Michael Shifter, senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue and adjunct professor at Georgetown University, joined Al Jazeera for an interview to discuss the roots of the ongoing crisis in Peru and the Boluarte administration’s handling of the situation.
COMMENTS FROM MICHAEL SHIFTER
“It strikes me as a very dangerous, ominous situation in Peru. It could get completely out of control.”
“Clearly what started as a set of protests in the South following the impeachment of Pedro Castillo after he attempted a self-coup on December 7 has spread. I think the response of the government has made matters even worse, angered people even more, created more resentment, and morphed into something much larger. I think it reflects a lot of the pent up anger and resentment that people in the South have had. They haven’t enjoyed the fruits of a country that has had high growth rates for many years. There has been an abysmal lack of social investment and commitment to the social agenda.”
“Although Boluarte is the constitutional president and has followed all of the proper procedures, she’s very unpopular. She’s tied to congress and to a military that has committed a lot of abuses. A lot of innocent people have been killed, which is unacceptable.”
“This is a very dangerous moment that needs to be addressed. Hopefully, things will calm down. I don’t see the opportunity right now to do something dramatic in a positive way.”
