Peru: Castillo on Hunger Strike Amid ‘Politicised Trial’

Former Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, has been on a hunger strike since March 10 in protest to what he considers a sham trial arranged to destroy the legacy of his government. He began the hunger strike a week into trial which began on March 4. Castillo has been in prison since December 7, 2022 when he was removed from office and arrested by the Peruvian National Police.

Castillo posted a signed letter declaring his intention to begin a hunger strike on X along with the message: “Against the politicized oral trial and its announced conviction against me for crimes of rebellion and others that I have not committed, I declare myself on HUNGER STRIKE.”

The hunger strike has already caused a health crisis for Castillo. The former president had to be treated in a medical center where he was declared to be in a “delicate health condition”. Once he was treated for severe dehydration, he was returned to a prison in Lima, the capital.

Castillo announced that he requested the dismissal of the trial against him and dismissed the public defender who was set to represent him. The prosecution is requesting 34 years in prison against him for allegedly having attempted a self-coup, although Castillo has maintained that all he did was make a political speech and attempt to establish a Constituent Assembly that sought to create a constitution in favor of the poorest of Peru’s people.

After his dismissal and imprisonment by the right-wing government of Dina Boluarte (who was Castillo’s vice-president), several historic protests and mobilizations were unleashed in Peru. Boluarte’s government harshly repressed the protests, leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured.

Castillo confirms: hunger strike continues

Several media channels announced that the former president abandoned his hunger strike. However, Castillo himself denied these assertions: “The servile media and the institutions of the dictatorship are lying: I have NOT lifted my dry hunger strike. I remain firm, resisting this judicial farce and political persecution. I will not give up because my fight is for the deepest Peru. Until victory!”

Solidarity with Pedro Castillo

Indigenous leader and former president of Bolivia Evo Morales expressed his solidarity with Castillo: “Brother Pedro Castillo, I send you the strength of the Pachamama and the protective spirit of the Andes and Amazonia, in these moments of your hunger strike resisting political and judicial persecution. The leaders born of the people never stop fighting. I know that you will not give up in your fight against injustice, discrimination, racism, and hatred of the capitalist system that oppresses the humble.”

In Washington, DC, several Peruvians staged a sit-in outside the Peruvian embassy to demand the release of Castillo, whom they consider the legitimate president of the country, who was overthrown in a coup because of his leftist policies:  “We denounce the Dictatorship of Dina Boluarte that holds the legitimate President, Pedro Castillo, a victim of the coup d’état of December 7, 2022, hostage; [we also denounce] the farce of a trial [that seeks] to sentence him to 34 years in prison…that seeks to legitimize the coup and that the murders [during the protests against Boluarte] remain unpunished.”

For his part, Roger Waters, musician and activist, expressed his support for Castillo in a video. Regarding the hunger strike, Waters said: “Those of us who care about him fear for his life…we should all stand shoulder to shoulder and do everything we can to [better explain Castillo’s situation]. I would like to hear Pedro Castillo’s version of events…because all I have been able to do is listen to the Western media.” In addition, Waters stressed that the struggle of Western powers for control of lithium in Peru could be behind Castillo’s removal.