Elections in Peru: After the count, Pedro Castillo …

From Lima

The vote count closed and the triumph of the left is confirmed, but the right maneuvers to twist the result and speak straight away. The right wing uses its economic and media power, mobilizes, presses, threatens, destabilizes, calls for ignoring the electoral result, tries to boycott the proclamation of the new president, calls for a coup, divides the country and puts it on the brink of abyss of a surge in violence and abyss, all in an effort to prevent the elected left-wing government from assuming elections that international observers call fair. The end result, with all the votes that had been observed already resolved and counted – the result that was achieved on Tuesday – shows that the rural teacher and leftist trade unionist Pedro Castillo defeated the right Keiko Fujimori by 44,058 votes, or 50.125% against 49.875%. A few days ago his victory was irreversible, this Tuesday the final count confirmed it. But This victory is not officially declared because the right is demanding the cancellation of the thousands of votes of the winner which have already been counted, which is unprecedented..

Knowing the final tally, Castillo wrote on Twitter: “A new time has started. Millions of Peruvians have stood up to defend their dignity and justice. Thank you to the peoples of all of Peru who, by virtue of their diversity and their historical strength, have placed their trust in me. My government will be due to all citizens ”.

Castillo’s patience

In a brief meeting with the foreign press, Castillo said on Tuesday he would “patiently” await the announcement of the official result and criticized those who want to “cancel the ballot”. “We are respectful of the popular will and on our side they will not find any aggression, but We are not going to allow oppressed people to continue to be discriminated against for more years.. Democratically things have been put on the table and democratically there must be a way out. Other spaces want to extend the choice. We are patiently awaiting the results, but there are voices, which even come from personalities who have had political experience, to want to pursue the popular will.Castillo said in a statement to the foreign press. He said he was there “because of the forgotten vote, which is at the top of the hill.” “We greet the Peruvian people and also the people of Latin America”, he concluded. He left his Vice-President Dina Boluarte and his advisers to answer questions.

“We won with everything against her. By dint of tricks, forced legal arguments, Keiko Fujimori seeks to block the electoral result, but the victory of Professor Castillo is irreversible. There is no possibility that this result will be reversed. To our activists, supporters and society, we tell them to stay calm, calm, but at the same time firm, defending the votes, ”Boluarte told the foreign press.

In the hands of the Jury

About 19 million Peruvians voted, which have already defined an outcome, but now the decision of who will take the presidency is left to four people, members of the National Election Jury (JNE). Desperately follow the path of Donald trump, the Peruvian right is resorting to legal tricks, without legal basis and without support in reality, to try to transform its defeat in the votes into a victory at the table. They demanded the nullity of some 200,000 votes, the vast majority of rural areas where Castillo swept over 80 percent. With this, they hope to reverse the outcome. It is historically marginalized Peruvians who now want their voices suppressed.

The arguments to request the nullity of the votes do not hold. They allege failures at the voting tables, such as the presence of family members as members of the same table – they were drawn at random – alleged differences between the signatures in the minutes of the members of the poll. the table and those of their IDs – dozens have already come out to clarify that they are their signatures, or because there are minutes when Fujimori has a very weak vote. In addition to their lack of support, most cancellation requests were filed outside the legal deadline. Most of these requests to cancel votes have already been rejected by local electoral juries, which continue to consider the avalanche of requests, but Fujimori will appeal to the JNE. Following the crash of its cancellation requests, Fujimori has now requested an audit of the vote counting system.

The right plays various scenarios of destabilization. His first objective is for the JNE to fail in his favor and modify the result by canceling his rival’s votes – which, according to various experts, would have no legal justification – which would be a scandal and would trigger mobilizations and protests. in favor of electoral victory. of the castle. His supporters are in the streets to demand respect for the electoral result and The peasants mobilized to defend their votes begin to arrive in Lima.

Coup strategies

If they failed to change the outcome, Fujimori and their right-wing allies would bet as long as possible to delay a final decision with their demands and appeals in an attempt to reach July 28, the day of the presidential change of command, without a decision. . and create a power vacuum. In this case, the presidency would be assumed, temporarily, until there is a definition, by the president of the new Congress, where the right-wing groups will have the majority. The presidency in the hands, the right would seek to cancel the electoral process. Politicians in this sector have already spoken on this subject. It would be a blow to the new Congress.

In the event that Castillo takes over the government, these unfounded fraud allegations seek to delegitimize his victory and his government, weaken it, further divide the country and create a scenario in which the new Congress could dismiss him for “moral incapacity”. Another coup scene.

A right in a state of hysteria is mobilizing in the street to put pressure on the electoral authorities. Extremist speeches prevail in their manifestations. This Tuesday, Keiko has once again appeared at a rally that seeks to ignore the election result. With the final result already released, he insisted that nothing was set and repeated his worn-out speech of the fraud with which he agitates his supporters. For several days, the Fujimoristas have been demonstrating threateningly in front of the house ofthe president of JNE, Jorge Luis Salas, and they also harass the director of the National Office of Electoral Processes, Piero Corvetto, responsible for the counting. Obvious pressure against these electoral authorities. Through social networks, public figures – intellectuals, artists, journalists and others – who do not support the unfounded fraud allegations made by the defeat of Keiko Fujimori are insulted and threatened.

As Keiko blasts democracy in an attempt to avoid defeat, Castillo remains cautiously calm, and he already travels as president-elect, meets former presidential candidates, unions, social organizations and unions, talks with businessmen, receives congratulations from leaders of other countries.