> It was to make a new congress and a new constitution. Both of which are things that the people of Peru could not and should not wait for.

Oh, there it is: the belief that the only way to fix the system is to burn it down.

Lasting political change in a democracy is slow by design. Rural Peruvians are not an insignificant voting bloc; they can and should vote for more liberal candidates to change the makeup of Congress if that is what they desire.

In no way is a fucking coup with a new constitution the best solution to political stalemate. I’m done here, have a nice day.

So you think Castillo should have succeeded with his coup and would have become a benevolent autocrat “for the people?”

Alberto Fujimori was the last person to successfully pull off a coup (with the support of the military). He deserves credit for much of Peru’s highway infrastructure connecting rural areas to the wealthier parts of the country, fostering economic development. He was able to fund these projects in large part because he neutered Congress and acted unilaterally.

Fujimori also, under the pretext of national security, justified incredibly inhumane acts like the forced sterilization of thousands of rural people so they couldn’t “breed more terrorists.”

Benevolent autocrats don’t exist. Concentrated power is dangerous.

The criticisms of a deadlocked Congress are valid up to the moment Castillo thought it was a good idea to unilaterally dissolve it. His attempt to overthrow Congress is indefensible and completely undemocratic.

They democratically elected Castillo to be president in 2021. The next election will be in April 2024. Castillo’s supporters don’t get a do-over because he was impeached and removed from office for trying to dissolve Congress.

By the way, if Castillo had done nothing and allowed Congress to hold their third impeachment vote without disruption, he likely would have remained in office. Instead he panicked and tried to commit a self-coup like Fujimori did in 1992, except Castillo was thankfully too incompetent to pull it off.

Because according to their Constitution, the VP becomes president — there isn’t a new election immediately held. The next presidential election takes place in April 2024.

There was a proposal to move the election date sooner to December 2023 but Congress voted against it.

Castillo didn’t lose reelection. He tried to dissolve Congress before they held their third impeachment vote.