Pedro Castillo: “They portray me as a monster. I am the president of Peru”
Exclusive interview with Pedro Castillo by Spanish online portal El Salto Diario*
Pedro Castillo has been in prison since December 7 and continues to consider himself the legitimate president of Peru.
El Salto could transmit to him a series of questions that the politician from Chota answered from where he was imprisoned.
Castillo calls for a constitutional process for his country and denounces the repression exercised by Dina Boluarte.
El Salto’s team conducted an exclusive interview with President Pedro Castillo (born in Puña in 1969) in Barbadillo, at the maximum security prison where Alberto Fujimori, convicted of crimes against humanity by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, is also imprisoned.
Recently, President Castillo was visited by Eugenio Zaffaroni, judge at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and Guido Croxatto, director of the Argentine Bar Association.
Both will be part of Castillo’s defense team. Zaffaroni and Croxatto were accompanied by the president’s legal team, attorney Indira Rodríguez Paredes and attorney Wilfredo Robles.
Despite the National Institute of Corrections’ intent of preventing the meeting from taking place by obstructing and inconveniencing it, it eventually occurred.
From this came the notes that form the basis of this interview, which was conducted orally and handwritten between the last days of January and the first week of February.
All recording devices, including cell phones, were expressly forbidden.
The Argentine team that will defend Castillo at the international bodies believes that Castillo’s pretrial detention violates human rights and is contrary to the recent jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court.
The Barbadillo prison received the delegation under a scorching sun.
Peruvian National Penitentiary Institute officials kept the visitors waiting.
Castillo’s cell has no windows or natural light, but he has access to a small vegetable garden where he grows potatoes and corn.
In the cell, there is a small stove for cooking and a desk with some books.
Currently, the president is reading Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.
Beyond that, there’s not much more than a bed and a television, which has become his main link to the outside world, aside from his legal team.
Do you fear for your life at the moment?
Yes, I fear for my life. There is no legal, political, or civil security in Peru.
I must say that I don’t fear for my life only now but since the second round of the presidential campaign.
Since I was in the campaign, I have been politically persecuted; the right-wingers have taken out their anger on my family and me, especially my youngest children and my wife.
They have defamed us; they have “terruquized” [leveled terrorism accusations against leftist activists] us; they have not allowed us to develop, either personally or within the framework of my government. The hostilities were constant, daily, and burdensome. These actions fueled hatred and racism.
I received death threats from many strangers. My children and my wife have as well.
So I have always tried to ensure my children are safe because they are the most precious thing I have.
Safety for my little daughter, my little son, my big daughter, and my wife.
I was insulted several times by right-wing people who accused me of being a “terrorist.”
They wanted to hurt me; I would even say kill me.
In Tacna, for example, I was beaten with bolts and pieces of metal by several people from the ultra-right; I was injured but didn’t report it.
That is one of the clearest memories I have of the second round of the campaign.
I also received public threats, for example, from Rafael López Aliaga [ultra-right businessman and mayor of Lima], who openly called for my assassination.
At his rally, he said, “Death to Castillo.”
Have you been able to talk to your wife and children? Do you know how they are?
No, I can’t communicate with my family. I know little about how they are doing, and I hope they are doing well.
I don’t have access to communication or the right to call them by video phone.
They are refugees in Mexico. I would like to talk to them.
Yes, I fear for their lives because when they were in Peru, they suffered racist incidents.
For example, my children never got used to living in the government palace because that meant moving to a Lima they didn’t belong to or feel they belonged to.
My son was denied access to schools because they found out he was my son.
Those were schools that I chose for safety reasons. They didn’t allow me to do that.
My son will turn 18 on February 8, and it hurts me not to be able to be with him at this special time.
My younger daughter was bullied after the birthday party her mother and I organized for her.
Like all girls of that age, we prepared a party for her to make her happy.
This party was reported in the media, and she was later bullied in her school and when she left school.
