NATIONAL STRIKE MOSTLY PEACEFUL, STRONGEST IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001191

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV ASEC PREL PINR PE
SUBJECT: NATIONAL STRIKE MOSTLY PEACEFUL, STRONGEST IN
UNREST-PRONE REGIONS

REF: A. LIMA 895

B. LIMA 389

C. LIMA 1153

Classified By: CDA J. Nealon for reasons 1.4b and d.


1. (C) Summary: On July 8th and 9th, thousands of Peruvians
across the country joined a national strike to protest
against the government's failure "to fulfill its promises"
and the rising cost of living. The strike generally
proceeded peacefully, with a manageable protest in Lima, and
roadblocks and more substantial work stoppages in a handful
of unrest-prone regions. The GOP, citing the lack of
violence and the large percentages that went to work,
declared the strike a failure. By contrast, strike leaders,
citing regional participation, called the day a success.
Overall, the government probably emerged stronger from the
strike, having demonstrated that it can maintain order. But
even President Garcia acknowledged that many Peruvians want
more from the government and that the demonstrations
expressed the genuine concerns of many Peruvians about rising
prices and entrenched poverty. End Summary.

Strike Contained in Lima, Stronger in Regions
--------------

2. (SBU) On July 8th and 9th, thousands of Peruvians across
the country joined a national strike to protest against the
rising cost of living and the government. The strikes were
generally peaceful with only a handful of incidents of minor
violence, 200 arrests, and no deaths or serious injuries. In
Lima, thousands of protestors gathered in the city center and
marched to a principal plaza under close police escort. One
observer told poloff that the protest attracted twice as many
people as the "Summit of the Peoples" rally in May (Ref A)
and nearly filled the plaza, or possibly several thousand
demonstrators. Another observer said that Lima's public
transport had a lighter-than-normal passenger load, similar
to a weekend or holiday, because of workers respecting the
strike. But transit proceeded normally without noteworthy
disruptions or roadblocks.


3. (C) Outside Lima, strikes and protests in several
unrest-prone regions slowed economic activity to a crawl.
Embassy contacts on the scene described Ayacucho -- location
of the New Horizons military-humanitarian mission -- as the
hardest hit region. Three to five thousand protestors
marched through the capital Huamanga, and others blocked all
the region's highways. In Cusco and Puno, demonstrators
generally left principal urban centers undisturbed, but shut
down roads in rural areas. The security chief for Peru Rail,
which runs trains to Machu Picchu, described protests in
rural Cusco as more aggressive and dangerous than similar
protests in February. (Ref B) Observers said strikes and
roadblocks in Apurimac, Huancavelica, and Madre de Dios were
also significant.

Government Declares Strike a Failure
--------------

4. (C) GOP officials later July 9th declared the strike a
failure but promised to keep working to meet the needs of the
most poor. President Alan Garcia praised workers for not
supporting the strike and argued that "the population has
demonstrated that it neither had nor has the will to detain
the country by paralyzing productive activities." But he
vowed that the government would not act triumphal,
acknowledging that "perhaps 60% of the population" is
dissatisfied and wants the government to do more. Prime
Minister Jorge del Castillo, the government's lead negotiator
with protest groups, claimed that 100% of public employees
and 98% of private sector workers in Lima and Callao attended
work as noral. The Labor Minister claimed that nationally
93% reported to work. A Peruvian National Police official
argued to Emboffs that despite GOP bungling prior to the
protests -- the GOP, he said, had acted scared and vulnerable
-- the population showed that they were more interested in
their personal economic situation than in getting involved in
a politically-motivated strike. The official noted that the
most widely sold newspaper-tabloids hardly mentioned the
strike, reflecting Peruvians' lack of interest.

Principal Union Praises Strike's Success
--------------

5. (C) In a press conference July 9th, Mario Huaman, head of
the union that organized the strike, called the day a
success. "In the provinces the strike was almost total. We
have to recognize that in Lima it was not total, but a
majority did participate," said Huaman. who added that 90% of
civil construction workers participated and shut down most
public works throughout the country. In an apparent attempt
to rally momentum from the strike behind a new leftist
political movement, Huaman called for the strike to be
followed by an undefined "National Assembly of the Peoples"
on November 4th. Less partisan observers argued to poloff
that the success of the strike in various regions effectively
demonstrated the discontent felt by many in south and central
Peru. The relative lack of violence was indeed a success for
the government, said one analyst, but also for the strike
leaders who had called for peaceful protest. Another told
poloff that this was the first national strike in a long time
that successfully organized peaceful work stoppages and
roadblocks in so many regions. Several national periodicals
-- principally Caretas, La Republica, Peru 21, and the
partisan La Primera -- published strike photos that have
contributed to the impression that the strikes had at least a
partial success outside Lima.

Comment: Strike a Qualified Success for Government
-------------- --------------

6. (C) The GOP undoubtedly succeeded in achieving its main
goals by ensuring that the vast majority of Peruvians
reported to work and by demonstrating that it can maintain
order in the run-up to APEC. By contrast, the main
opposition union probably failed in its goal of attracting
enough protestors to create momentum behind a new leftist
political movement. (Ref B) But as President Garcia and many
local observers have noted, the strike did express the
genuine concerns of many Peruvians about rising prices and
entrenched poverty, especially in the central and southern
highlands. The government has much left to do.

NEALON