Chavez’s dangerous intervention in Peru

In recent weeks, there have been massive protests in different regions of Peru that have turned extremely violent due to the infiltration of terrorist groups such as "Shining Path," "Patria Roja" and others. The protests first began as a national strike by the left-wing Peruvian education workers’ union (SUTEP), and soon others from the construction workers’ union (CGTP), farmers and miners joined, and the demonstrations grew in size and became more widespread with thousands of participants. The protesting teachers (SUTEP) object to a new law which obliges them to take a proficiency test. The test is part of the government’s attempt to reform and improve the standard of Peru’s state education. But union leaders say it will mean hundreds of arbitrary sackings, a version that has been vehemently denied by the Peruvian government but that has been carefully used by union leaders to manipulate the teachers to march.

There have been violent clashes with the police, and the authorities have detained more than 100 union leaders. In the southern region of Puno, protestors stormed an airport and a railway station, and three people have been killed in different clashes across the country. A tourist train on its way to Machu Picchu was pelted with stones, and in the city of Trujillo, striking teachers tried to throw eggs and tomatoes at President Garcia, clashing with his supporters. Several police officers were held hostage by angry demonstrators in the same city but later released.

Although some of the demands of the population are legitimate, analysts are convinced that the demonstrations are being promoted by Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, with the intent of destabilizing the country. Peru’s Prime minister, Jorge del Castillo, has spoken out against the Union and regional leaders saying that followers of President Chávez, especially in Puno, are internally interfering with Peru’s government in an attempt to weaken the Garcia regime. "There is foreign tampering in Peru’s internal policies that aim to destabilize the country" declared the Prime Minister. "This comes from the Chávez movement. He is trying to do here what he has done in Nicaragua and other parts of Latin America". Prime minister del Castillo stated that this was his personal opinion and that he would present his ideas to Peruvian President Alan Garcia and his cabinet. He explained that the events were "unacceptable and that the time has come to look more closely into this and decide what action to take."[1]

The relationship between Peru and Venezuela has been tepid since President Hugo Chavez and Peru’s President Alan Garcia exchanged insults during the 2006 Peruvian Presidential elections. At that time, Chavez openly supported Garcia’s opponent, Ollanta Humala. Since then there has been some attempts at improving the relationship between Lima and Caracas. On July 20, 2007, the protests seemed to have calmed down. Government officials have decided to start meetings with union leaders to listen to their demands and needs, and the SUTEP and CGTP have accepted the government’s offer. The problem is that huge segments of the population feel abandoned, since efficient conduits of communication between the "campesinos" and the government were stopped during the government of Alejandro Toledo. This method was first implemented during President Alberto Fujimori’s regime, and proved to be extremely efficient. Some small groups remain hostile but the government’s attitude has been well received by the majority of the demonstrators.

Chavez’s strategy

In recent elections in Latin America, especially in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Nicaragua, there have been allegations that the Chavez regime was directly intervening in the internal affairs of the above mentioned countries by allegedly financing and supporting candidates that would help him promote his Bolivarian Revolution, a plan of action that was concocted together with Fidel Castro. Chavez takes advantage of any social unrest in any Latin American country, and then steps in to promote them even more and win sympathizers for his "Bolivarian Revolution." This strategy worked in Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador but backfired in Peru when Alan Garcia defeated Ollanta Humala. The Venezuelan President’s strategy is to create social unrest and promote massive protests to topple an incumbent of his disliking in order to replace him with one of his own followers.

Evidence of Chavez’s intervention in Peruvian protests

Why many analysts believe Mr. Hugo Chavez is behind Peru’s social convulsion? There are many indications. First, when the protests began, Ollanta Humala reappeared as a prominent figure saying that Peru was undergoing a deep political crisis and that Alan Garcia should end his term in office soon.[2] In TV news programs, there were images of Humala being shielded from the protesting masses by bodyguards and heavy sticks. People around him were chanting his name and he was encouraging the demonstrators to continue marching. When he was candidate for the Presidency of Peru, there were allegations that cash was being sent through the Venezuelan consulate to Mr. Humala’s campaign management. Now, according to the newspaper "Expreso" from Peru, it is said that Humala receives $600,000 dollars from Hugo Chavez to finance demonstrations and promote social unrest to destabilize the country.[3]

Secondly, Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo has said that Chavez is trying to pressure Peru into joining an alliance with Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia called the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), which Chavez bills as an alternative to U.S. free trade agreements. ALBA, which is named after the 19th century independence leader Simon Bolivar, is opening an office in the southeast Peruvian city of Puno. "ALBA is an organization made up of four countries (Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia). I don’t think they can make an NGO work here nor do I think that it’s ethical for them to just come in here and tomorrow say we are going to open an office in Peru," del Castillo said.[4]

Regarding this point, the Regional President of Puno, Hernán Fuentes, has been harshly criticized for making the decision to establish the ALBA office given that Peru has nothing to do with this trade agreement. In spite of the government’s concern and rejection of the presence of ALBA offices, Mr. Fuentes has announced that another ALBA office will be established in Juliaca. Fuentes has explained that the presence of the offices will aid in health services and assist in education. He has expressed his plans to place more ALBA offices in different parts of the province when possible. Fuentes has even said that President Alan Garcia and Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo "are not welcome" in Puno but rather that President Garcia should leave the country and establish himself in the United States.[5]

