Proposals by Pedro Castillo, candidate in Peru

By Luis Fierro Carrión (*)

Twitter: @Luis_Fierro_Eco

In the novel "Conversation in the Cathedral", Mario Vargas Llosa puts in the mouth of its protagonist, Zavalita, the question "At what precise moment did Peru get screwed up?"

Sometime later, trying to find an answer to the same question, the author will say that there was no specific moment in which Peru was "screwed up", but there were several moments throughout its history.

If the polls of the second round of elections are reliable, now we will have a more precise answer: on June 6, 2021.

Pedro Castillo, the candidate leading the polls so far, belongs to the "Peru Libre" party. According to Vladimir Cerrón, the founder and leader of the party, it is a “Marxist, Leninist and Mariateguista” organization.

José Carlos Mariátegui was a Peruvian writer, politician and philosopher, founder of the Socialist Party, which would later become the Peruvian Communist Party. He advocated an Indo-American socialism, with a prominent role for indigenous peasants. In Ecuador, Dimitri Madrid and Leonidas Iza are leaders of a “mariateguista” movement.

The Pedro Castillo Program was drafted by Vladimir Cerrón, and it is of unusual radicalism for a party that seeks to win democratic and multi-party elections. Remember that even Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez and Rafael Correa at the beginning said that they were not Marxists, nor did they have any intention of expropriating private property; instead, they claimed to be Christians and humanists.

On the other hand, the Government Program of Perú Libre (available on the website of the National Elections Jury of Peru, https://bit.ly/3vp3fUC) begins chapter 1 by stating “we recognize ourselves as Marxists, Leninists, Mariateguists”. It mentions Lenin (Vladimir, not Moreno), Fidel Castro, Evo Morales and Rafael Correa more than twenty times.

One of the occasions on which the document quotes them is to talk about freedom of expression, or, better said, to point out that they consider it necessary to restrict said freedom: it indicates that a "law regulating communication" must be passed to achieve "freedom from enrichment, blackmail, defamation, slander and above all lies ”(p. 28 of the PDF). It is curious that, in these attacks on the independent press, the communists are confused with the fascists (Hitler spoke of the lying press, while Trump spoke of the lying media and fake news).

The plan mentions the phrase "nationalize" 35 times, which is a euphemism for expropriating, that is, taking away the property from its owners. It talks about creating a "nationalizing state" and a "socialist state." It affirms that, if a “negotiation” is not accepted to impose onerous terms, “the Peruvian State must proceed with the nationalization of the deposit in question in the mining, gas, oil, hydro-energy, and communication sectors, among others” (p. 16).

It proposes changing the curriculum to form citizens "with national identity, supportive, dignified, autonomous and revolutionary." It would increase spending on education and health to 20% of GDP (the current total budget, for all categories of expense, stands at 21.3% of GDP). Despite this proposal to triple public spending, it proposes that 70% of the tax collection remain with local governments.

It points out that the "Catholic Church" is the "political, media and propaganda ally" of the sectors of power. The document adds that "the Concordat with the Holy See, a framework on which the Catholic Church is exempt from taxes, must be abolished" (p. 60).

It affirms that “The socialist state must… strengthen agriculture to achieve security in the face of an imminent foreign food blockade after declaring the character of the State” (that is, they anticipate that Peru will face a blockade from abroad after declaring itself a socialist State).

It mentions the revision or cancellation of Free Trade Agreements, specifically mentioning the Pacific Alliance and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) (p. 64). It also rejects the CONVEMAR.

It sharply criticizes the NGOs, stating that they are "thousands of mercenaries [who] have organized these institutions in order to control, manipulate, etc., the masses and orchestrate thousands of counterrevolutionary apparatuses." It seems they want to ban them.

Then on p. 72, gives the impression that they want to declare war on the United States: "it forces us to prepare socially, politically and militarily against the imperial decadence that is not willing to die without resistance."

Following the Chavista practice, it calls for a Constituent Assembly, which would draft a new “nationalizing” Constitution, to shape a “new economic regime”.

Curiously, in the only aspects in which the program has liberal aspects (decriminalization of abortion, women's rights), Pedro Castillo has declared that he is against abortion, gay marriage, gender equality, euthanasia or the legalization of marijuana.

Apart from the government program, there are links between Castillo and Peru Libre with MOVADEF, the political arm of Sendero Luminoso. Congressmen elected by Peru Libre were imprisoned for being members of Sendero (including Guillermo Bermejo and Alfredo Pariona). Castillo himself was supported by MOVADEF to reach the leadership of his faction of the teachers' union, CONARE-SUTEP.

According to testimony presented to the Truth Commission, Vladimir Cerrón's father "Professor Jaime Cerrón Palomino played the role of ideologist for the PCP-Shining Path organization within the University of the Center." The government plan of "Peru Libre" concludes with two pages of quotes (of Marxist content) from Cerrón's father.

(*) Note:  this is the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the views of any institution or entity. English translation of a column published on May 7, 2021 in Diario “El Universo” of Ecuador.  

https://www.eluniverso.com/opinion/columnistas/propuestas-de-pedro-castillo-nota/