written “In defense of the people’s vote”. Social organizations, unions, peasants, representatives of indigenous peoples, students, teachers, men and women from working-class neighborhoods, rallied peacefully to defend the election to the presidency of a man of origin. peasant and Andean, who has a long history of claiming a marginalized majority.

A large column of peasants advanced in the crowd, the ronderos. The peasant rondas were formed several decades ago to protect themselves from delinquency in the countryside, take care of their land, administer justice in their territories and be interlocutors in the relations of these populations with the authorities of the State. . Pedro Castillo was a rondero leader and now peasant patrols are in the streets defending their electoral victory.

PageI12 He spoke with Santos Saavedra, president of the Central National de las Rondas Campesinas, which brings together 2.5 million peasants across the country. Santos, a rondero for 24 years, is originally from Chota, province of the Andean region of Cajamarca, like Castillo. Cajamarca is the cradle of peasant tours.

“We are descendants of the original peoples, we preserve our values ​​and our customs. The ronderos are part of this electoral victory and our bases across the country are mobilizing to defend our vote, which is a vote of hope and justice. We are not going to allow anyone to try to ignore the popular will, to steal our votes, to have a fraud, a coup. SIf the electoral jury does not confirm the triumph of Professor Castillo, it would be something terrible, a blow, a parody of the popular will. If that happens, we have the legitimate right to go to an energetic resistance fight, ”said the rondero leader.

He was asked about Castillo’s triumph and what he expects from his government: “His triumph is something new. For a long time we expected to have a peasant president, like us, a teacher, it is a great hope. We hope the new government will create a new constitution, take care of health, which is terrible, revive the economy, pay attention to basic services, and support agriculture as a priority public policy. . We want fair prices for our products, which now often have to sell for less than it costs us to produce. Peru has a lot of social divides that have not been resolved, we are a very unequal country in terms of living conditions. We expect a total change in the neoliberal model, from which the peoples feel totally excluded. We know that it will not be easy because there is a conservative resistance from the elites, who do not want to lose even a minimum of their privileges ”.

Rondero also, Flavio Flores is originally from the jungle and president of the rural rounds in his region. “Coming here was a big sacrifice for us, from my land I had to walk three hours to the city and from there two days to Lima. This meeting is a feast of fraternity. We are here to demand that the popular vote be respected. It is a joy to put an original blood brother in the presidential chair, to reclaim our homeland. We only see ourselves represented now ”.

Castillo did not participate in the mobilization. He sent a message via social media. “Hundreds of thousands of Peruvians from all parts of the country have demonstrated today that when the people rise up to defend their dignity, there is no mafia or the threat of a coup that can stop them. . No maneuver will distort your will for change. We will not let you down. Together and together we will open the furrows of a new Peru ”.

Keiko insists with non-existent fraud

Not far from popular mobilization, in the elite demonstration, the defeat Keiko Fujimori – three times won in three consecutive elections – insisted in front of his supporters with his story, empty of content but supported by the mainstream media, of a fraud, non-existent in reality, which aims to delegitimize the victory of Castillo. He stirred the polarization again. A polarization fueled by racist and classist attacks against Castillo and his voters which saturate social networks and by Fujimori’s threats against those who do not support his unwarranted allegations of fraud. Keiko has said she will defend the vote, but intends to turn defeat into victory by demanding that her rivals’ votes be overturned, which are the voices of the peasants, of the poorest in the country. It was a day when the old figures of the more conservative right appeared and the classic speeches of the far right were heard.

Local electoral juries have rejected, for lack of support, all of Fujimori’s demands to quash Castillo’s votes. They will appeal to the national election jury, which will extend the deadline for an official decision to proclaim the winner, a deadline Fujimori and his allies intend to delay as long as possible. With his intention to eliminate the votes of his crumbling rival, sRight-wing voters, in an open coup stance, call for the election to be canceled. Retired military personnel, elected politicians and members of Congress allied to Keiko have spoken out along this coup line. President Francisco Sagasti strongly rejected calls for the armed forces to strike a blow and ensured the neutrality of the government and the military. A former Supreme Judge, an ally of Fujimori, has filed an amparo appeal in court to overturn the elections. A request without arguments or legal basis.

With his electoral defeat, Keiko closed the doors to the presidency and those to the prison were opened. Without the presidential immunity he hoped for, he will face a money laundering and criminal organization trial with a demand for 30 years in prison. The prosecution has strong arguments against him. This Monday, a judge will analyze the request of a prosecutor to place her in preventive detention for this case. This is why so much despair in the face of his defeat.