Peru: Opposition coalition calls national march against Keiko Fujimori for Saturday

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Peruvian social and civil organizations have called for a large march against the presidential candidacy of right-wing Keiko Fujimori as part of a national and international campaign that considers the possibility of a new Fujimori regime as “a threat” for Peru.

The rally will begin at 4 PM this Saturday in Lima’s central San Martin square and is part of the campaign “For Peru, Keiko does not go”, promoted by a coalition of national organizations and Peruvians abroad “for the defense of democracy”, they said.

With the hashtag “#Yomarcho22M”, it was presented this Wednesday at a press conference by activists who gathered in the Plaza de la Democracia, in the historic center of Lima, together with union leaders, relatives of victims, representatives of cultural organizations, and university students.

A “BROAD MOVEMENT” OF CITIZENS

The statement against Fujimori’s candidacy affirmed that it represents “a broad movement” of organizations and citizens who unite “to defend Peru against a new Fujimorism”.

A spokesperson remarked that during the regime of Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), Keiko’s father, there were murders, disappearances, and forced sterilizations, thousands of workers were fired, labor rights were violated, and “corruption was instituted as a way of doing politics”, while the State “abandoned” rights such as education and health.

“We join the demands for a new social pact through a popular Constituent Assembly,” added the statement, in line with one of the main proposals of leftist Pedro Castillo, Fujimori’s rival in the Peruvian runoff election, although the coalition did not expressly support Castillo.

The organizations also asserted that Keiko Fujimori “is running with the same people who were already part of the dictatorship of the 90’s” and remarked that “with them, it is not possible to talk.”

“With Fujimorism, we do not negotiate; we confront them and close ranks against them, their allies and accomplices,” they emphasized before asking Peruvians to vote “for the memory of the victims”.

DENUNCIATION OF HARASSMENT

During the presentation, one of the social activists denounced that they have organized this campaign in the north of Lima. Still, they suffer continuous harassment and even aggressions from people they consider linked to Fujimorism.

“We have been intimidated by WhatsApp, by Facebook,” she remarked before recalling that, specifically, Facebook blocked last April more than 80 false accounts created in support of Keiko Fujimori.

After indicating that more than a hundred telephone numbers have been identified from which fake news, spam, and computer viruses are spread, she said that a group called “The Resistance” assaulted demonstrators while calling them “terrorists”.

The activist maintained that “these people do not respect” any opposition demonstrators and that the police have been “permissive” in allowing the incidents. Hence, she urged the authorities “to respect their protocols and freedom of expression”.

After other participants offered their testimony and denunciations against the regime of Alberto Fujimori, who is serving 25 years in prison for crimes against humanity, the call was reiterated for citizens to “articulate in face-to-face and virtual actions” to “defend” their country “from the usual Fujimorism”.