When she went for a walk, they yelled at her, “You are the donkey’s daughter,” She cried and felt bad.
They attacked my youngest children aiming to attack me.
As for Yenifer, whom I consider my daughter, she is the oldest and very brave [Yenifer Paredes, Castillo’s sister-in-law, is accused of money laundering and belonging to a criminal organization].
She faces this situation as the strong woman she is.
She, too, has been unjustly imprisoned; she is a victim of all the abuses to which my entire family has been subjected.
Unfounded criminal cases are also being brought against her; she has lost her freedom, and I want her to be a normal young woman who can live a life without being attacked; I want her to be happy.
I am grateful to my wife, Lilia, for resisting all this time because it was not easy for her.
She often wanted to go to Chota [a town in the department of Cajamarca, where Castillo is from] with my children because she couldn’t stand the attacks in this whole region here.
They made fun of her way of dressing, our Andean roots, and how we speak, and there was ethnic discrimination.
She experienced constant attacks on her person.
My parents are suffering. My mother does not know that I am in prison.
They lied and told her I was in another region and would return to Chota. This is the only way not to affect her health.
My father knows I am in prison, but he has not been able to visit me yet.
I miss my parents very much and would like to see them soon, but I know that if they come, the press will attack them.
So what happened on December 7? Was it an attempt to undermine Peruvian institutions? If that was not the case, what was their intention that day as President of Peru?
This is complicated and complex to explain. It cannot be explained only in political terms.
I never tried to undermine Peruvian institutions. I wanted to get closer to the people.
It was a day to echo the “nobodies.”
I raised the flag of the People’s Constituent Assembly and made my speech in memory and loyalty to the people who elected me and who trusted me.
It was an affirmation on my part.
I wanted to make the political class understand that people’s power is the highest expression of society.
I wanted to disobey the economic and social power groups. I wanted to put the people above everything else.
There was a lot of talking.
I was not on the run as the press claimed; I took my family to the Mexican Embassy, and it all happened very quickly.
It was my decision alone and no one else’s. I was nervous, but I did it.
After the message to the nation, Aníbal Torres [former president of the Peruvian Council of Ministers, then Castillo’s advisor] was very confused; he looked distraught because he didn’t understand why I did what I did.
The same was true for all the ministers present, who arrived when I was already in the process of reading the message.
After the message, the first thing I thought about was my family. I wanted to deliver them to the Mexican Embassy, but at no point did I want to flee.
I wanted to return. I wanted to take my family to safety.
We took the station wagon from the Presidential Palace and were on our way when the police stopped us.
It was a totally illegal situation because I was still the president.
My little daughter started crying while sitting on my lap; I hugged her and calmed her down so she would stop crying.
The police came with machine guns and stopped the car.
There were many police officers, and evidence of this has been reported in the media.
For my children, it was very traumatic and violent.
At that moment, I asked the officers not to intimidate my family, that I would get out, and that there was no reason for violence.
So I got out of the car, Aníbal Torres too, and defended myself.
I felt very confused; I was no longer thinking like a president; I was thinking like a family man.
Aníbal Torres showed steadfastness at all times and knew how to orient me. I am very grateful to him for that.
Then I remember moments when my blood sugar level rose.
I have a hearing problem; I use a hearing aid; I couldn’t hear the cues given to me, and there was a moment when all I could hear was silence.
It was very confusing; I didn’t feel comfortable. I was only thinking about my family.
It should be noted that the prosecutor was not present at any time when I was arrested, and there was no legal process for me as a Peruvian with his rights, and even more so for me as president because I was still president and continued to be president. [Harvey] Colchado was responsible for this violent behavior.
They took me to Diroes [National Department of Special Operations] the next day, and the prosecutor came only then.
What do you think of those who think they committed a “self-coup”?
This is a discourse created by the right wing.
They fail to recognize reality; they are so ignorant that they invent their own stories, which they themselves repeat and keep repeating without doing the correct work of investigative journalism.
The traditional press in Peru is a disgrace.
