Workers across Peru went on strike on November 13–15 to demand that the government act against rising violence and extortion at the hands of organised criminal groups.
According to Peruvian Workers’ General Confederation secretary Jerónimo López, about 1 million workers took part.
Workers from the transport, mining and construction sectors, indigenous groups, students, human rights organisations and small business owners joined marches across the country during the strikes.
The national strike, which is the second in a month, reiterated previous demands that the government repeal a law that favours organised crime.
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Law 32108 — approved by Congress in August — modified the definition of organised crime in the 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.
Organised crime groups are exploiting the level of impunity and government inaction — there have been at least 17,000 reported cases of extortion since January. Workers and businesses are forced to pay daily extortion payments, and can be threatened, killed or have their property destroyed if they fail to do so.
Despite threats of arrest and police repression, as well as retaliation from organised crime groups, protests and strikes have ramped up.
There were marches and road blockades in the regions, such as Piura, Cusco and Puno, with many calling for President Dina Boluarte and interior minister Juan José Santiváñez to resign and the repeal of Law 32108 and other laws that criminalise the right to protest.
In Chimbote, in the region of Áncash, 90% of markets closed their doors as part of the strike.
In the capital Lima, thousands marched to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, a yearly meeting of representatives from Pacific Rim countries being held there.
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Environmental, indigenous and union organisations held an APEC Alternative Social Forum from November 11–14, which sought to make visible the demands of communities negatively affected by APEC-related activities, such as mining, and push a development alternative that respects human rights and the environment.
“The investments discussed at this forum focus on extractive sectors and cause severe environmental impacts, as well as violations of communal and labour rights,” the alternative forum organisers said in a statement.
“There is talk of increased extractivism to secure the minerals that China, the US and other countries need for their own energy transitions, but at the cost of turning our country into a mere supplier of raw materials and our territories into environmental sacrifice zones.”
Foreign transnationals — from the US, Australia, Britain and China — already control many of Peru’s mines, and are responsible for widespread environmental damage and human rights abuses.
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In the lead-up to the forum, the government ramped up the police and military presence in Lima and Callao. Congress passed a resolution last month to allow 600 armed US soldiers — along with planes, helicopters and surveillance systems — into the country for the duration of the APEC forum.
The government also deployed more than 15,000 police and soldiers — double the number deployed in the Lima and Callao region to combat organised crime — for the duration of the forum and strike. They met protests with violent repression, meting out tear gas, rubber bullets and beatings.
Police fired rubber bullets at construction workers marching peacefully in Arequipa on November 13, injuring eight people.
In Lima, police hit a protester on the head, causing a bleeding wound, before detaining him for several hours. Police attempted to kettle protesters off major roads, often advancing in lines and hitting participants with shields and batons.
To stop protesters from reaching the APEC summit, police launched tear gas canisters and fired rubber bullets directly into crowds on November 14. Undercover police violently arrested a student while he was peacefully marching, beating him and dragging him along the road.
Police brutality and increasing militarisation have been a hallmark of the Boluarte coup regime, particularly during protests after former president Pedro Castillo was ousted in December 2022.
The families of more than 70 people killed by the police and military during the 2022–23 protests travelled hundreds of kilometres to participate in the most recent marches and demand justice for their relatives.