Imagining the Lived Experience of Democracy in Peru

Abstract

AbstractAfter more than six years of increasing political instability, in December 2022, Peru entered a period of turmoil marked by nation‐wide state violence. As people all over Peru contest the rise of Dina Boluarte's presidency and the country's history of neoliberal reforms, state authorities use unfounded accusations of terrorism to criminalize demonstrators and sustain militarized repression. This wave of violence—unmatched since the Internal Armed Conflict (1980‐2000)—has overwhelmingly affected Indigenous, rural, and racialized communities. In this essay, our editorial assistant, Alonso Gamarra, shares an intimate perspective of the current unrest in his home country.