Gen-Z protests rock Peru as president Boluarte’s approval hits rock-bottom

Peru has recently seen weeks of youth-fronted protests against government corruption. The most recent wave of protests began on 20 September, triggered by a new law requiring young people to pay into private pension pots.

Marches over the weekend of 27 September saw 18 people and one police officer injured in violent confrontations.

‘Marching against corruption’

Bus and taxi drivers joined the predominantly Gen-Z demonstrators in their march on the capital city of Lima. They were protesting against a series of corruption scandals centring on president Dina Boluarte, along with increasingly severe economic insecurity.

For their part, the transport workers also raged against a government that they felt wasn’t doing enough to tackle extortion. They claim that gangs like Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua frequently demand protection money from them, and the police habitually feign ignorance.

One protester told Agence France-Presse (AFP):

We are marching against corruption, for life, and against the crime that is killing us every day.

Another young demonstrator told a local news site:

These people [politicians] raise their own salaries, they kill us like flies and don’t care about anything. We need a total change, we’re sick of this situation.

Back in July the president doubled her own salary, prompting massive public outcry. Pontifical Catholic University of Peru social movements expert Omar Coronel explained to BBC Mundo that:

those who star in the protests are especially young people who are now joining the labor market and discovering the limitations and difficulties they will encounter in it.

There is widespread rejection of President Boluarte and her allies in Congress due to the growing authoritarianism that has been imposed in Peru.

Police repression

Boluarte’s approval ratings recently reached record lows of just 2%. This ranks her as one of the least-popular leaders on the world stage. She first came to power in 2022 after the impeachment of the previous president Castillo. The ensuing months of protests that lasted well into 2023, and saw nearly 60 deaths recorded.

In response to the weekend’s protests, Boluarte claimed on 30 September:

I am a democratic woman and we will strengthen our democracy, and that is why I am not going to resign because some voices are used to living in anarchy, disorder, violence and that culture of hate that not all Peruvians embrace.

The past weeks’ protests were met with violent police repression. Cops reportedly fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the assembled crowds of demonstrators. The tactics prompted swift condemnation from CNDDHH Perú, the nation’s human rights coordinator. The organisation posted on Facebook:

We urge the Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office of Peru to ensure the safety of citizens exercising their right to protest… it is urgent that guarantees be put in place to ensure a safe protest. Protesting is a right, not a crime.

Mar Perez, a lawyer for the CNDDHH, echoed the sentiment:

We call on the police to respect the right to protest. There was no justification for firing large amounts of tear gas, let alone for attacking people.

International inspiration

The marchers held placards that read “We demand a life without fear”. They also displayed variations of the hatted skull-and-crossbones logo of the anime One Piece, which was also seen in other Gen-Z protests in Nepal and Madagascar. Peruvian international relations expert Ramiro Escobar explained that:

The protests that toppled the government in Nepal or those that were lived in Indonesia have inspired what we are now seeing.