AREQUIPA—Five days of protests against the Peruvian government’s decision to privatize state-run electric companies in the southern department of Arequipa ended June 19 when an official mission sent by President Alejandro Toledo struck a truce with local authorities and protest leaders. Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi resigned the same day, however, because he disagreed with the Arequipa settlement. He was replaced by Deputy Interior Minister Gino Costa, who said he planned to continue with the privatization process.
The disturbances erupted on June 14 in Arequipa, capital of the department of the same name, located 650 miles south of Lima, when the government announced that the Belgian company Tractebel had purchased the local electric companies in a bidding process—in which it was the only participant—for $167 million. The street protests had continued in spite of a military presence in the city and had spread to other southern cities, including Puno, Cusco, Tacna and Moquegua. They resulted in the deaths of two students at the hands of the police. Some 150 people were injured. Amidst the chaos, the bus that brought the government envoys to Arequipa was subjected to a barrage of stones thrown by the protesters.
As a condition of the truce, Toledo administration representatives promised to halt privatizations until the courts rule on a petition filed last week by the municipality of Arequipa. The petition had been approved by a lower court. The Arequipa authorities argue in the lawsuit that the Egasa and Egesur electric companies are property of the region, not of the Peruvian state.
"The people of Arequipa have triumphed, but there is still a long road to travel, which we will follow until we reestablish governability and reaffirm democracy, within the framework of respect for human dignity and the popular will," said Arequipa Mayor Juan Manuel Guillén. Raúl Diez Canseco, first vice-president and a member of the government mission, apologized to the people of the region and read aloud what was dubbed the Arequipa Declaration, signed by Toledo’s envoys and the local authorities.
The truce in Arequipa has not quelled protests in other cities. A transportation strike began in Lima on June 20 to protest a government decree that forces companies in that sector to buy insurance to protect passengers. Farmers, meanwhile, are preparing to mobilize to demand tariff protections and access to loans. In Tacna, located on the extreme southern border with Chile, the clashes between protesters and the police continued, and in Moquegua peasant farmers gathered to block the railroad tracks leading to the area’s mines. General strikes were called in Puno and in Cusco on June 20 in solidarity with the anti-privatization movement and to demand an end to the state of emergency and the military control the federal government had imposed in Arequipa earlier this week.
The strikes and demonstrations show further erosion of the popularity of President Toledo, who took office July 28, 2001 with strong support from many of those who now protest his administration’s actions. He received an approval rating of just 22% in recent opinion polls. Toledo faces three crucial issues: the future of the privatization process, the governability of the country, and the management of social upheaval, like that which erupted in Arequipa, according to a report in the local El Comercio newspaper.
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