Mournful Triumph in Peru for the "Bicentennial Generation
A deafening roar of applause and pots and pans broke out at midday this Sunday throughout Peru when Peruvians heard the words "irrevocable resignation" from the mouth of transitional president Manuel Merino, whose figure provoked the most massive protests in living memory in the last 20 years.
From their windows, the Peruvians once again staged a resounding cacerolada, this time in celebration and not in protest like all the previous ones that had been repeated religiously every day since Monday, when Merino took power following the controversial ousting of Martín Vizcarra from Congress. However, it was a fleeting and fleeting joy that ended up leaving a bitter and bittersweet aftertaste, as that celebration was missing Jack Pintado and Inti Sotelo, the two young men who died as a result of the harsh repression by the National Police on Saturday's massive march.
Soon these two boys, 22 and 24 years old respectively, became a kind of martyr of the "bicentennial generation", that which had been told that going out into the streets to march and protest was useless, that it only generated chaos and did not benefit the economy. However, that same generation, the one that communicates through Twitter, Instagram and TikTok and apparently seems to shun the country's political current affairs, has discovered that getting together on the streets serves to change things.
He has done so after seeing through those same social networks how other young people of his same generation were achieving change by speaking out forcefully in Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia. "We have just woken up and it is the youth, Generation Z, who have come out to fight for what we deserve as a country, so that they don't continue to steal from us, usurp us and do what they want with us," Jenny Fernández, a young woman who joined thousands of young people to celebrate Merino's resignation and to demand justice for the two deceased, told Efe.
With Merino out of power, nothing prevented the thousands of demonstrators from returning to the centre of Lima and arriving in front of Congress, the main objective of all this week's marches, which were prevented in the face of harsh police repression and violence. In front of the skyscraper of the Superior Court of Justice of Lima, the ground zero of the confrontations of the police against the demonstrators, a small altar was set up to the two dead victims with their photos and offerings of white flowers that filled the fence of the building.
That was the first stop to continue showing the indignation against the government and especially the Congress with the cry of "Merino killer" and with banners like "Peru is in mourning" and "they did not die, they were killed".
Then the population gathered in front of the Congress Square, protected by two lines of police who this time did give rise to a peaceful protest. There, the indignation was directed at the 105 congressmen who voted on Monday to remove Vizcarra from office and allowed the opposition leader Merino, of Acción Popular, to take over the executive and set up a right-wing, conservative and authoritarian transitional government five months before the elections.
The "bicentennial generation" stood up to all these people, aware that, as Peru celebrates 200 years of independence, the country's democracy will not return to the dark days of the former president Alberto Fujimori's mandate (1990-2000). "As a mother I am outraged, because I also have children. I want them all to leave. They have messed with the wrong generation. I am very happy with these young people because they are the future of our country," the sweeper Isabel Cortez, president of the Lima Cleaning Workers' Union, told Efe.
At this rally in front of Parliament, the most frequently repeated item of clothing was the Peruvian national football team's jersey, in a clear sign that the people on the streets legitimately represent the country and not the politicians who plotted the questionable manoeuvre to overthrow Vizcarra. That was the last straw for a citizenry weary of its political class, especially in recent years when, since the 2016 general elections, the executive and legislative branches have been under different political pressures, in a crisis and clash of powers that has worn the country down enormously.
"I want the congressmen who voted for the vacancy (impeachment) to all leave, so that no one votes for those parties that have betrayed the country," Rosa Muñoz told Efe, who had been in the centre of Lima since 9 a.m. waiting for Merino's resignation. Muñoz, who was in the front line of the rally in front of the police, said that "Peru is a struggling, thriving country with a lot of wealth, but also a country with many corrupt people that we have to get out of power, and that is what we are going to do. "We fight with clean hands and without violence. Thanks to the young people we are here on the streets and we are going to be vigilant these days until they solve the problem for us. We will continue to fight, always on our feet and never on our knees," Muñoz concluded.
At all times, under the attentive gaze of the police, the rally was peaceful, with harangues and songs like "Contigo Perú," the unofficial anthem sung at Peruvian national team matches, and also more lively songs like "Las Torres," by Los Nosequien and Los Nosecuantos. Meanwhile, Congress was seeking a hasty solution to the mess the opposition parties themselves made of censoring Vizcarra, and Rocío Silva Santisteban, one of the few congresswomen who voted against removing President Vizcarra from office, took part in the name ball.
This Sunday, Manuel Merino announced his "irrevocable" resignation as President of Peru and called for "peace and unity", a step that opens the way to a solution to the serious and deep political crisis that the country has been facing since he took power a week ago. Merino announced his resignation in a televised message to the nation just minutes after Congress urged the president to resign while calling for an extraordinary plenary session to find a constitutional solution to the crisis and find a successor to the resigned president.
The announcement was received with applause in the streets, where thousands of citizens continued to protest to demand the departure of Merino, who took over the executive branch after Parliament dismissed President Martín Vizcarra last Monday in a manoeuvre whose legitimacy was widely questioned.
Merino read a statement in which there was apparently no hint of self-criticism about the events of recent days, particularly the violent incidents that on Saturday night left two dead and dozens injured and missing in the protests against his presence in power. The resigned leader limited himself to expressing his condolences to the relatives of the dead and to the citizens who exercised "their right to demonstrate", while indicating that the events will be duly investigated.
Merino, who was the president of Congress, also defended himself for having taken power after Martin Vizcarra's dismissal, which he did according to "the constitutional mandate" and "with responsibility, humility and honour". The Peruvian Congress dismissed Vizcarra on Monday, with 105 votes in favour, after debating the so-called "vacancy motion" against the president on charges that he committed acts of corruption when he was governor of the southern province of Moquegua (2011-2014).
"Since before the vacancy occurred, there were voices that sought to confuse the country with the fact that they were seeking to remove the president to postpone the elections and that a group with my participation seeks to perpetuate itself in the country. I am a democrat, I respect the law and this is a transitional government. Our first objective is to ensure transparent and fair elections. Nothing and no one can stop them," he said. Merino also stressed that "no exit from this crisis" should be made outside the constitutional framework and said that until that happens "there cannot be a power vacuum", and therefore indicated that all the ministers in his government, despite the fact that they announced their resignation hours ago, "will continue in their posts until the uncertainty can be resolved".
Merino's statement came after the Peruvian Congress announced the start of a censorship process against him, which would be carried out if he did not submit his letter of resignation immediately. The head of Parliament, Luis Valdez, informed the press of this request by the legislators, which is the result of the violent repression of Saturday's demonstration that has left two dead and around a hundred injured.
He also announced that an extraordinary plenary session will be held before 6 p.m. to evaluate the new members of the congressional board, which under the Constitution will include the person who will occupy the presidency of the Republic in place of Merino. That person, Valdez announced, "has not yet been designated or elected.