A WEEK OF PROTESTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001603 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PE SUBJECT: A WEEK OF PROTESTS REF: A. LIMA 1046 ¶B. LIMA 1191 Classified By: DCM James Nealon for reasons 1.4b and d. ¶1. (C) Summary: The Moquegua Region "Defense Front" launched October 1 the first of several protests planned by social movements across southern Peru during the coming week. In neighboring Tacna Region, where leaders are locked in a dispute with Moquegua over mining royalties, the Regional President has promised a larger competing protest. Social movements from nine regions plan to launch unrelated October 7 protests against inflation and the government's "neo-liberal" economic policies. A combination of structural scuffling and provocation, some protestors are probably hoping for sparks to break into flame. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The Communist-controlled "Defense Front of Moquegua Region" on October 1 launched the first of several protests planned by social movements across southern Peru during the coming week. The Moquegua protest follows a major June strike in which thousands of protestors captured dozens of police hostages and cut off a major road artery to southern Peru in order to demand an increased share of mining royalties for the region. (Ref A). Moquegua strike leaders say the current protest is meant to preempt a two day (October 2-3) strike in neighboring Tacna Region. Initial press reports indicate the first day of protests in Moquegua was small and easily contained by security forces. ¶3. (U) In Tacna, the Regional President and local social movement leaders are demanding that the distribution of mining royalties remain the same, i.e., that additional royalties not be redirected to Moquegua. The Tacna leaders have promised that protests will be larger than the June strike in Moquegua. According to initial reports from the ground, the first day of the Tacna strike was "massive," and shut down economic activity in the city. Tacna leaders have also sought support from eight other regions that would be affected by any change in the distribution of mining royalties, according to press reports. ¶4. (C) On October 7, social movements from nine regions plan to lead strikes (unrelated to mining royalty distribution) against the government. In an echo of the nation-wide protests this past July (ref B),these strikes have been organized by the radical leftist labor union CGTP, which is demanding an end to inflation and the "neoliberal" economic model. CGTP has billed October 7 as a practice run for the so-called "Assembly of the Peoples" demonstration it and other groups are organizing for November 4 (as an attention-getting event in the run-up to the APEC summit). One contact with close ties to different social movements told POLOFF that he does not expect the October 7 protests to gather much force. Other observers suggest protests will be strong in some particularly unruly regions. The security director for the company that runs trains to Machu Picchu told POLOFF he anticipates another extensive rural strike that could force the company to suspend operations for the day. Comment: Mixed Brew -------------- ¶5. (C) Beginning even as the ongoing Health Care workers strike remains unresolved, the current round of regional protests is a mix of structural conflict and empty provocation. Moquegua and Tacna are locking horns over the most basic of political issues: who should get how much (from mining production, in this case). By contrast, the CGTP has an historical commitment to the radical political gesture and demanding the impossible. Still, some of the protesters are probably hoping that the sparks generated by these strikes break into full-flamed protests that singe or even burn the government. MCKINLEY