Transport workers in Peru’s Lima and Callao region went on strike on October 10–11 to demand that the government act against the worsening violence and extortion that workers face at the hands of organised crime groups.
Criminal groups killed at least 10 bus drivers in Lima in the past two months, after the drivers reportedly failed to pay “protection fees”. About 40% of the urban transport system in the Lima and Callao region is subject to extortion, according to public transport union spokesperson David Mujica Castillo.
This is the second transport strike in as many weeks, and more than 5000 people protested outside Congress on October 10, demanding that they repeal a law that favours organised crime.
Law 32108 — approved by Congress in August — modified the definition of organised crime in Peru’s criminal code, excluding crimes such as extortion, human and organ trafficking, illegal logging and corruption by officials. Legal analysts say that the law weakens and slows down investigations into organised crime, and actually facilitates its growth.
Protesters also targeted the government’s new “urban terrorism” law, which imposes longer prison terms for extortion and kidnapping. However, the law, currently being debated in Congress, contains an intentionally murky definition of what constitutes “urban terrorism”. Given that the political establishment — which controls the judicial system — usually labels any anti-government protesters as “terrorists”, the law could potentially be used to criminalise protests.
Most recently, interior minister Juan José Santiváñez insinuated that the transport workers’ protests were infiltrated by “terrorists”.
In response to the October 10 strike, Congress refused to meet the strikers’ demand to repeal Law 32108, and instead held an extraordinary congressional session the next day to discuss “modifications” to the law. Law 32108, as it stands, favours several congresspeople currently under investigation for corruption and links to organised crime groups.
Instead, the Dina Boluarte government employed a heavy-handed police response, deploying 14,000 police and 4000 army personnel specifically for the duration of the strike. This is double the number that have been deployed in the Lima and Callao region to supposedly combat organised crime.
During the strike, police met protesters with violence and teargas, injuring several protesters and arresting 17.
Police also attempted to undermine the strike by providing police buses as replacement services for the public.
Despite these attempts, there was a high level of adherence to the strike, with most of the city’s transport network brought to a standstill.
Many markets and shops closed in solidarity with the strike, and in protest of the extortion that they are also facing.
Schools and universities in the Lima region cancelled in-person classes.
The National Transport Workers Alliance announced late on October 11 a “provisional” pause of the strike while they organise for a nationwide strike.