In addition, Fuentes said that he didn’t need an authorization from the government to open an ALBA branch in his jurisdiction, which is not true since he needs governmental consent. Even more, in his office in Puno, there is a picture of Hugo Chavez instead of a photograph of the President of Peru, Alan Garcia, though the law clearly establishes that in every government office there must be a visible image of the President. After learning this, Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo said that if Mr. Fuentes likes Hugo Chavez so much, he should go and live in Venezuela. He then said that some authorities in Puno want to build a "Bolivarian Hospital" run by Cuban doctors and paid for by Venezuela in a site that was destined to be used to erect a public hospital and that "we all know where that money comes from and the price that will be paid for it [by Fuentes and his followers]."[6]

Third, two lawmakers from Humala’s ‘Nationalist Party,’ Yaneth Cajahuanca Rosales and Werner Cabrera, mysteriously traveled to Venezuela the last week of May and returned on June 4, just days before a strike broke out in Iquitos, Puno, Casapalca and Ucayali. They traveled together and returned to Peru together as well. According to immigration officials, Mr. Cabrera had already visited Caracas on February 23, 2007 but his passport was not stamped when he returned to the country, so nobody knows the exact amount of days he spent in Venezuela. It is important to clarify that the congressman openly declared himself a "Chavista" and follower of Hugo Chavez in a TV program and even recognized that Ollanta Humala was behind the strikes.[7] Some analysts are speculating that the visit was programmed to arrange last minute details for the demonstrations that would soon plague Peru.

Fourth, the business attaché of the Venezuelan embassy in Lima, Ramon Lopez Martinez, has become very close to the President of the Peruvian National Confederation of Commerce (CONACO), Humberto Sánchez Palacios. Months ago, Caracas invited 50 businessmen to show them the ‘benefits of ALBA.’ While there, the Peruvian ‘delegation’ was ‘instructed’ on the benefits of the ‘Bolivarian ideals.’ Even more, Sánches Palacios decided to ‘lend’ the ninth floor of the CONACO building to facilitate the business operations of Lopez Martinez in Peru.[8]

Fifth, after the marches in Puno, Venezuelan diplomatic officials now have their eyes set on another city, Loreto. Virly Torres, commerce manager of the embassy of Venezuela in Lima, and her colleagues held a meeting with Salomón Abensur Diaz, mayor of that municipality, on May 18, 2007. The Venezuelan officials spent a few days there and coincidently, 72 hours after, a massive strike began in Loreto which left millions of dollars in losses. The coordinator of the meeting between Torres and Abensur was lawmaker Victor Isla from the Nationalist Party of Ollanta Humala. The first accord between the two parties was the realization of "Misión Milagro" (Mission Miracle), an instrument Hugo Chavez used to attract locals from different areas under the umbrella of a ‘humanitarian program.’ One hundred and ten people with eye problems were transported to Caracas in an official Venezuelan airplane in order to undergo eye surgeries performed by Cuban doctors. The municipality covered the costs of the passports, which amounted to $4,400 dollars.[9]

Finally, there are claims that "Chavista" agents from Venezuela and Cuba are already in Peru and that they came through Bolivia and then Puno using local hospitals and the offices of ALBA to co-opt sympathizers to destabilize the country. Analyst Alberto Bolivar says he has evidence regarding the presence of Venezuelan military and civilian personnel and that this situation has been promoted by the existing friendship between Fuentes and Chavez.[10]

The bottom line

Battling extreme poverty continues to be a challenge for Peruvian authorities and should be a priority of the current regime. People’s needs must be heard and in order for this to happen, direct channels of communication and dialogue should be re-established between the people, the regions and the Central Government.

It would be wise for President Alan Garcia to consider breaking off diplomatic relations with Venezuela for interfering in the internal affairs of Peru. In addition, the Peruvian authorities should close down any existing Alba office in the nation and should bring charges against Fuentes for breaking the law and for behaving as if Puno was separate from the rest of the country. In this regard, Fuentes’s activities and links to the "chavismo" movement should be a deeply investigated. The sovereignty of the nation is being threatened by Chavez and, unless Garcia takes direct action to thwart him, Peru might fall just in the same way as Bolivia.

"The Americas Report" has shown in several articles Chavez’s eagerness to extend his tentacles all over Latin America. He takes advantage of marginal sectors of the population to co-opt potential followers and destabilize a country to place one of his cronies in power and has been trying to increase Venezuela’s political influence by offering favorable credit deals and swapping oil for agricultural exporters to poor countries. Leaders in the region must be aware of the potentially dangerous scenario of the Venezuelan President’s meddling in the internal affairs and politics of any nation. Just as he did in Bolivia and Ecuador, he will create, promote and possibly finance social unrest in different countries of Latin America to finally realize his dream of the "Bolivarian Revolution of the XXI Century."

Notes

[1] Jorge del Castillo dice que hay injerencia de Hugo Chávez en las protestas en Puno. June 30th, 2007. Diario "El Comercio", Perú.

[2] Injerencia chavista denuncian en Perú. July 6, 2007. El Universal, Venezuela.

[3] "Humala recibe US$ 600,000 mensuales" July 24, 2007. Diario Expreso, Perú.

[4] Del Castillo: El chavismo pretende desestabilizar el país. July 5, 2007. Diario Expreso, Perú.

[5] Fuentes falta el respeto a García y lo declara "persona no grata." July 10, 2007. Diario Correo, Perú.

[6] Del Castillo arremete contra Merino y Fiscalía por protestas. July 12, 2007. Diario Correo, Perú.

[7] ¿A qué viajaron Cajahuanca y Cabrera a Venezuela? July 5, 2007. Diario Expreso, Perú.

[8] Chavismo busca capturar Conaco. July 14, 2007. Diario Correo, Perú.

[9] Loreto, el próximo blanco político del chavismo. July 17, 2007 Diario Correo, Perú.

[10] Agentes chavistas captan a peruanos en el altiplano. July 2, 2007. Diario Expreso, Perú.