 okay gentlemen we're live welcome to what the app is going on in latin america code pink's weekly youtube program of hot news out of latin america and the caribbean in partnership with friends of latin america and task force on the americas we broadcast every wednesday at 4 30 p.m pacific 7 30 p.m eastern on code pink youtube today witness the inauguration of peruse first ever progressive president petro castillo a rural leftist teacher of the people was inaugurated today after a fascinating election season in which 18 candidates ran for president in the first round elections held april 11 tecco fuji mori the hard right candidate and daughter of former right wing president alberto fuji mori and petro castillo emerged the winners competed for the second round held on june 6 although castillo won by almost 45 000 votes or 50.13 fuji mori did not concede until july 19 to share with us today's historical event live from peru is jose carlos yorena jose is an organizer with the peruvian political organization la junta and peru and the peruvian chapter of alba movimientos jose joined us some of you may remember on april 28 to discuss the first round election results and it's thrilling to have you back with us jose because our candidate actually won and so here we are um the 28th of july celebrating the conversation that we had um april april 28th also i want to welcome to the program my co-host this evening who all of you have met before as well wan hong chung who is a member of the democratic socialist of america and was on an election observation delegation to peru for the first round elections so welcome both of you what a what an exciting evening to um to be talking to both of you so jose tell us some tell us what the mood is in peru at the moment and um when when you first joined we were we started briefly talking about um the social movements and how this is the first phase of the work having castillo elected but now there's a whole new phase of uh political social and economic projects that are going to begin okay terry uh well a good good night to everyone who is watching right now the program uh in this moment in peru right now i am i am in cusco a province an andean province in in peru but around the country there is a mood of celebration for the beginning of this popular government led by uh led by pedro the rural teacher pedro castillo pedro castillo terrones today we have uh at the end um here a very um a very important speech by pedro by pedro castillo i think that we maybe later can talk in uh in the specific issues around this presidential this first presidential speech of pedro castillo that have encouraged and motivate all all people about what what is what is coming next uh for this for this government of pedro pedro castillo also right now from social movement there is a lot of a lot of mobilization because tomorrow July 29 in ayacucho uh province here in peru will be uh celebrating another ceremony with pedro castillo but with social movement as with popular movement there are a lot of people around the country that is right now traveling to ayacucho in order to attend this popular popular meeting with the participation of and many others uh popular leaders in the continent as uh evo moraliz aima who is here in peru right now however um we until unless even when we are celebrating from social movements and popular movements we are conscious conscious about the about the the state the new stage of struggle that's open and beginning with this uh with the the beginning of the government of pedro castillo the struggle is going to be hard the all perugia moligarchi have shown what they are they are able to do and what they what they're going to do to don't let the the the control of the state that they have been over more than a 200 years and also from social movements and with this i finish we are celebrating right now as in many parts of the world but mostly in the continent another birthday of our chief in commander uo chavez fria that today we are celebrating the winning of the rural teacher and peasants as pedro castillo and we remember that uh uo chavez was uh peasants also from barinas so this is a a celebration date for peru and for latin america also so let's talk a bit about the new president's speech today the high points and his vision for the country and one please join us in the conversation yeah for sure thank you so much for um letting me co-host this i'm super excited i mean as a peruvian living abroad um there is a lot of sense of celebration as well and i would love to hear what carlos has to say who's the carlos has to say about um the speech because for me it has been really really powerful he um basically gave a historical overview of um colonialism and white supremacy and um economic oppression the whole history of peru he laid out how um so many communities have been forgotten like indigenous communities for peruvian communities and uh in particular for my community the um asian community in peru i was also really pleased to to see it mentioned because it rarely is so yeah hosie carlos you want to share your views uh yes i am agree with uh with hawan that i think that the most powerful emotion emotionally emotion part was the the introduction of all the all the all the guidelines around his speech today regarding the anti-colonial struggle peru castillo have stayed very clear that this is trouble that we are beginning right now with his popular government it's not a struggle that is beginning right now it's a struggle from around 500 years since the european boots uh invade our continent and our our people cultures and for example such such such a speech can the can be appreciated in a concrete way in the finish in the last part of his speech when he said that the government palace that here in peru