2020 Protests in Peru

The 2020 Peruvian protests are a series of demonstrations sparked after the removal of

President Martín Vizcarra, beginning on 9 November 2020.[4]
The controversial removal of Vizcarra was recognized as a coup by many Peruvians,[5][6] political
analysts[7] and media outlets in the country.[8][9][10][11][12] Massive protests were registered in several cities
of the country, to show their outrage at the president's vacancy and reject the inauguration of the
president of Congress, Manuel Merino.[13] Upon taking office, Merino formed a far-right government
with the support of Peruvian Navy admirals.[14][15][16]
The protests have been described as the largest demonstrations in Peru in the past two decades
and are organized by grassroots groups of young Peruvians on social media.[1][17] The disproportional
response by authorities has been condemned by various human rights organizations,
including United Nations Peru, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR) and Amnesty International.[18][19][20]
After reports that protesters were killed by authorities on 14 November, the majority of ministers from
Merino's government resigned from office[21] while Merino resigned the following day; he was
president for five days.[22]
Throughout Vizcarra's tenure, he faced opposition from the Congress of Peru.[26] He initially faced
opposition from the Fujimorist congress when pushing for the constitutional referendum in 2018, an
election that resulted with laws prohibiting the private funding of political campaigns and a ban on
reelecting lawmakers.[27][28][29] Into 2019, the Fujimorist congress continued to delay Vizcarra's reforms,
with Vizcarra later dissolving the congress after instituting a motion of no confidence, saying it was
"clear the democracy of our nation is at risk".[30][31]
A legislative election was held later on 26 January 2020 which replaced the dissolved congress, with
centrist parties replacing the Fujimorist majority in congress.[32] Analysts Diego Pereira and Lucila
Barbeito of JPMorgan Chase & Co described the new congress as being "even more antagonistic to
the [Vizcarra] government than the previous one"[33] while Americas Quarterly wrote that the four
main right-wing parties of congress – Alliance for Progress, Podemos Perú, Popular
Action and Union for Peru – feared Vizcarra's anti-corruption measures on campaign financing,
political transparency and the participation of convicted persons in government.[34]
As Peru's economy declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, Vizcarra faced increased
political pressure from the newly inaugurated congress presided by Manuel Merino, with the majority
of the legislative body being controlled by those opposing Vizcarra.[33] Finally on 5 July 2020, Vizcarra
proposed a referendum to be held during the 2021 Peruvian general election to
remove parliamentary immunity,[35] though congress quickly responded by assembling that same
night to pass their own immunity bill that contained proposals to remove immunity from the
president, constitutional court and the human rights ombudsman while also strengthening some
instances of parliamentary immunity.[36]