The Current Situation in Peru

A conversation with Lourdes Huanca, Daniela Ortiz, José Carlos Llerena and Ramón Grosfoguel

"¡Sólo el pueblo salva al pueblo!" Only the people can save the people.
Since the arrest of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo last December, there has been turmoil - nationwide demonstrations for democracy, constitutional reform and his release have been violently put down. The protesters see themselves unrepresented, neither in national nor international media.

How racist is our view of the global South? Is colonialism continuing by other means? What is happening right now? Peruvian artist and activist Daniela Ortiz, Peruvian activist and political educator José Carlos Llerena speak with Quechua activist Lourdes Huanca (digitally) Ramón Grosfoguel, professor of sociology at Berkley and postcolonial thinker (digitally), share their insights and discuss recent events and what they mean for Latin America and its democracies in a global context.


Lourdes Huanca, indigenous Quechua woman, is president and founder of the organization FEMUCARINAP (Federación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas Artesanas Indígenas Nativas y Asalariadas del Perú). During the government of Pedro Castillo, she was a bridge between the government and the social, peasant and indigenous organizations. She is currently one of the leaders of the social mobilizations in Peru, mainly for the dissolution of the Congress, the release of Pedro Castillo, the demand for new elections and the Constituent Assembly.

Ramón Grosfoguel is internationally recognized for his work on the decolonization of knowledge and power, as well as his work on international migration and the political economy of the world system. He is an associate professor at the Center for Latin American Studies at UC Berkeley.

Language English
Moderation Sandra Rudman