Peru Libre, Pedro Castillo’s party, influences future government priorities

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Before the run-off, president-elect Pedro Castillo tried to dissociate himself from some of his own party’s guidelines, whose government plan is very close to the doctrine of the “21st-century far-left socialism.”

Perú Libre’s plan was endorsed by the party’s founder, Vladimir Cerrón, a controversial ex-governor of an Andean region suspended from office for a criminal conviction, accused of abuse of office. He is a hardline representative and the more than 30 elected legislators’ bench is more sympathetic to his positions.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Peru

“I am the one who is going to govern,” Castillo stated, after rejecting the “ideology” presented and endorsed by Cerrón before the National Jury of Elections, as well as the radical left-wing opinions of other members of his political party.

The program was written before the coronavirus pandemic erupted and therefore includes no mention of the disease or measures to tackle it. However, it does have the basis of a position defined as Marxist-Leninist, in tune with other left-wing regimes in the region.

Support for Latin America’s left-wing axis

The document repeatedly cites leaders such as Fidel Castro and Bolivia’s Alvaro Garcia Linera, but one of the most widely mentioned is Ecuador’s Rafael Correa. In addition, it does not hesitate to name other leaders, some of whom are considered dictators for their human rights abuses.

“Presidents Rafael Correa, Evo Morales, Néstor Kirchner, Cristina Fernández, Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff, Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, Hugo Chávez, Nicolás Maduro, Manuel Zelaya, Daniel Ortega and Pepe Mujica were at the highest point of Latin American integration, based on sovereign principles,” Cerrón states in his document.

According to him, the group “dignified the continent,” but Peru “was unfortunately always a disappointment regarding these efforts.”

Opposition to the United States and imperialism

The anti-imperialist tone is maintained throughout the document. “The U.S. designed a political, legal, economic, commercial, financial, media and military plan for our countries to fall under its design, creating many seemingly democratic supranational institutions to this end,” Cerrón points out.

In this context, he criticizes the Organization of American States (OAS) to which neither Cuba nor Venezuela belong. “It is an organization for the geopolitical control of Latin America and the Caribbean (…) under whose protection or indifference coups d’état were endorsed in several countries in strict compliance with U.S. orders,” Cerrón says, noting his preference for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

Perú Libre’s secretary general also makes harsh comments against NGOs, international arbitration centers and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, among other multilateral bodies.

Drafting of a new Constitution

During his campaign, Castillo, who has won the support of the poor regions, claimed that if he won the presidency he would call for a referendum to rewrite the Political Constitution in order to grant the State a more dominant role in the economy.

This is a path followed by Venezuela (1999), Ecuador (2008) and Bolivia (2009). Chile is also currently pursuing this path through a Constituent Assembly.

In this respect, Castillo has not deviated to a great extent from the party’s original plan. In fact, in the alliance he signed with leftist Verónika Mendoza, they stated that they would seek “a new social pact” through a new Constitution drafted by a “Popular Assembly.”

The question is how the Magna Carta will be changed. “We will be respectful towards this Political Constitution until the people decide it through a referendum, until the people express their will, so that it comes from the people,” he stated. But the legal framework is not simple for the path sought by Perú Libre.

Advance on the media

If in Venezuela denunciations of persecution against freedom of expression abound, a plan such as the one presented by Perú Libre could lead to similar scenarios.

“The media are powerful instruments of domination, of cultural hegemony, so the right-wing is able to make the poor believe that whatever benefits it also benefits them,” Cerrón argues in his government plan.

In this context, he proposes the “elimination of ‘garbage’ programs” and criticizes the State for “abandoning” its protective role. He bluntly proposes a government review before programs are aired: “The Ministries of Education and Culture should evaluate the contents of television and radio before broadcasting, thereby preventing them from violating the morals and good customs of Peruvian society.”

He also criticizes the concentration of the media and proposes a reorganization of state advertising to support the “alternative press,” in equal parts with the public media (national and regional) and the private sector.

Nationalization of oilfields

Perú Libre’s government plan states that “strategic production sectors,” such as mining, key for the local economy, will be nationalized.

Cerrón’s document proposes a revision of “all harmful contract-laws that have in fact freed the plundering of the Peruvian people,” with the aim of enabling the State to keep 80% of profits.

“Ecuador and Bolivia demonstrated, under leftist governments, that this is possible and feasible,” he stressed. Subsequently, he explained that it pertains to the fact that the profits of transnationals should be invested in the country and not transferred abroad.

Source: Infobae