Peru's Gen Z rallies against President Boluarte, protesting over pensions and corruption

By Marco Aquino and Alexander Villegas

LIMA (Reuters) -Peru's youth are rallying for another round of protests against President Dina Boluarte on Saturday, a week after demonstrations in the capital led to clashes with police, leaving over a dozen police officers, protesters and journalists injured.

The protests erupted on September 20 following reforms to the country's pension system that required all Peruvians above the age of 18 to join a pension provider, but were also fueled by longstanding anger against Boluarte and Congress.

"There's been a low, simmering level of discontent in Peru and it's been that way for actually quite some time," said Jo-Marie Burt, a visiting professor at Princeton University's program in Latin American studies who has researched Peruvian politics for decades.

The discontent, Burt said, has been fueled by corruption scandals, economic insecurity, rising crime and anger over a lack of accountability over dozens of protesters who were killed by security forces when Boluarte assumed power in late 2022 after former President Pedro Castillo was removed from office and arrested.

The Institute of Peruvian Studies' July report shows Boluarte's approval rating at 2.5%, with Congress' at 3%.

Aside from the unrest in Lima, protests have rattled the country's mining industry. Hudbay Minerals said on Tuesday it temporarily shut down its mill in Peru amid ongoing unrest. Peru is the world's third largest copper producer and a major producer of gold and silver.

PERU'S YOUTH TAKE TO THE STREETS

Peru's Gen Z protests follow youth demonstrations in Indonesia and Nepal. A common feature in the demonstrations has been a skull in a straw hat, a symbol from the Japanese manga "One Piece" about treasure-hunting pirates.

Leonardo Munoz is one of the protesters in Lima embracing the symbol.

"The main character, Luffy, travels from town to town freeing people from tyrannical, corrupt rulers in towns of slaves," Munoz said. "It represents what’s going on in various countries. That’s what is happening now in Peru.”

According to Peru's INE statistics agency, 27% of Peru's population is between the ages 18 and 29.

"We're tired of this being normalized. Since when have we normalized death, since when have we normalized corruption, extortion," said Santiago Zapata, a student protester.

"My generation is coming out to protest now because we're tired of being silenced, made to feel afraid when the government we elected should fear us."

DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING IN PERU AND ABROAD

The protests, Burt says, are unfolding in a wider context in which democracies across the globe are under pressure, and follow the administration's efforts to weaken courts, watchdogs and prosecutors.

“It’s very reminiscent of what happened in the 1990s under Fujimori, when the justice system was essentially captured to consolidate authoritarian control,” she said.

While there's less pressure from the United States to uphold democracy abroad, and worries persist about the administration eroding electoral institutions ahead of the 2026 elections, Burt noted, past protests in Peru helped in "holding the line from institutions being taken over" and even toppled presidents.

"Democratic forces, even when there's almost total control by these authoritarian systems, can mobilize and act in unexpected ways that can have a positive result," Burt said, adding that a key factor will be if the protests can be sustained over time. “The opera is not over yet.”

(Reporting by Reuters TV in Lima; Writing by Alexander Villegas; Editing by Bill Berkrot)