PERU - Anger Against the Government
The anger of Peruvians against their government is nowhere more visible than in Andahuaylas, a remote rural Andean community where the poor have struggled for years and where voters’ support helped elect now-ousted President Pedro Castillo, himself a peasant like them.
While protesters have also gathered in Lima, the capital, the demonstrations have been particularly heated in rural areas that were strongholds for Castillo, a former schoolteacher and political newcomer from a poor Andean mountain district.
Protesters went a step further by blocking access to an international airport for several hours in southern Peru and occupying its runway. Demonstrations in Arequipa, where the airport is located, left one protester dead, Minister of Defense Alberto Otarola told lawmakers during a session of Congress focused on the civil unrest.
Peru has had six presidents in the last six years. In 2020, it cycled through three in a week.
The latest presidential crisis is taking place as the Andes and its thousands of small farms struggle to survive the worst drought in a half-century. The country is also experiencing a fifth wave of COVID-19 cases.
-apnews.com, 12 December 2022
Arno's Commentary
Peru is a country not often in the news, but historically quite significant. For example, tomatoes and potatoes originate from the Andes Mountains in Peru. One staple for the USA is maize (corn), coming from Mexico.
But there’s more: there is growing demand for electric vehicles to replace those based on internal combustion engines. But electric vehicles require four times as much copper as traditional ones. While neighboring Chile produces almost 20% of the world’s copper, Peru’s part is significant, at 8.3%.
What’s wrong with Peru? One word: politics. Thus, the ever-increasing protest of the general public against the government.
Peru’s population stands at about 32 million people, with a relatively low life expectancy of 68.9 years, according to the CIA Factbook. Sixty percent of the population is listed as Roman Catholic, with a significant 14.6% Christian, including 11.1% evangelical.
What is Peru’s future? The same as any other country on planet earth. Daniel summarizes the future of world history: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