They have tried to destroy my family and many other people who oppose this de facto government.
The people in charge of the press seem to me to be the real ignoramuses, and they are the ones who say it was a self-coup, not the people.
Are you the victim of a plot? Who organized this plot?
Yes, I am a victim of a plot.
It was organized mainly by the Peruvian right, which serves the interests of the international right, the neoliberal and imperialist groups.
They had and have used all their economic and political means of power. This includes the Peruvian press, which also follows these interests.
We ordinary people, who went into politics to change things, have clashed with their interests from the first moment. That is a fact.
I am the first president from the countryside, a teacher, and a farmer.
They never wanted me in the government, and the people elected me in a popular election; my election was democratic. They never forgave me for that.
Since when did you feel the Peruvian right wanted to get rid of you?
They wanted to destroy me from the beginning of the second round of elections.
All the time, every day, I was subjected to attacks on my honor and my image as a candidate.
That’s why I never wanted to have interviews with the traditional press.
I had interviews with the real journalists in the regions and with the alternative press that asked real questions with content, not just to pass their time with insults and vulgarities.
All the economic and political power created the narrative of electoral fraud and lied to the people.
They commissioned studies by lawyers pandering to the interests of the right to demand the invalidation of the votes of my brothers and sisters in the South, and the people fought for their votes by holding marches, vigils, and sit-ins in front of the National Electoral Tribunal in my country.
Together, we all managed to get people’s power respected. But they never let me govern and always tried to destroy my government.
They always feared we would take power because they knew they could lose their privileges.
They may have money and the media, but they don’t have the heart of the people, and they never will.
What is the role of the extractivist, neoliberal, and capitalist oligarchy?
Fearing we might review their contracts, they have taken on a putschist role.
I was in the process of reviewing all the contracts of the extractivist, neoliberal, and capitalist mining companies.
They all played the role of putschists. There are several examples of this.
The budget that all past governments used to pay the press, in my government, we used it to give to education. I was determined to do that, and we stuck to it.
That is why the press has attacked me and continues to do so.
The press owes much money to the National Superintendence of Customs and Tax Administration [Superintendencia Nacional de Aduanas y de Administración Tributaria – Sunat].
They don’t pay their interest, and you can check that on the following platforms: Panamericana, América TV, Latina TV, ATV, and Willax, the channel with the most defamation offenses in this country. This is a “pirate channel.”
As for the fees, I collected them from customs, the oil industry, and the maritime industry.
When I renewed contracts, I had to make sure that there were minimum parameters.
There are many contracts that I have not been able to renegotiate because the Constitution does not allow me to do so, because they are contracts that previous governments signed by law, such as the contract of Francisco Sagasti of the Partido Morado, who extended the contract with Peru Rail, while the people of Cusco did not want to renegotiate it.
Rafael López Aliaga owns Peru Rail. My government and I wanted to return the contract to the people of Cusco by creating an association.
In Puno, my government and I wanted to save the Camisea gas and the lithium of the region.
The whole problem has to do with lithium. Imperialism wants lithium, and my government wanted to give lithium to the people.
I also wanted to renegotiate the contracts to allow national companies, not transnational ones.
We also wanted to provide a bigger budget for fertilizers for all the livestock and agricultural regions, but they wouldn’t let us do that either.
There are many examples.
70% of Lake Titicaca, the airports, roads, and toll booths belong to one company.
Everything belongs to transnational corporations.
They have seized all of this, subject to a constitution and legislative decrees that have legalized this theft of our territory, lands, and public roads.
My government has presented over 76 legislative projects to reclaim the land, and Congress has approved none.
This went so far that my government’s proposal to create a Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation was not approved.
We wanted a national flag airline and the creation and budget for three airports, and they put many obstacles in the way of all that.
They never let me govern.
To what extent did your position on concessions for mining and oil companies influence events? Did European multinationals, specifically Spanish ones, play a role in pressuring your office?
