Andean Group - March 2008 (ISSN 1741-4466)

President Alan Garcí­a is facing a series of regional protests which could prove every bit as serious as those that shook his government last July. Publicly he is refusing to give an inch, accusing "extremist agitators" of orchestrating the protests. But on some issues, such as education, the government has backed down. Members of his cabinet have openly pointed the finger at Ollanta Humala, the leader of the main opposition Partido Nacionalista Peruano (PNP) who won widespread support in the regions prior to his narrow defeat to Garcí­a in presidential elections in 2006, for fomenting the protests.

The most serious protests were led by the farming unions Junta Nacional de Usuarios de los Distritos de Riego del Peru and Confederación Nacional Agraria (CAN), which staged a strike in mid February to complain about the government's agricultural policies. They argue that the government has made no provisions for small producers in the free trade agreement sealed with the US and fear that they will be unable to compete with larger producers from the US.

The government, twitchy about any kind of protest, overreacted at the first mention of the strike. It declared a state of emergency in eight provinces in Lima and the northern departments of Ancash and La Libertad on 18 February and suspended various civil liberties. The prime minister, Jorge del Castillo, recognised that the measures "might seem severe" but insisted they were "absolutely necessary" to re-establish order. Del Castillo said protesters were causing chaos by blocking roads, including the Pan-American highway.

Farming strike turns violent

On 19 February, just as Agriculture Minister Ismael Benavides dismissed the strike as a failure, it turned violent in areas not under the state of emergency: the southern departments of Ayacucho and Arequipa, Humala's powerbase. Four people were killed in violent clashes with the police, prompting the farmers' unions to suspend the strike and seek dialogue with the government.

Garcí­a praised the police for acting with great conviction in the face of protests which he claimed had been fomented by "extremist agitators" who had used people as "cannon fodder". Vice-President Luis Giampietri was quick to name names, in particular Humala. He said that Humala was guilty of "subversion" and of seeking to destabilise Peru at a time when the government was trying to boost the country's image by welcoming officials from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) to discuss the Apec summit to be held in Lima in November. The justice minister, Rosario Fernández, said that Humala could be charged by the attorney general's office for conspiring against public order.

The government received the full support of Lourdes Flores, the leader of the conservative Unidad Nacional (UN) coalition, who claimed that she could see "the Chavista hand" behind the protests. In a flight of rhetoric, she said that she could detect "the presence of castrismo and chavismo reincarnated in the presence of an ideologised international communism".

Calls for Alva Castro's head

Despite Flores' comments, the UN bloc in congress, along with the PNP, Unión por el Perú (UPP) and even the Fujimoristas (which has an unofficial alliance with the government) called for the interior minister, Luis Alva Castro, to resign over the violence. They made the demand after Alva Castro put in a hapless performance when he was summoned by congress on 27 February to face questions about the violence.

The PNP led the charge. It argued that the police and soldiers were heavy-handed - they also arrested some 150 protesters - and produced a video showing witnesses claiming the police had opened fire on protesters. Alva Castro, however, insisted that the bullets that killed the four protesters had been fired from home-made weapons. All the opposition parties called for a full investigation into the killings and for Alva Castro to step down.

Cusco protests

The farming unions were not alone in staging protests. Regional authorities in Cusco called a 48-hour strike over the passage of a new tourism promotion law relaxing restrictions on private development in areas surrounding historic and archaeological sites. Cusco airport was closed for the duration of the strike and tourists were unable to access Machu Picchu.

As a result of the protests, the central government agreed to drop Cusco from the list of venues for the Apec satellite summits before the main presidential summit in Lima in November. Clearly chagrined by the timing of the protests (while Apec officials were visiting Peru) Garcí­a branded Cusqueños "whingers" and "unpatriotic", epithets which will do little to endear him to the region. Hugo Gonzales, the regional president of Cusco, is appealing to the government to reconsider.

If the government sticks to its plan there is a good chance that Humala will seek to stage a "parallel summit" in Cusco. He announced a series of parallel summits last month after Garcí­a heralded 2008 as the "year of international summits" in Peru. Humala said that the parallel summit would demand that the government fulfil its campaign promise to introduce a windfall mining tax and restore the 1979 constitution.

Education

The government's other clash with the regions is over education, specifically Supreme Decree 004. One aspect of the decree has been particularly controversial: public schools are barred from hiring teachers who failed to finish in the top third of their class during their studies. The radical wing of the teachers' union, Sutep, believes the decree is designed to root out its members. The government has made it clear that it believes the radical fringe of Sutep shares the ideology of the guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso.

In protest, the presidents of Lambayeque, San Martí­n and Moquegua passed ordinances on contracting teachers which completely ignored the decree. The education minister, José Antonio Chang, denounced these ordinances as unconstitutional. Chang acted with the full support of Garcí­a, who said that his government could not afford to compromise on excellence. He said the changes might be painful but he was concerned with the country's future well into the century rather than his popularity until the end of his mandate in 2011.

Despite Garcí­a's words, however, the government has given ground following the ferocious response. Chang met regional presidents on 19 February; they demanded the decree be annulled. He agreed to postpone its implementation while talks take place, but he said that only the constitutional tribunal is qualified to decide if the decree is unconstitutional.

• Humala

Ollanta Humala claims that he is facing "political persecution" because of his opposition to President Garcí­a. He is due to go on trial on 28 March accused of being the intellectual author of the violent uprising in Andahuaylas in January 2005 led by his brother Antauro. He claims that he knew nothing about the Andahuaylas attack and that the government is behind the judicial process in an attempt to stifle legitimate opposition in Peru. Garcí­a's predecessor, Alejandro Toledo spoke in Humala's defence. He said he felt he was also being hounded by the government.

• Regional versus central government

The education ordinances approved by the regional presidents of Lambayeque, San Martí­n and Moquegua evoke interesting parallels with the ordinances passed by the regional presidents of Cusco and Huánuco in 2005 authorising free cultivation of coca. The administration of former president Alejandro Toledo was so worried that the new regional presidents were elevating themselves above national law (and jeopardising the country's relations with the US) that it challenged the legality of the ordinances. The constitutional tribunal eventually overturned them.

• Criticism

As many as 17 regional presidents have declared Decree 004 to be unconstitutional, elitist and discriminatory. Even some members of the ruling Partido Aprista Peruano (PAP) are criticising the decree. Mercedes Cabanillas, a PAP deputy, said that a top qualification should not be the only criterion for appointing teachers.