2020 Peruvian protests

2020 Peruvian protests

The 2020 Peruvian protests are a series of demonstrations sparked after the removal of President Martín Vizcarra. The protests have been described as the largest demonstrations in Peru in the past two decades and are organized by grassroots groups of young Peruvians on social media. The disproportional response by authorities has been condemned by various human rights organizations.

About 2020 Peruvian protests in brief

Summary 2020 Peruvian protestsThe 2020 Peruvian protests are a series of demonstrations sparked after the removal of President Martín Vizcarra, beginning on 9 November 2020. The protests have been described as the largest demonstrations in Peru in the past two decades and are organized by grassroots groups of young Peruvians on social media. The disproportional response by authorities has been condemned by various human rights organizations, including United Nations Peru, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Amnesty International. On 16 November, the Congress of Peru elected Francisco Sagasti as the president of the legislature, automatically elevating him to the Peruvian presidency under the constitution. The majority of ministers from Merino’s government resigned from office while Merino resigned the following day; he was president for five days. The first impeachment process was led by the imprisoned Antauro Humala and his Union for Peru party, according to reports in Peru. The second impeachment process has been led by Edgar Alarcón, a congressman and a close supporter of Humala’s UPP party. On 1 June 2020, Viz carra responded to the alleged irregularities regarding the alleged charges of embezzlement and monetary gains due to parliamentary immunity, stating: ‘I am not going to resign away from criminal charges’ It was alleged that an inexperienced singer by the name of Richard Cisneros was able to receive payments totaling US$50,000 due to illicit contacts in the Government Palace. In early 2020, investigations began surrounding a contract for a little-known singer by a name ofRichard CisnerOS to perform speeches for the Ministry of Culture.

On 5 July2020, Viz Carra proposed a referendum to be held during the 2021 Peruvian general election to remove parliamentary immunity. The congress quickly responded by assembling that same night to pass their own immunity bill that contained proposals to remove immunity from the president, constitutional court and the human rights ombudsman while also strengthening some instances of parliamentary immunity in the case of the immunity bill. On 26 January 2020, a legislative election was held which replaced the dissolved congress, with centrist parties replacing the Fujimorist majority in congress. On 23 March 2018, VizCarra was sworn into office as president of Peru following the resignation of President Kuczynski. Upon being sworn in, he stated: ‘We’ve had enough’ vowing to combat corruption as president. Throughout his tenure, he faced opposition from the Congress, with VizcarRA later dissolving the congress after instituting a motion of no confidence, saying it was ‘clear the democracy of our nation is at risk’ In early 2019, the FujIMorist congress continued to delay Vizcarr’s reforms, with the four main right-wing parties of congress – Alliance for Progress, Podemos Perú, Popular Action and Union for Perú – feared Vizcara’s anti-corruption measures on campaign financing, political transparency and the participation of convicted persons in government. As Peru’s economy declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, Vizcarar faced increased political pressure from the newly inaugurated congress presided by Manuel Merino.