Foreign ministers and ambassadors come to mind regarding multinationals, especially in Europe.
This is a room of sacred cows.
The embassies are an elitist world, different from the people.
My government wanted to initiate a change in the conditions of access to Peruvian diplomacy, but they didn’t allow it.
There is a lot of elitism and power in this area.
There are very few ambassadors who really have a sense of protecting the Peruvian people. They have my deep respect and admiration.
But the embassies have also allied themselves with transnational corporations, especially in Europe.
The transnational companies that pollute, owe, and exploit the most are the Chinese.
Who, in the light of events, is Dina Boluarte? What was your relationship with her before December 7?
I met Dina Boluarte because Perú Libre proposed her as vice president. I met her virtually.
She didn’t campaign in the first round; I didn’t meet her in person until the second round.
Everyone told me she didn’t have people supporting her but that she was very decisive, and [Vladimir] Cerrón chose her.
I didn’t know what kind of person she was; only with time I realize the baseness of this woman.
I was assured she was a democrat, but that was mere pretense.
Later, the true interests became clear. She was and is calculating and ambitious.
She had no base; as I said, no one knew her, and no one in her region wanted her because, as I found out later, she was extremely racist and marked by class conceit.
She attached herself to the struggle. I made her known because I had access to the grassroots of the people.
She clung to her job as minister in the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion and would not let go.
We had many arguments over this. She cried so as not to be removed from her post; she said she had family and manipulated us in this way.
She always managed to keep us from removing her from office.
What is Boluarte’s current relationship with Fujimorism and the Peruvian oligarchy? Have they allied?
She collaborated with Fujimorism; they all organized the plot.
She has their support, and I know that very well.
The police and the armed forces prepared everything.
They, the prosecutor’s office, the Peruvian right, and particularly Fujimorism.
I know now that even before December 7, 2022, she had shown some closeness to the Peruvian right wing. She had and has friendships within the right wing.
They allied, talked to each other, and I now know that was the case even before.
She hired people from Fujimorism in the Ministry but never gave a chance to those who came from the people and from the regions.
And now that she is exposed, she has brought the worst human rights violators from the right into the cabinet. The list is well known.
She has only pretended to be a democrat until now. Her true personality has come out: dictator.
Is now the time to reform the fujimorist 1993 constitution?
This is the constitutional moment. We will not look for it; history is looking for us.
The people want a change in the Constitution to get rid of the Fujimori legacy.
I affirm that we need a constituent popular assembly.
What do you think of the decision of Congress not to bring forward the elections?
Congress is delegitimized. Its actions are not in tune with the people.
The majority follows the scripts that are disseminated in the media.
For example, why don’t they hold a plenary session in a region? Let them go to Ayacucho, Puno, Apurímac, Ica, and Cusco, regions where the police and the armed forces murder.
The people there would tell them what they think.
They should come out of the bubble of Congress to know what the people really think.
What role do you think racism played in what happened in the social uprising in Peru?
The historical racism that Peru has experienced and is still experiencing, as well as classism and social and economic inequality, is at the root of the massacre and the numerous rights violations that we are witnessing in Peru today, which I am sure the lawyers will be determined and courageous to take to the international level.
How do you assess the role of peasant and rural women in the protests? Do you think that the power of women social leaders currently carries weight?
The participation of women in this context is historic.
I know there are many women who have to overcome themselves to say what they think.
Women’s struggle is permanent. Women are visionaries.
Women are fighters, rural women, and urban women who stand in solidarity with the people and the country; they all have a millennial strength with the identity to defend their homeland.
They are Tawantinsuyanas [reference to the Quechua word for the Inca Empire].
What steps must be taken to end the political violence against Boluarte’s opponents?
The Constitution must be changed in the time necessary to do so, that is how the people need it, and that is why I have addressed the nation with this message [in reference to December 7]. I have called for the rights of the most forgotten people who have lived in oppression for 500 years.
The right will always persecute us and want to eliminate us.
