Peru--the struggle is back
National strike actions grow
By Silvia Tello
As Washington was preparing to invade Iraq,
the Peruvian people decided not to remain silent in the face of
such an injustice. Having experienced years of oppresion and
uprising, student, religious and environmental movements and
socialist parties spoke out with protests in Lima and other
Peruvian cities.
Starting on March 28, widespread calls were made on
television and radio for big marches to make the people's
voices heard.
The chants at these protests were reminiscent of the days
when Peru, as a suffering Latin American country, rose up
frequently. They reflected a culture still carrying in its
blood the desire for socialism, freedom, a better society and,
above all, struggle.
Demonstrators marched on the U.S. Embassy, which had tried
to prevent their presence. A few minutes of silence were held
for the innocent blood spilled and the lives lost. That was the
only moment of silence; the protest continued until dawn with
dances and chants such as: "We don't want to be or feel like a
U.S. colony," "The people of Iraq, our innocent friends, Peru
is with you," and "Alert, alert! Anti-imperialism is loose in
Latin America."
The choice in the 2001 presidential elections was between a
liar and a thief: Alejandro Toledo or Alan Garcia. Garcia, a
former president, ran again despite six years of looting the
treasury and human-rights violations. Toledo was elected and
became president on April 8, 2001. He promised salary increases
for teachers, part of what he called his "government of
education," but two years later teachers' wages stand at a
miserable $120 a month.
So on May 12 a teachers' struggle began, with a massive
protest and a very strong, never before seen, national strike
demanding their rights. Teachers took to the streets and the
plazas. And many other public-sector workers joined the fight
to demand dignity, recognition and the salary increases they
deserve.
The president has assigned himself a monthly salary of
$18,000; members of Congress get $15,000 and regional
presidents $10,000, while the teachers survive on less than
$200. That is why the people are saying: Yes, there is money.
You give handfuls of it to the International Mon etary Fund for
the payment of a fraudulent foreign debt.
The IMF imposes policies on Peru that regard education as a
burden on the national budget--which is why the politicians say
there is no money--and at the same time see it as a business
opportunity for some people. So while they try to cut the
budget, they also encourage privatization. In Peru, while
for-profit schools increase, public education has been
virtually abandoned by the government.
Two weeks of powerful strikes by some 280,000 teachers
demanding a doubling of their salaries cornered the government
and showed its weaknesses. The strength of this movement
attracted other sectors. It ended in a strong national strike
that brought the Toledo government to the edge of collapse.
Toledo called on military troops and tanks to take care of
the situation. He declared a state of emergency--in the name of
democracy. Despite this, some groups of teachers still came out
and continued protesting, refusing to return to work. The
government threatened that those continuing with the protests
would be fired.
With the conclusion of this strike--though not the teachers'
or the Peruvian people's struggle--the government launch ed the
paquetazo. This is a package of neo-liberal economic measures
against the population that is supposed to achieve fiscal
equilibrium while resolving the problem of social demands.
The regional fronts are now organizing a July 17 national
strike against the paquetazo. The people are saying no; they
will try to prevent the IMF's "adjustment" policies and the
deterioration of the lives of working people.
Reprinted from the July 10, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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