The ongoing riots in Peru by leftist supporters of communist ex-president Pedro Castillo and their disruption of the nation’s supply chain are causing losses of upwards of 100 million Peruvian sol ($26 million) per day to Peru’s economy, Peru’s Economy and Finance Minister Alex Contreras announced on Tuesday.
Far-left protesters have rioted for nearly a week in support of Castillo, who was impeached on December 7 after he attempted to dissolve the Peruvian Congress and rule by decree. Castillo made the move hours before Congress was set to vote for a third time on removing him from office. The act of dissolving Congress to stay in executive power is commonly referred to in Peru as a “self-coup” (autogolpe) since conservative ex-President Alberto Fujimori successfully did it in 1992.
Castillo was arrested shortly after his national address announcing a self-coup and is imprisoned in the same jail as Alberto Fujimori at press time.
The protesters, who have caused damages across the capital city of Lima and other regions, shut down airport operations, damaged the buildings of local television channels and radio stations, and injured over 100 policemen, according to government reports. They are demanding Castillo’s return to power and the resignation of the nation’s current president, Dina Boluarte, who up until Castillo’s impeachment served as the nation’s vice president. Furthermore, the rioters are demanding the closure of the Peruvian Congress and the immediate holding of general elections.
“There is an estimated daily impact of the cost of these stoppages between S/ 60 million and S/ 100 million [$15.7 – $26 million].” Contreras said on Tuesday during an interview given to the state-owned TV Perú channel. “This implies less income for families because there are people who are not going to work and companies that are not selling.”
The finance minister expressed during the interview that the Peruvian government will dialogue with the protesters to stop the ongoing riots.
“There is a deployment of ministers at the national level to restore dialogue, work for each region. We hope that this crisis can be resolved as soon as possible,” he commented.
Contreras also highlighted the importance that the restoration of normal economic activities has on Peru’s companies, as they have to pay their corresponding credits and payrolls.
The minister also warned that the ongoing riots will cause a growth in the nation’s inflation rate, which, prior to the start of the protests, was expected to fall back to eight percent, down from November’s 8.45 percent.
“The stoppages are going to generate a temporary effect on inflation that we hope can dissipate soon, because in the end we all lose,” he stated.
One of the sectors of the Peruvian economy most affected by the leftist rioters has been the dairy workers in the Arequipa region.
The National Association of Dairy Farmers of Peru (Agalep) announced on Tuesday that dairy producers in the Arequipa region are losing upwards of 4 million Peruvian soles (roughly $1 million) per day after the Gloria milk company, which organized dairy produce of workers in the region for its production, had its plant seized, attacked, and looted by leftist pro-Castillo rioters on Monday, causing considerable damages to both the plant’s infrastructure and its vehicles.
Gianni Simoni Rosas, AGALEP’s representative in Arequipa, explained to the Peruvian newspaper La República on Thursday that the Gloria plant will have to paralyze its activities for roughly 14 days, as the company must now assess the machinery and infrastructure to determine the full extent of the damages caused and determine what repairs are necessary.
The Gloria plant receives up to 80 percent of the Arequipa’s 6,000 milk producers’ dairy. The remaining 20 percent goes to the Laiva plant, which was looted and ransacked by leftists rioters alongside the region’s Coca-Cola plant on Wednesday morning.
Simoni also stated to La Republica that he fears that half of the region’s 6,000 dairy workers might go bankrupt as a result of the riots, as many of the dairy farmers work for their respective family businesses, count with limited resources, and are not able to survive 14 days without income.
“Three thousand are going to endure this 14-day blow and the others are going to disappear,” Simoni said.
The representative of the dairy farmers association also stated that the group expects up to 800,000 liters of milk to be lost by the forced stoppage of the Gloria plant’s operations, announcing that they attempted to give it away before it was spoiled, but they were forced to throw it away as the plant was unable to transport the milk due to ongoing road blockades.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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