And this is something that I think about and reflect on more and more here, where I am imprisoned, without family.
Because my family was also persecuted, I internalize this as a president and human being.
It is also important to say that political violence will continue if this dictatorship continues.
Dina Boluarte is a plaything of the right, she is someone like Keiko Fujimori, who is calculating, purposeful, without values, who sells herself to the highest bidder, and now she has sold herself to the right, to the rancid and dirty right.
She is a woman who will go to prison for human rights violations, especially crimes against humanity.
She will go to jail, and international justice will do its part because the people demand it.
Have you felt the support of Latin American leaders since the beginning of this process? Do you believe their protests against the coup d’état you suffered could turn the situation around?
The brother and sister officials of the different countries have shown solidarity with Peru, and it is important to thank democratic countries like Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador, as well as the peoples of Guatemala, Cuba, Italy, Greece, France, Germany, and various other countries.
I believe very much that international solidarity can change this situation.
How do you evaluate the coverage that is being done in Spain?
Regarding Spain, first of all, I thank brother Pablo Iglesias for his solidarity letter that he sent on the part of Podemos as a political party; we know his career.
We also thank the newspaper El Salto, which has the courage to tell my story in Europe.
I learned that the police injured their journalist Julio L. Zamarrón; I would like to express my solidarity with him and everyone suffering from these attacks.
What message would you like to send to Spain, especially to your compatriots living in our country?
To my compatriots in Spain, I would like to tell them to spread what is happening in our country.
Not only are the injustices happening to me as president, but also the grave human rights violations that this illegal de facto government is committing.
Let us be in solidarity and not indifferency.
I would also like to take this opportunity to ask the brother people of Mexico to welcome my family with great humanity.
They have prevented me from speaking with them; I have no communication at all, and they do not even allow me to make a virtual phone call, absolutely nothing.
My children, Yenifer, my younger children, and Lilia, my wife, have been persecuted and harassed by the entire power of the press and the Peruvian right.
What has been the international community’s reaction, especially the United States and the European Union, to your case? And how do you see the involvement of these bodies in the face of systematic human rights violations in Peru?
The United States is working with the European Union to oppress our countries, peoples, and communities.
That’s why they want to put me in jail, and that’s why those in power there are silent about the systematic human rights violations in Peru: assassinations, arrests, violations, and political persecution of leaders like in my case and so many others.
As a former president of Peru … What way out do you see from the current situation of a social explosion in your country?
I still consider myself President of Peru, and as a Peruvian, I do not recognize this genocidal government as representing Peru.
I am not only speaking as president; I am speaking as a Peruvian; this dictatorial government does not represent us.
Do you think that one day you will be president of Peru again?
I still consider myself a legitimate president elected by the will of the Peruvian people.
What do you think about the excessive use of force by state officials? Do you believe that Peru is a dictatorship today?
The excessive use of force… it’s not just what’s happening.
It’s a massacre. They are killing my countrymen.
Brothers and sisters with whom I have crossed all of Peru, Arequipa, Cusco, and Ayacucho.
Yes, I believe that Peru is experiencing state terrorism on the part of this government and is a dictatorship.
What is your opinion about the massive arbitrary arrests in Peru?
The arbitrary arrests are proof of the dictatorship of Dina Boluarte.
Her hands are stained with blood and also with political prisoners.
Brothers and sisters leaders, especially in the regions most affected, are today persecuted or imprisoned, as in Ayacucho.
This de facto government has violated, imprisoned, and murdered residents of Ayacucho.
Therefore, I ask for solidarity with this battered region.
What do you think of the accusations of terrorism made by the Boluarte government?
Terrorism is something psychosocial and a lie that this government uses to silence us oppositionists.
They have called me a terrorist since the second round of elections.
When I became president, they insulted us and called us names, they called us terrorists in the press, and now they are imprisoning me for an offense of rebellion that I did not commit.
How would you explain the term “terruqueo” to Europeans?
