PERU:
Social Rebellion Spreads
Nationwide
By Milagros Salazar
LIMA (IPS) - The
Peruvian capital, faced
with rapidly rising cost
of living, was the
epicentre of protests
calling for fulfilment
of social and wage
agreements signed by the
government. Although
only one violent
incident occurred, some
200 demonstrators were
arrested.
Protests by farmers and
indigenous communities
early last week were
joined by a mass
demonstration by
teachers, construction
workers and state
employees in Lima and
several other cities and
towns. The general
strike also included
roadblocks.
New street protests were
called for Thursday in
some Amazon regions, in
response to decrees
issued by President Alan
García, making it easier
for private investors to
enter the territories of
native communities.
The decrees were set in
motion thanks to the
powers granted by the
legislative branch to
the executive under the
free trade agreement (FTA)
signed with the United
States. Political
analysts say the
government has exceeded
its legal powers.
"This is not a strike by
terrorists, or people
seeking to destabilise
the country, nor
Chavistas [supporters of
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez]," said the
secretary general of the
National Confederation
of Peruvian Workers (CGTP),
Mario Huamán, stressing
that these were peaceful
demonstrations.
The only exception was
in the Amazon region of
Madre de Dios, where the
seat of local government
was set ablaze.
For his part, Interior
Minister Luis Alva
Castro called the day of
protest a failure, and
said that 11,000 police
officers were deployed
and that 200
demonstrators had been
arrested. The government
also mobilised a number
of military troops,
triggering condemnation
from social leaders and
political analysts who
consider that the armed
forces lack the training
and experience to deal
with demonstrations.
"We can learn from every
situation, and the
government accepts its
own lesson, without
triumphalism or
defeatism, because it
knows that it must
continue to work, as it
has set out to do, for
the poor of Peru," said
García when he summed up
the impact of the strike
and hinted that he
recognised that many of
his promises had been
broken.
The CGTP is demanding
urgent measures to curb
the cost of living, pay
the wage increases
agreed with workers, and
change the free-market
economic model imposed
by García.
With respect to the
economic model, the CGTP
wants the government to
tax the windfall profits
of mining companies
arising from the sharp
rise of mineral prices
on the international
market. This was one of
García’s electoral
campaign promises, along
with a wide-ranging tax
reform plan that would
ensure a more equitable
distribution of
resources.
Regional labour
organisations -- also
participating in the
strike -- are invoking
not only the CGTP’s
demands, but also the
fulfilment of several
undertakings signed by
the executive branch.
In the two-and-a-half
years that the Peruvian
Aprista Party (PAP) has
been in government,
García has signed 35
agreements with social
organisations and local
and regional
authorities, of which,
according to the
Conflict Prevention Unit
of the Presidency of the
Council of Ministers (PCM),
more than 60 percent
have been fulfilled.
However, the protest
organisers say only
between 15 and 30
percent of the
agreements have been
fulfilled.
"It’s a hoax. The
government calls for
dialogue when we
protest, and then
doesn’t do as it
promised because it
prefers to maintain
centralised power," the
head of workers’
organisations in the
southern Andean region
province of Cusco,
Efraín Yepez, told IPS.
According to Yepez, the
government has only
fulfilled 15 percent of
the agreements reached
with his region. The
main demands of Cusco
are that construction of
a gas pipeline and an
international airport
get under way.
"I understand their
desperation, but we are
making progress with the
technical plans for
these projects, because
we must invest
responsibly. Everything
is part of a process,"
PCM coordination adviser
Juan Manuel Figueroa
told IPS.
A similar situation
exists in the Arequipa
region, which borders
Cusco. The government
says it has fulfilled an
average of 70 percent of
the agreements, which
include the construction
of the southern gas
pipeline and the Majes
Siguas II irrigation
project.
But social organisations
and local authorities
report that the projects
are delayed. For
instance, in the case of
Majes Siguas II, the
government promised that
the tendering process to
choose a contractor for
its construction would
be completed by August,
but the project’s
economic feasibility
study has not yet been
done.
The PCM said that
several of the projects
that the regions are
complaining about are
now in the hands of
Proinversión -- a
government agency
promoting private
investment in the
country -- and offices
of the executive branch
including the Transport
and Finance Ministries.
"They are no longer in
the hands of the PCM,"
Figueroa said.
Regardless of which
government department is
responsible for the
delays and non-fulfilment,
it is clear that the
regime has become
discredited.
In July 2007, the
executive branch
committed itself in
writing to the
Federation of
Administrative Workers
in the Education Sector
(FENTASE) to pay the
workers an increase of
100 sols (35 dollars) a
month, but one year
later the promise is
still on ice.
FENTASE went on
indefinite strike more
than 20 days ago. "They
have not included us in
the national budget,
although we are the
worst paid state
workers. Why do they
make promises they
aren’t going to keep?"
asked FENTASE secretary
Juan Silva Julián.
Figueroa’s reply was
that, owing to the
international context,
the government decided
to prioritise "the
welfare of the majority,
by subsidising oil," in
order to mitigate the
rise in food prices,
before dealing with
sectoral demands.
He also said that a
technical proposal to
make it possible to pay
workers the wage
increases promised has
been sent to the Finance
Ministry.
Analyst Carlos Reyna
told IPS that one of the
main hurdles to the
government’s fulfilment
of its commitments to
social organisations is
the free-market economic
regime that it is trying
to maintain, and its
centralisation of power.
Other reasons have to do
with President García
himself. "Part of the
population find him
disagreeable, and he is
aggressive in his
dealings with social
leaders. That does not
help in conflict
management," Reyna said.
In fact, the government
broadcast a publicity
spot that portrays
Vladimiro Montesinos --
an adviser to former
President Alberto
Fujimori (1990-2000) - -
who is now in jail for
crimes against humanity
and corruption, in order
to discredit the
strikers.
The spot shows part of
Fujimori’s ongoing
trial, in which
Montesinos says that the
United Trade Union of
Education Workers of
Peru (SUTEP) never went
on strike in his day.
SUTEP publicly denied
Montesinos’ statement --
reporting that during
the Fujimori
administration the union
had held as many as six
strikes -- and protested
the possibility that
state funding had been
used for the spot.
A local television
channel showed an
invoice for producing
the video spot on which
the PCM appears as the
client. Prime Minister
Jorge del Castillo said
that was a mistake, and
that the PAP had really
paid for it.
While the government
shot itself in the foot
on last week, social
conflicts keep growing.
According to the
governmental Ombudsman’s
Office, 16 new conflicts
started in June and six
were reactivated,
bringing the total to
86.
In addition, the CGTP
announced that on Nov. 4
it would convene a
National Peoples’
Assembly to broaden the
social base and
consolidate the
opposition.
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