It’s time to turn over 500 years of colonization.
The uprising of the people against the infamous regime instated by Fujimori and the US Embassy has many reasons. 500 years worth of reasons. But let’s try to see what is behind the coup today.
The region is the richest in minerals in the world. Today the lithium required to convert the energy structure of the world lies right under Machu Picchu and the whole Andes mountain range.
Companies like Tesla want to extract all the lithium in the Andes region in 10 years, which would require the use of all the water in the mountains, provoking the complete destruction of the environment, not of Peru, but of all of South America, turning it into a wasteland.
Specialists claim that the plan is to extract in 10 years the same amount of minerals as in the past 500 years. This disaster would also cause the displacement of millions of people in the region who would have to move because there’s no water to drink or farm. Massive migrations forced by these companies, to build the electric cars and air conditioners for the North of America.
In the outskirts of the sacred Titiqaqa Lake there’s a huge population of Aymara peoples. Aymara are the “Warriors of the Moon”, a matriarchy that existed before the Inca Empire. The Incas tried to conquer them, but they resisted fiercely as warriors and established their nation to coexist with the Inca, in a poetic relationship with the Inca as the Sun and the Aymaras the Moon. They have coexisted for thousands of years, building a civilization that developed astrology, mathematics, physics, creation of incredible roads systems, watering and irrigation, etc. The Spaniards tried to wipe them out. But they’re still here.
The town of Puno, where many of them live, is also the “gate” at the very beginning of the “Inca Trail” that leads to Machu Picchu. The community of Puno are the guardians of the Sacred Temple. And the mining corporations have been trying to start blowing the mountains up. These mountains hold all the richness of soil and water that make the ecosystem of the whole South American continent. The environmental consequences of such extraction is a disaster for humanity.
During the uprising against the infamous coup in Lima, the people of Puno participated in taking over the town, expelling the cops and authorities and establishing themselves into communal street corps to instaurate order and distribute fuel and food.
The repression was ferocious. At least 18 people were killed by the military.
The first response of the population was to storm Lima to knock down the Government. But as there was virtually no government in Lima, the country was paralyzed with a general strike. For a moment it could have been possible for the Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú (CGTP), the country’s largest union federation, to seize power with the indigenous movements. But they failed to do so. The regime reorganized itself. At the very same the CELAC, which is a chamber of all the countries of South America and the Caribbean, called to support the government and the regime. The Brazilian government under President Lula de Silva sent tons of ammo to support the Peruvian military.
The hesitation of the leadership of the working class movement gave time for the bourgeoisie to regroup. They started hunting down leaders and attacked the University of Lima, which was occupied and served as headquarters for the movement.
But after just a few weeks, the movement is taking back the street. Last week another general strike called for the “2nd occupation of Lima”. The “momentum” has changed. The movement is no longer storming the palace as in the previous weeks, but it’s building its strength for a long resistance against the illegitimate government.
It would be very important that we launch a solidarity campaign with the people of Peru, to undermine the international credibility of the current Government. It would be great that this claim is heard in the very heart of the empire. The solidarity with the people, the demand to stop the killings and that the current president is charged with crimes against humanity for what they did.
Yesterday the president was called to testify in front of the Judge but she claimed that “nothing happened”.
The defense of the people of Peru today is crucial, since the US is trying by means of coups and repression to drain the Andes mountain range to extract the Lithium and other rare minerals that are used for electric cars and such.
The damage they will cause to the ecosystem of the whole South American continent and thus to the whole world is irreversible and lethal for humanity.
Let’s stop them!
Solidarity with the rebellion in Peru!
By Carlos B