Terruqueo is any action that labels the person who criticizes the system as a terrorist, and this comes from the Peruvian right-wing power groups: Press, Police, or Prosecutors.
It starts with insults and can end with the prosecution of innocent people for terrorism, as in my case and in all cases of leaders.
They see me as a monster, which the international press has created as a portrayal.
I am the president elected by the Peruvians through popular vote.
I am not a terrorist, and I have not committed the crime of rebellion or conspiracy that I am accused of; I have never touched a gun in my life.
What do you think about the imprisonment of people for demanding a new constitution?
I am imprisoned here, without contact with the outside world; they persecute my family, lawyers, and everyone.
I am here for what I believe in.
I told the country in the message to the nation that a People’s Constituent Assembly is necessary to get a new constitution, and I am not giving up on this dream.
I admire the courage of all my compatriots, brothers, and sisters who were imprisoned and murdered for demanding the same thing.
They are the country’s heroes, and I express my solidarity with the family members.
What is their current status?
I have been unjustly detained for 18 months for a crime of rebellion that I did not commit.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Peruvian judiciary have put me behind bars.
They have initiated many proceedings against me that have no raison d’être.
All the prosecution files result from the faulty and illegal use of the justice system; they use the justice apparatus to criminalize people that we want to change Peru and are considered enemies of the power apparatuses.
I have more than 60 case files for the same offense, which according to the prosecutor’s office, is corruption. All for a single act.
This is illegal. They will continue to bring cases against me.
However, I am not imprisoned because of that but because of the criminal case that the prosecutor’s office and the Peruvian police have opened against me for rebellion and conspiracy.
They say that I took up arms, but that is a lie.
I have never touched a weapon, and I will never do so.
I have not committed any crime.
This also happens in so many other countries with fellow ex-presidents, such as Cristina Kirchner in Argentina, Lula in Brazil, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and others.
What is your defense based on?
I have experienced the violation of my due process rights from the beginning.
My lawyers are fighting for my freedom and a fair trial.
I would like to thank my legal team, which has gradually been formed from distinguished national and international lawyers.
The main legal team consists of the National Human Rights Network, led by Venezuelan lawyer Asdrubal Gonzales.
I am also assisted by Peruvian lawyer Wilfredo Robles and, more recently, by criminal and human rights lawyers Indira Rodríguez, Eugenio Zaffaroni, and Guido Croxatto.
They are all professionals who advocate for human rights and have experience defending criminal cases involving rights violations.
They have defended complex cases, so I called them together and selected them.
They are very professional and firmly convinced that what is happening in Peru is more serious than is known.
In Peru, the rule of law no longer exists. All my rights have been violated.
I am also accompanied by the lawyers Nicolás Bustamante, Eduardo Pachas, Sifuentes, and Walter Ayala in defense of the cases of the prosecution of false allegations of corruption.
I am grateful that they filed a writ of habeas corpus to defend my liberty and protection of my rights and withdraw my deposition.
Each of them is responsible for my defense and liberty in the constitutional and criminal areas. All my lawyers are coordinating to defend my rights.
A lot has been said in a tendentious way about my lawyers, the number of lawyers, and the fact that there are many.
It is true; it is obvious that in the face of so many violations of my rights, I need a courageous team of lawyers for my defense and my freedom.
They experience persecution and defamation; they are harassed by the traditional press that collaborates with the Peruvian right.
Judge César San Martín was the judge who put Alberto Fujimori, the greatest dictator of recent years, in prison for crimes against humanity. He was admired for that.
Today, this judge loses all credibility and independence because he condemns me as a criminal and is not up to the task of being a fair judge, which he should be.
I am the president of Peru and am being imprisoned for a crime of rebellion that I did not commit.
*The interview appeared on elsaltodiario on February 7, 2023. It was organized and conducted by Julio Zamarrón in Lima, Peru, with the collaboration of Irene Zugasti Hervás and Pablo Elorduy in Madrid
With information from amerika21
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