Fidel Humberto Andia Guzman | Peruvian Communist Party
Comrades, friends, and comrades attending this great event held in this beautiful and courageous country, birthplace of our liberator Simón Bolívar, the great general of Ayacucho Antonio José de Sucre, and the eternal revolutionary Hugo Chávez Frías:
Allow me to address you on behalf of the historic Peruvian Communist Party, which on October 7 celebrated its 97th anniversary since its founding by the amauta José Carlos Mariátegui La Chira.
The era in which we live corresponds to the imperialist phase of capitalist development and to the various proletarian and anti-imperialist revolutions that began in the mid-19th century and reached their peak in the 20th century.
Imperialism is the highest stage of the capitalist system. “Its essential characteristic,” said Lenin, “is that it is monopoly capitalism.” Imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism implies that the phenomenon exists worldwide. All countries with a capitalist economic base are embedded in the imperialist system, linked and interdependent, although, due to uneven development, capitalist economies occupy different places in the imperialist system, in accordance with the thesis of uneven development and not as part of the basis for the absurd thesis of the “imperialist pyramid.”
Comrades, Peru, like other Latin American countries, still retains the old oligarchic legacy of a bourgeoisie that remains trapped in colonialism, which has been incapable for more than 200 years of building national identity and sovereignty, much less being the ruling class that could lead the country toward development and progress.
Except for the temporary milestone that occurred between 1968 and 1975, during the revolutionary government of General Juan Velazco Alvarado—who implemented agrarian reform and nationalized foreign companies, among other measures—all other governments have acted in the interests of the bourgeoisie and the large national and foreign economic power groups. Velazco’s political achievements were gradually dismantled by the governments that succeeded him.
In 1990, at a time when Peru was undergoing a severe economic crisis and political violence initiated by the armed groups Shining Path and the MRTA, Alberto Fujimori was elected president. In April 1992, he staged a coup d’état, closing Congress and taking control of the judiciary with the support of the armed forces. Previously, he had created the conditions to gain the support of a submissive press that demonized political parties, paving the way for a Constituent Assembly with almost no opposition. A new neoliberal Constitution was drafted, providing for the privatization of public companies, creating the concept of “law contracts,” and assigning the state a role as a promoter of private investment. This Constitution turned Peru into a primary exporting country and dismantled what little industry existed. It also suffocated the smallholders who were the heirs of the agricultural cooperatives, who had no access to credit and were forced to sell their land, returning it to the old large estates concentrated in a few private hands, under the name of “agro-industrial or agro-export companies.”
Fujimori ruled Peru in a dictatorial manner disguised as democracy, concentrating absolute power and controlling the legislature, the judiciary, and the public prosecutor’s office, with the support of the armed forces. He used the proceeds from privatization as a political weapon, promoting patronage and accustoming the impoverished population to handouts in exchange for political support. Many labor rights were eliminated; employment became informal, outsourced, and precarious, and private investment was allowed in basic services such as health, education, and pensions. The only company to survive the privatization maelstrom is PETROPERÚ, which is the target of a media smear campaign aimed at forcing its sale.
In 2000, Fujimori illegally ran for a second re-election, but when serious acts of corruption were uncovered—including the buying of media outlets, congressmen, and politicians—in which he was involved along with his chief advisor and part of his family, he fled the country to Japan, where he resigned by fax. However, he had already been removed from office in absentia, and Valentín Paniagua assumed the presidency, calling for general elections.
Between 2001 and 2016, Alejandro Toledo, Alan García, and Ollanta Humala governed; the latter had the support of leftist and progressive forces in his election, although he later submitted to the interests of the right wing and the bourgeoisie. These years were marked by economic prosperity due to high mineral prices, the main source of income. However, a corrupt mafia gained ground and took over various levels of the state, seizing power, which is reflected in the country’s current situation.
Since 2016, following the election of the conservative PPK as president, Peru has entered a period of unprecedented political instability. Since then, there have been seven presidents, produced by a corrupt Congress controlled mainly by Fujimorism, with sectors linked to drug trafficking, illegal mining, and the state mafia. Nevertheless, the economy is sustained by high mineral prices and the momentum of informal workers, who account for more than 70% of the economically active population, as well as a reserve bank that is managed autonomously.
According to a study conducted in 2022, the top 25 Economic Power Groups (EPGs) account for 79% of the total income of the 100 EPGs. In other words, there is an elite within the business elite. In addition, in the two main export sectors, there are clear trends toward concentration (of markets, land, etc.) as well as foreign ownership, re-primarization, multinationalization, and accelerated territorial privatization. One of Peru’s weaknesses is that, despite the agro-export boom, food insecurity is on the rise because a large part of basic food products such as rice, sugar, and flour is imported.
Peru is considered a highly corrupt country—not for nothing does it currently have three former presidents in prison for these crimes and one who committed suicide to avoid going to prison.
