Castillo and his failed ethnonationalism

Launching the maxim that all indigenous people are incorruptible is equivalent to saying that all of us big noses are philosophers for having been stoic from an early age in the face of bullying that we suffered in primary school.

In the speech in which the then president of Peru Pedro Castillo ordered the dissolution of Congress last week, he said that from the first day of his government he received “racist” attacks against him by a majority of legislators. For “the congressional majority,” Castillo continued, “it is not possible for a peasant to govern the country.”

The speech is similar to the one used by AMLO in his mornings. The Mexican president himself defends Castillo because he is receiving an onslaught of “fifis” due to his “humble origin”.

Four nuances dismantle what Castillo said. He is not the first president to whom Congress applies the article of the Constitution regarding the vacancy motion. They did it against Guillermo Billinghurst (1914), Alberto Fujimori (2000), Martín Vizcarra (2020) and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2018).

The second nuance is demonstrated by the numbers.

Mathematics help to de-ideologize political controversies.

The cabinet of then President Pedro Castillo had more than 60 changes of ministers in less than a year and a half; on average, three ministers left their post each month. Here nothing has to do with Congress. It is a leadership problem. Castillo never ruled; his management was always unsuccessful because Castillo did not have the least experience to manage his government. He was incompetent.

The third nuance has to do with corruption. A year and a half ago, Castillo had to know the content of the vote that made him president: society’s weariness of the Peruvian political class, including of course all political parties. The accusations against him will have to be investigated by the public prosecutor. Neither AMLO nor Petro are Peruvian judges.

The fourth nuance has to do with political competition. Castillo complains about Congress because he has obstructed his reforms. He describes the position of the legislators as “war” against the Executive. Indeed, the Peruvian Congress, for many years, has been dominated by the opposition. He was against Vizcarra and Kuczynski. Castle is no exception.

Indeed, Congress disobeyed Castillo last week when it ordered its dissolution. To formalize the act, Congress applied the vacancy motion.

A lawyer for Castillo assured that someone made the then president drink a drink that stunned him. Did he justify the shaking of the hands or the content of the text?

Pedro Castillo follows in the footsteps of Evo Morales: he becomes a victim. His ethnonationalism is pathetic. The same is the decision of the four presidents who defend him.

@faustopretelin