Nearly 100 leaders from the Puno region decided to restart the indefinite protest for the resignation of In Boluarte and general elections in 2023. Amador Núñez, president of the Popular Organizations Front of Puno (FOP), moderated the session. In dialogue with La República, he exposed his position regarding different points of view regarding the current political crisis.
—The strike restarts on January 4, 2023. What to say regarding it?
—It is a boost for the departure of Dina Boluarte. Our Aymara brothers are setting an example because they are on strike despite Christmas.
—If they achieve the resignation of Dina Boluarte, wouldn’t that be giving Congress more power?
—Dina Boluarte has to go. José Williamscurrent president of Congress, has a history of human rights violations. Therefore, the current Board of Directors must be changed and a new president of Parliament must be elected so that he can immediately call elections in 2023.
—If this is not achieved, what would be the path? Otherwise we would be on permanent strikes
“It has to be done.” If possible, we will give our lives. Look, to calm the waters following dozens of Peruvians died, they ask for dialogue, but they don’t want dialogue to direct our proposal, which we have just explained. What happens is that they don’t want to listen to us. Since they don’t want to listen to us, we have to fight in the streets.
—Don’t you think that a José Williams government would be worse than that of Dina Boluarte?
“Of course, but we’re not going to accept it either. That is why it has been proposed that, following the resignation of Dina Boluarte, Congress appoint a new president to call quick elections.
—The protests that are coming will have the same nuance of violence, such as the seizure of airports, burning of public places?
—The National Police have to capture those who commit violence. We are making use of our right to protest. (…) But neither can they delegitimize us by acts of third parties. If we find infiltrators, we have to stop them. For us, the government infiltrates the Terna Group to make us look bad.
—Tourism is one of the activities most affected by the strikes. What can be said regarding this, considering that it is an activity that links several services?
—That version is to create good guys and bad guys. However, journalism says nothing regarding how the train and car service to get to Machupicchu has been monopolized and how Peruvians have to pay in dollars to learn regarding our history. Basically, when they talk regarding tourism, they are protecting the business of big businessmen who do not contribute anything to enhance our wealth and our attractions, but benefit too much. There is a local tourism that is affected, but most of them live off national tourism. But journalists defend the tourism that transports, Peru Rail, Latam and others.
—What to say regarding the denunciations of Pedro Castillo. Generals who paid for promotion during his rule have recently been arrested.
We do not support acts of corruption. If he has to be penalized, let him be penalized, but by due process. A Pedro Castillo they have sentenced him to the worst without a trial. He’s already in jail. Alan García was never put in prison and even the Apristas defended him as innocent. Why is Martín Vizcarra free? Why isn’t PPK in jail? Why is Alejandro Toledo happy in the United States? That proves that the law is not the same for everyone. (…) The Judiciary, the Executive Branch and the Prosecutor’s Office have been merciless once morest Pedro Castillo. If there is corruption, let it be investigated. But, if we analyze, the only one who is imprisoned is the citizen Pedro Castillo, without a trial or a fair process.
—And what regarding the dissolution of Congress by Pedro Castillo (carrying out a coup)?
“I was badly advised. We agree. His decision does not conform to the Constitution fujimorista, but in the end he has done what the people were demanding of him.
—What is the need to divide the country into what would be the southern region?
—Lima lives in the regions. What is produced in Lima? In the south there is lithium, gas, copper, gold. What does Lima have? We believe that 90% of the contributions for income tax, canon, and others must remain in the regions where it is produced. 10%, even if it is, to go to Lima. Lima lives off everything that is produced in the interior of the country and on top of that we receive the contempt of people who, because they live in La Molina, believe that they are more outclassed than someone who lives in Puno.
—This position does not help to create a nation state with all cultures integrated. What to say in front of it?
—Look, the Constitution says that indigenous peoples and their culture have to be respected, and, when the Quechua and Aymara peoples demand a consultation to see if they agree or not with the change in the Constitution, they tell us that we are a minority. They call us terrucos. They shoot us That is why we want to divide ourselves from Lima with all our resources and potential.
Why are you opposed to the electoral reform?
—The current Congress has no legitimacy at this time. Electoral reform is one thing; it is another thing to make laws with their own name. They want the requirement to be a senator to be first a congressman. That is not reform. They don’t want a peasant like Pedro Castillo in power. They want the elections to be only between a small group that represents certain interests. They want reforms, but they do not want to accept that the people be consulted if they agree or not with a change to the Constitution. That is not democracy. The media does not say anything regarding this, for example. They don’t criticize either. They shut up. As César Hildebrant says, journalism earns more from what is silent than from what it says. Any reform, let the next Congress do it. What’s more, there shouldn’t even be reform anymore. A new constitution must be promoted.
—Will a change in the Constitution change things in the country, like poverty, for example?
—Yes, as long as the people participate. To be a constitutionalist, you don’t need to be a lawyer. The president of the community, out of common sense, knows more regarding reality than anyone else.
