Thread by @lucumaicecream

Peru's political crisis explained: a thread

Trigger warning: this post deals with the theme of police brutality and firearms, which some may find disturbing. Photos and videos included.

Peru is facing their worst political crisis after the Peruvian Congress impeached former President Martin Vizcarra due to “alleged moral incapacity”. 105 legislators voted in favor of vacancy, while around 80% of the population voted against it.

Now, Peru is being ruled by a de facto government led by the president of Congress Manuel Merino. He hasn't been recognized by leaders around the world, has no college degree, and is now in charge of leading one of the countries with the highest coronavirus death rates.

So how did this happen? Peruvian politics has had a long known history of corruption, with all of its former living ex presidents being charged on corruption. 68 of the 130 legislators who voted for vacancy are being investigated for crimes like money laundering and murder.

Vizcarra was seen as the leader who would finally make a dent in the country's deep-rooted history of corruption. For example, he promulgated a law so that candidates with a sentence couldn't run for popularly elected positions.

Congress was heavily opposed and finally ousted him solely on the basis of unproven suspicion. Vizcarra is currently being investigated, fully cooperating with authorities. The legality of this act is still in question - the Constitutional Court has made no comments on the matter

The worst part is, they strategically chose to act out on their self-interests in the middle of a pandemic. Peru had one of the harshest lockdowns, and still registers as having one of the highest coronavirus death rates in the world.

The people will not accept Merino as their president. Fighting to regain their democracy, they have taken the streets daily in the largest national protests ever seen in the country's history. Protesters go unarmed, but have been brutally targeted by police. Sound familiar?

Police has used firearms & pointed/shot at peaceful protesters, used helicopters to drop tear gas from the sky, infiltrated police dressed as civilians in the marches to subsequently arrest them randomly among other things which i'll update in this thread.

Video: instagram.com/p/CHhNEpXJSQh/
Police 1: "I'll cover you, i'll cover you, i'll cover you..."
Police 2: *Shoots*
Police 1: "Kill him, kill him"
Police 2: "Fuck, this shit isn't working" (referring to the gun)

Peruvian media has been complicit. Press manager Renzo Mazzei denounced today he received a call from Congress soliciting the channel stopped covering the protests. He resigned to his position at the Peruvian National institute of Radio and Television.

How can you help?

-Tag international press and organizations
-Help spread awareness by retweeting, screenshotting and liking this thread
-SHARE the videos of police brutality the protestors are posting

We won't stop until we get the justice we deserve.

Some trending peruvian hashtags:

#MerinoNoNosRepresenta
#VamosPeru
#OpPeru
#PoliciasAsesinos
#PoliciaCorrupta

@CNN @YourAnonCentral @guardian @OEA_oficial @WSJ @VICEenEspanol

https://twitter.com/Trillo_PA/status/1327097871162806273?s=19

Young protesters running away from tear gas

https://twitter.com/aimsavaage/status/1327484724152053761?s=19

https://twitter.com/etheraehy/status/1327409662673772544?s=19

1/4 Infiltrated Police: the Terna group is a Specialized Peruvian police branch, from the Division of Special Operations, who intervene in flagrant crime using operational tactical intelligence (INTAO). #PoliciasAsesinos

2/4 Right now, their primary objective is to create chaos and plant a "dangerous situation" in peaceful protests so that they have a "justified" excuse to detain more people
(Photo: terna trying to prevent protester from disabling a tear gas cannister) #PoliciasAsesinos

3/4 So far, in the 2020 Merino Protests, Ternas have been seen: asking peaceful protesters to engage in vandalism, inserting stuff in protesters' bags, arresting people on the spot without their uniforms on, firing bullets at the sky when being discovered by protesters

4/4 The National Peruvian Police (PNP) has DENIED the use of Terna agents in the National Protest (November 12), as well as the usage of "lethal weapons". However, these "civilians" were seen coming out of a PNP van, the morning of the protest.

Police has been throwing tear gas at people's faces

https://twitter.com/moonblanck1/status/1327338721327321096?s=19

Correction: there was no formal vote of the population, this statistic is based on polls

Police attempting to take the peruvian flag away from protesters 🙃

https://twitter.com/vpmloki/status/1327058157416353792?s=19

POLICE SHOOTS DIRECTLY AT PROTESTERS. WATCH TIL THE END.

https://twitter.com/vpmloki/status/1327096776734740480?s=19

3 Peruvian Policemen kneeling on top of a peruvian protester while arresting him. Woman filming yells "SAY YOUR NAME". Did we not learn anything? #BlackLivesMatter #Merinonomerepresenta #MerinoCTM
@CNN
#PeruvianCrisis

https://twitter.com/vpmloki/status/1327420879945535489?s=19

1/6 I feel the need make a clarification in English: As said earlier, now ex-President Martin Vizcarra's image played an important role in all of this. Credits for the following analysis go to @ocram and his program #LaEncerrona:

2/6 Vizcarra, for many represented: PREDICTABILITY, STABILITY and a DESIRE TO NEVER RETURN TO THE OLD POLITICAL EQUILIBRIUM. (Photos: two of the many political scandals Peru has had)

3/6 HOWEVER, we must not mix things up: what he DID (concrete facts that are currently being investigated) and what he REPRESENTS (his image in the minds of many Peruvians).

4/6 The complaints against Vizcarra are 100% solid and valid. That is why the Peruvian people were in favor of investigating him AT THE END OF HIS TERM. Vizcarra's government and the decisions taken can be analyzed, and many fact based conclusions can be taken.

5/6 However, many Peruvians supported him because they considered him a USEFUL figure to get rid of the haunting politics of the past and undertake a reform of the political system from the present day & onwards.

6/6 Finally, i'll leave here some international headlines that have emerged parallel to Peru's political crisis. These also contribute in showing what Vizcarra represented vs what he actually did. Peruvians are marching for their democracy, not for Vizcarra.

#SOS 🚨🚨🚨THIS PHOTO HAS BEEN CIRCULATING IN LIMA, PERU, THESE ARE MAKING THEIR WAY TO THE NATIONAL PROTESTS, THESE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PEACEFUL PROTESTS!!!! #OpPeru @YourAnonCentral #MerinoNoEsNuestroPresidente #Help #PoliceBrutality #PoliciasAsesinos

@Televisa LA POLICIA HA HERIDO A UN REPORTERO NECESITAMOS AYUDA INTERNACIONAL YA #MexicovsCoreaDelSur #PeruLivesMatter @YourAnonCentral @YourAnonNews

PERU NEEDS YOUR HELP PLEASE
#policebrutality #peruvianlivesmatter #blacklivesmatter #OpPeru
#Anonymous
#PeruLivesMatter #PeruEstaEnNuestrasManos @ONU_derechos @ONU_es #UnitedNations #UnitedStates #BLM

One of the first reported deaths tonight due to 11 shots by the police. #ONU #UnitedStates #UnitedNations #PeruLivesMatter #LOMATARON #NoMurioLoMataron

https://twitter.com/arianalirad/status/1327807424372363264?s=20

#URGENTE #MerinoJamasSeraMiPresidente TWEETS CIRCULATING ABOUT MANUEL MERINO THAT AGREED TO RESIGN TO HIS PRESIDENCY. MULTIPLE LEGISLATORS ARE CURRENTLY RESIGNING TO THEIR POSITIONS AFTER 2 CONFIRMED DEATHS DIRECTLY BY THE POLICE

https://twitter.com/rennanespinoza/status/1327838682385182720?s=20