Peru's ex-president faced bigotry for impoverished past
By REGINA GARCIA CANO
December 9, 2022
LIMA, Peru (AP) — When Pedro Castillo won Peru’s presidency last year, it was celebrated as a victory by the country’s poor — the peasants and Indigenous people who live deep in the Andes and whose struggles had long been ignored.
His supporters hoped Castillo, a populist outsider of humble roots, would redress their plight — or at least end their invisibility. But during 17 months in office before being ousted and detained Wednesday, supporters instead saw Castillo face the racism and discrimination they often experience. He was mocked for wearing a traditional hat and poncho, ridiculed for his accent and criticized for incorporating Indigenous ceremonies into official events.
Protests against Castillo’s government featured a donkey — a symbol of ignorance in Latin America — with a hat similar to his. The attacks were endless, so much so that observers from the Organization of American States documented it during a recent mission to the deeply unequal and divided country.
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The Organization of American States, in a report published last week, noted that in Peru “there are sectors that promote racism and discrimination and do not accept that a person from outside traditional political circles occupy the presidential chair.”
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Keiko Fujimori’s supporters have often called Castillo “terruco,” or terrorist, a term often used by the right to attack the left, poor and rural residents.
More:
https://apnews.com/article/latin-america-peru-discrimination-government-and-politics-33f5b1ab4358a3a7a89014f3a817800b
