Democracy in Peru continues to deteriorate more than a year after the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo, according to a recent report by the Washington-based nonprofit Freedom House.
The report, released this month, tracked the lingering effects of the government's crackdown on protesters and efforts to interfere with judicial independence and other oversight bodies.
As a result, Peru fell from a “free” rating in 2022 to “partly free” in 2023 and 2024, with Freedom House reporting a decline in democratic protections for freedom of assembly and fewer safeguards against corruption. pointed out erosion.
“All these regulatory bodies and independent branches of government used to have the potential to oppose Congressional decisions, but now that possibility has diminished considerably,” said the author of the report, published by the Latin American Research Council. said researcher Will Freeman. diplomatic relations.
He added that Peru had the fourth largest decline in its Freedom House score of any country in the world.
“All this creates a situation where it is very likely that by the next election in 2026 there will be no institutions that are not under parliamentary control.”
strict crackdown
Issues such as corruption and government repression are not new to Peruvian politics, but experts say the situation has worsened since former President Castillo was impeached and arrested in December 2022.
Castillo, a left-wing teacher from the country's indigenous-majority countryside, was then facing his third impeachment process led by the opposition-controlled Congress. The previous two impeachment attempts had failed.
But on the day he was scheduled to appear in parliament, Mr. Castillo instead gave a televised speech in which he announced plans to dissolve parliament and rule by decree. The measure is widely considered illegal.
This announcement increased support for his impeachment, which was carried out the same day. Former Vice President Dina Bolarte was immediately sworn in to run the government for the remainder of his term.
However, the political upheaval sparked chaos and protests across Peru. Mr. Castillo's supporters argued that he was targeted by a hostile Congress, which launched multiple investigations to thwart his administration. Many people took to the streets, blocking roads and demanding government reform and Castillo's release.
New elections became a major demand. Opinion polls conducted immediately after Castillo's arrest showed that more than 80% of Peruvians supported new elections for both Congress and the executive branch.
Bolarte initially said he would urge Congress to vote quickly. But Congress has rejected such efforts at least five times with approval ratings of less than 10 percent. Mr. Bolarte also reversed his course and said he would remain prime minister until the end of his term.
“The conversation is over,” Bolarte said last June. “It will continue until 2026.”
According to a January poll, her approval rating was just 8 percent, one of the lowest of any political leader in the world.
Bolarte has also taken a hardline stance, calling the protesters “terrorists.” According to Peru's Attorney General's Office, government forces clashed with demonstrators, including bystanders, killing at least 49 civilians.
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International compared the deaths to extrajudicial killings and documented reports of human rights violations. Rural areas of the country and areas primarily inhabited by indigenous peoples suffered a disproportionate share of the violence.
Bolarte has said he would investigate any abuse, but advocates say there is little sign of accountability more than a year later.
“No one has been convicted,” Freeman said. “It doesn't seem like the investigation is making much progress.”
Anti-government protests intensified again in July 2023, but have largely subsided since then.
The Freedom House report said that while some groups continued to hold small-scale protests against the government, “the presence of heavily armed riot police at demonstrations has since had a chilling effect on civil society. “There is,” he points out.
“What was new was the scale of this repression. How much it contributed to the demobilization of society, or whether it was due to apathy or the assumption that there was no way out of the status quo. It's hard to say,” Freeman said.
Reduced transparency
Freeman said the stalled protests coincide with efforts by Congress to reduce transparency and advance the interests of members.
For example, in February, a body known as the Constitutional Court, whose members are appointed by parliament, moved to weaken judicial oversight of parliamentary actions.
The Constitutional Court also approved a resolution allowing Congress to bring officials of JNE, Peru's electoral court, to trial in Congress.
Freedom House warned in its latest report that the resolution would expose the court to greater political pressure. Right-wing lawmakers have long criticized JNE, pushing baseless claims that the court perpetuated fraud in the 2021 elections that saw political outsider Castillo become president.
However, the election was assessed by international observers as a sign of good health. Nevertheless, far-right forces continue to threaten her JNE. For example, in 2023, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights granted protection measures to JNE President Jorge Luis Salas Arenas after he received a series of death threats.
“The international mission recognized the results of the poll,” Miguel Jugo, deputy head of Peru's National Coordinator for Human Rights (CNDDHH), told Al Jazeera. “Dr. Salas Arenas has issued a judgment denying all claims made by the fraudsters.” [making claims of fraud]And for that they have never forgiven him. ”
In December, parliament also passed legislation that would make it more difficult to form new parties and weaken the influence of regional movements.
The Freedom House report also found that anti-corruption efforts under the current government are failing.
In September and October, Attorney General Patricia Benavidez removed the lead prosecutor from one of the country's largest anti-corruption cases involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
The Odebrecht scandal had already rocked governments across the region, with allegations against senior officials in several countries.
Mr. Benavidez also fired a prosecutor in a case involving his sister, a judge who was suspected of giving preferential treatment to drug traffickers. Benavidez was also accused of spreading influence and obstructing his efforts to root out corruption in the judiciary.
As a result of these allegations, Benavidez himself was suspended in December 2023. She was replaced by an interim attorney general who reinstated some of the prosecutors she had fired.
Civil society groups warn that this trend of alleged corruption will continue as long as the government continues to erode institutional safeguards.
Asked if he was concerned about whether the 2026 elections would be free and fair, Jugo expressed caution.
“Yes, insofar as there is an interest in collaboration between the parliament and the executive to take over the entire electoral system,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The current parliament, which has an approval rating of 6 percent, has amended 53 articles, which is 30 percent of the Constitution.” [the document]” Jugo added.
He explained that the amendment to the constitution is likely to lay the groundwork for the status quo to maintain power. “From there, it's probably safe to continue working as a scammer.”