In 2021, Pedro Castillo, a rural teacher from Cajamarca of indigenous descent, was elected with the support of left-wing parties and progressive sectors, despite a fierce media campaign by the right wing and Fujimori supporters. The so-called “Brute and Anchored Right” appealed to the OAS and the U.S. Southern Command to prevent Pedro Castillo from assuming the presidency, accusing him of being a “communist,” “terrorist,” or “enemy of democracy and freedom.” Nevertheless, he took office, and immediately a brutal campaign was launched using all possible and available means to remove him from power. During Pedro Castillo’s short stay in office—just over a year and four months—three requests for his removal were filed, and on December 7, 2022, ill-advised and pressured by the circumstances, as a fourth request for his removal was to be debated that day, he read a manifesto calling for the closure of Congress and other institutions, after which he was illegally arrested by the police, minutes before Congress—despite not reaching the necessary votes—officially declared his removal from office.
Thus, Dina Boluarte, then vice president of the Republic—against whom Congress had previously withdrawn all charges filed before her election as part of the Peru Libre presidential ticket—assumed the presidency, establishing a servile executive branch that was a puppet of the far-right congressional majority, confirming from that moment on a mafia pact directed from Congress.
Since December 2022, Peru has been living under the shadow of a regime disconnected from reality, shrouded in corruption and impunity, with a Congress and Executive focused on building the legal and institutional framework to ensure impunity for crimes committed and yet to be committed. Meanwhile, the country is bleeding dry, victimized by the ferocity of common crime, illegal mining, and the accelerated decomposition of the Peruvian National Police, which, as of the date of this report, has more than 240 police officers of various ranks who are members of criminal organizations dedicated to extortion, contract killings, and illegal mining.
Boluarte, convinced of her greatness, surrounded herself with an entourage of ministers linked to the legal defense of criminals, such as the lawyer Santivañez, whose role is to clear the way for impunity in the face of more than 70 massacres during the protests of December 2022 and January 2023. She was unable to confront the extortion and contract killings that have claimed the lives of drivers, taxi drivers, warehouse workers, artists, doctors, engineers, merchants, street vendors, and construction workers. This social scourge affects only the middle and lower classes, so it cannot be ruled out that these acts, which remain unpunished to this day, are part of a psychosocial strategy of fear and subjugation of society for the benefit of the untouchable large economic power groups.
The absence of a balance of power has allowed the mafia pact to reform the Constitution at will, enacting laws aimed at controlling other branches of government and autonomous bodies such as the Constitutional Court (TC), the National Justice Board (JNJ), the Office of the Attorney General, the National Elections Board (JNE), the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), and the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC), all in preparation for the electoral fraud of 2026.
The repressive and mafia-like zeal of the congressional majority led by Fujimorism is evident when, in the same style as Fujimori’s dictatorial government, it abuses the use of provisional judges, such as those who judge Pedro Castillo and other defendants—judges who lack authority and are more concerned with protecting their jobs than administering justice in accordance with the law.
The recent ousting of the usurper Dina Boluarte from the presidency, which took place in the context of massive popular demonstrations rejecting the coalition government in power since December 7, 2022, revealed, on the one hand, the absolute isolation of the regime, which was rejected by almost 98% of the population, and, on the other hand, confirmed its complicity with organized crime, given that the corrupt Congress openly relaxed various regulations that had served to combat organized crime.
The public witnessed how the ruling mafia—made up of Fuerza Popular, Somos Perú, Acción Popular, Renovación Popular, Alianza Para el Progreso, Avanza País, and the support of Perú Libre—consistent with its ambition to seize state powers, modified the constitution and numerous laws to impose the bicameral system that had previously been rejected by popular referendum, modified the law on organized crime to protect its main leaders from prison, and more. Part of the same plan has been to disqualify potential electoral contenders such as Martín Vizcarra, Sagasti, Antauro Humala, Betsy Chávez, etc.; to keep Pedro Castillo in prison for a crime that was not committed; so that the mafia’s candidates have a clear path to take over the government.
The new interim president responds to the interests of the same mafia coalition that has been ruling the country since December 2022, so he does not guarantee any real change in the state’s economic and social policy. Not only because José Jerí faces allegations of rape, corruption, bribery, illicit enrichment, and legal proceedings that delegitimize his investiture, but also because he comes from a political group that is still part of the ruling mafia and that voted to protect criminal gangs and other abuses of the discredited Congress. All this means that, with the vacancy maneuver or the new right-wing cabinet, the nature of the regime has not changed at all, but rather impunity has been consolidated.
Comrades, Peru is subjugated by the corrupt oligarchic right, by illegal mining, and by state corruption, compounded by the servile attitude of our ruling political class toward the U.S. empire. The leftist and communist forces, battered by the campaign of terror and the actions of right-wing and CIA infiltration, have been unable to build unity in the face of the upcoming electoral process, presenting themselves in up to four different blocs. It is also urgent to carry out a profound self-criticism within our organizations, distancing ourselves from infiltrators until they are banished. In unity, let us redouble our efforts to build a program and project for the country’s development, aimed fundamentally at solving the problems of employment, poverty, health, housing, education, and pensions; and to draft a new Constitution for the industrial development of the country with added value.
For Unity in the Face of the Mafia Pact and the Threat of Fraud!
For a New Peru in a New World!
Close Congress—Let Them All Go!
In Memory of José Carlos Mariátegui, Jorge del Prado, and Pedro Huilca, Examples of Struggle and Social Commitment!
