Source: Benavides, Ernesto. “A Demonstrator, Supporter of Peruvian Ousted President Martin Vizcarra, Holds a Peruvian Flag during Clashes on November 14, 2020.” ‘They Messed with the Wrong Generation’: How Young People Shook up Politics in Peru, 14 Nov. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/11/23/americas/peru-president-youth-movement-intl/index.html.
The article I chose to analyze is a CNN article titled “’They messed with the wrong generation’: How young people shook up politics in Peru” by Claudia Rebaza. The article highlights young people’s resistance to the recent politics in Peru. This article highlights all the major events that led up to the coup of President Martin Vizcarra in early November as a response to Vizacarra introducing education, judicial, and legislative reform (Rebaza). However, the article fails to consider Peru’s deep history of the government’s roots in corruption and political violence since the mid 20th century which can explain the recent unfolding of events. Beginning with an overview of the article itself, the author emphasizes how young Peruvians are at the forefront of protests. Also, the article highlights how social media platforms such as Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook are utilized by young Peruvians to organize rallies, create support groups, and account the protests firsthand. The author quotes a young student who states ,”They messed with the wrong generation. This is a generation that carries the frustration of previous generations.” This is probably one of the most notable aspects of the article since it alludes to the corrupt political history of Peru which ought to be explained. Leading up to the 1990 presidential elections, a combination of previous political and economic crises caused Peruvians to be in favor of Alberto Fujimori since he was not only a political outsider, but an ethnic one as well (Dawson 298). Fujimori, however, would soon become one of the most notoriously corrupt politicians in Latin American history. He promised to end the current political and social economic crises in Peru as president but once he assumed his presidency, he didn’t practice anything he promised during his campaign. For example, he sought to uplift and the aid the poor however he instead adopted free market policies, austerity measures, and reduced government spending which left the poor more disenfranchised (Dawson 298). Not only did he write a new constitution that allowed him to be reelected in 1995, but he also was involved in a vote buying scandal (Dawson 299). He was eventually extradited when he returned to Peru from Japan in 2006 for abuses of power and corruption (Dawson 300). The significance of this history is not only contextual to the ongoing crisis in Peru but it also explains the pent up dissatisfaction towards the government for decades by Peruvians, regardless of political beliefs. The article mentions how 91% of Peruvians disapproved of Vizcarra’s removal. Another astonishing statistic is 83% of Peruvians also believed the decision stemmed from legislators political or personal interests (Rebaza). Peru’s ranking as 101 out of in Transparency International’s 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index is best explained by Peruvian politicians being convicted for money laundering and receiving bribes. But more importantly, corruption in Peru’s government today can be best exemplified by the ousting of Vizacarra for threatening the personal and private interests of Peruvian politicians.
Aside from the history of corruption, the article fails to consider the history of Peru’s political violence. In Peru, many Peruvians witnessed and fell victims to an economic crises that was created under Fernando Belaunde Terry in the early 1980s (Dawson 293). As a response, in 1980 Sendero Luminso, a communist guerrilla group of radical students sought to dismantle the capital state by leading a peasant revolution inspired by Mao Zedong (Dawson 294). Corrupt politicians were amongst their targets. However, their overall goal to end corruption in Peru was met with severe violence and execution of anyone who was deemed not revolutionary enough. What worsened this political violence was Fujimori taking on the Sendero’s by legalizing the rondas campesinos, an insurgency group responsible for killing any suspected Senderos (Dawson 300). Along with Rondas campesinos, he created Grupo Colina, which he was also charged for killing two dozen people under (Dawson 300). Overall, he persecuted anyone suspected to be associated with the Senderos, which were often highland peasants and indigenous people (Dawson 298). In the end, this massive conflict was named the Sendero’s war and it was estimated that 70,000 people were killed by either the Senderos, the state, the rondas, and other private groups (Dawson 299). This history can probably explain why political violence is normalized today in Peru. Today, the political violence Peruvians face is created by government forces who killed two people and injured more than 90 during the protests in Lima, which has yet to be investigated (Rebaza).
Overall, corruption and violence is not something unfamiliar to many Peruvians. Today, the corruption Peruvians face is still within the government and the violence is still being created by government forces (Rebaza). With a deeper understanding of a Peruvian student’s message, ”This is a generation that carries the frustration of previous generations”,Fujimori’s presidency and the Serendo Wars offers insight to the corruption and violence Peruvians have witnessed their whole life and explains why so many of them are currently protesting.
Works Cited:
- Rebaza, Claudia. “’They Messed with the Wrong Generation’: How Young People Shook up Politics in Peru.” CNN, Cable News Network, 23 Nov. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/11/23/americas/peru-president-youth-movement-intl/index.html.
- Dawson, Alexander. Latin America since Independence : A History with Primary Sources, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/baruch/detail.action?docID=1779185.