In order to know the main issues addressed by the Executive in the current situation, ECData obtained the minutes of all meetings Minister council of management In Boluarte that occurred up to January 23. According to the documents, the most recurring topics in the meetings had to do with the Justice sector. In total, 37 standards or proposals from that portfolio were seen. Of these, the vast majority correspond to draft resolutions requesting the extradition of citizens.
In second place are the measures related to the demonstrations once morest the government. According to the minutes, on 17 occasions regulations or proposals that sought to respond to the current social conflict were addressed. Of these, the majority (53%) were restrictive measures and measures to restore public order, such as declarations of a state of emergency or mandatory social immobilization.
In fact, responses like this were common following the most fatal events in the mobilizations were recorded. On December 13, 2022, one day following the demonstrations left 4 dead and 109 injured in Arequipa, the Council of Ministers discussed the draft supreme decree declaring a state of emergency in said region. After eight and 18 people died in Ayacucho and Puno, respectively, the sessions held immediately following had as their only agenda item the projects that declared mandatory social immobilization in the areas.
On the other hand, situational reports on the conflict represent 29% of the measures dealt with in relation to the demonstrations. In total, five of these were presented. Only on two occasions were measures related to the installation, progress or search for dialogue discussed.
“The conflict cannot be reduced to operations to restore public order,” considers the deputy for social conflicts of the Ombudsman, Rolando Luque. This, mainly, because it implies “an additional risk for the security of the population”, due to the fact that the Armed Forces are not trained to interact with the civilian population.
“The military training trains the soldier under a logic of war, in which the one in front is an enemy that must be defeated. But here we are not in a war. Here we are facing protesting citizens, some of whom transgress the law, and for that there is a state response from the police and the Public Ministry, and others who do not“, Explain.
According to Paulo Vilca, former Vice Minister of Territorial Governance, the fact that the government mostly opts for restrictive measures such as a state of emergency or mandatory social immobilization suggests that the Executive “is concentrating on its survival.”
“It is as if the government might not find another way out, other alternatives, other relevant decisions to address this serious problem. There has not been any substantial modification that seeks to address the reasons that led to the conflict”, he points out.
Luque and Vilca agree that, from the Executive Branch, the promotion of the advancement of elections before Congress and collaboration with the investigations to identify and punish those responsible for the deaths and disturbances in the protests should be prioritized.
Despite the difficulty in identifying dialogue agents in the current conflict, Luque emphasizes that the government has not strengthened the Social Management and Dialogue Secretary from Presidency of the Council of Ministers, an office in charge of preventing and managing social conflicts. According to him, since its creation in 2016, the average duration of the entity’s owners has been four months.
Not everything is recorded
According to sources of ECData in Minister councilAt least until the end of January, the sessions began around 9 in the morning and it was only following 2 or 3 in the followingnoon that the points on the agenda began to be seen. In the hours prior to the latter, the ministers talked at length regarding the social conflict. However, the minutes record what happened just following the discussion of the points on the agenda, and only on a few occasions do they record what was declared by those present. Therefore, there are dozens of hours of discussion that have not been recorded in the minutes.
Trade consulted with the Presidency of the Council of Ministers due to the lack of information recorded in the minutes. According to the entity, “for reasons of length and, in some cases, for information security, the entire debate is not necessarily transcribed.” It should be noted that most of the minutes of sessions that lasted more than five hours have only one or two pages, and do not record what was declared by those present.