we call pisarro's house pisarro related to the conqueror to the invader spanish invader will be not not not anymore the the place where the president practiced his presidential faculties and it will become in the building of the ministry of cultures it's important to say this not ministry of culture in a singular way instead of cultures in a plural in a plural way so i am agree with such part and also i think there are two more categories uh around the the petro our and petro castillo's presidential speech pronounced today that is important to take take notice about this one is the refer to the to two characteristics of petro castillo as we talked the last the last time we called pin and i i i hope you remember terry is regarding the social justice uh around this uh this first presidential speech there is a lot of uh social justice uh actions that i'm going to be uh uh carry out during his government and also uh this has been very clear in the in what's going to what what how is going to be uh the economic approach of this government and that is mainly focused in the wealth uh redistribution uh i think that there are some important issues to highlight for example uh we know as you know that our country is a country uh peru depends of the exportation of of commodities as mineralized we have a economical a dependent economic economic here and well petro castillo have said today that uh that kind of uh framework of our economy is not it's not be uh permitted anymore uh he's talking about right now to achieve a social profit profit profitability instead of the social license that have been ruling our uh legal framework here in peru or regarding or related with all that is about the uh extractive in industry so that kind of message is saying that you can you can make business here in our country however the first priority if our people if our territory is our environment too uh i think that there is a um uh a current mission uh uh if we remember the main slogan campaign of petro castillo that was no more poor people in a rich country finally the two main issues are urgent matters right now were tackled in a in a um in a popular sovereign way it's all that regarding to tackle the pandemic right now specifically uh related to health and the economic reactivation right now uh and this is important uh if we remember also that the rule has been the country with the most high most high rate of deaths for covid-19 so i will uh i will uh like organize the the main aspects of petro castillo presidential speech today in such in such categories uh anti anti-colonial uh message very strong very powerful uh social justice uh welfare distribution and finally uh specific actions in order to tackle the pandemic regarding health and economic reactivation wow it's a big um big issues and a short list but big issues let me um and a short list that has many sub sub points under each major issue um there gosh there's there's a number of things i'd like us to expand on um first of all regarding the extraction industry does this mean there will no longer be an extraction industry or does this mean the extraction industry will benefit the people of peru first and transnational corporation second or does it just go away well he he's very clear um we need a new mining approach because uh and i think that this explains all the peruvian oligarchy opposition to petro castillo is that we in peru have an oligarchy with an instructive thinking with a colonial thinking they want they think that the peru is his backyard and they can do whatever they want even uh when even uh don't comply with the rules and legislation that right now is uh is uh is enforceable in peru so what's petro castillo is saying is uh extractive industry will still uh operating we need we need we need a resource to all such social justice measures and action we need money however such uh such industry uh cannot be uh cannot be have the same behavior that we have been uh suffering since 200 years ago because remember uh the history of peru uh we the mining activities start from the things that the colonial the colonial period with a lot of uh slave schemes uh uh damaging the nature the environment and all kind of stuff so the message of castillos we need a extractive industry however we need such extractive industry that benefit our people and don't mess our our environment and for such for uh in order to achieve such goal we need to be very uh strong in the compliance of the rules that right now are enforceable because the problem is peru is that all the legislation regarding environmental matter or mining matter though are aren't comply are not complied by the mining companies and even the the find that they the mining companies have to pay they uh they don't pay and there is no problem with that so we need to comply that but also we have to uh take more steps in order to warrant and assure that this uh mining industry on this extractive industry will benefit our people and also our our country because in in in some specific points of the speech Pedro Castillo for example talks about uh uh how we can appropriate and uh can take advantage of the technology technology developments that uh this kind of uh transnational corporation making our country because they came here they invest in technology they take our resources and they all only pay a very low rate of uh of tax and other kind of other kind of payment so I think that's that's the approach of the new mining of Pedro Castillo and how about um addressing the the the COVID-19 pandemic what is the president's um program for this I I think that uh right when I hear the when I heard the the presidential speech I remember uh research uh developed by Tricon Institute uh the last year about the pandemic that it was named I don't know it was socialism and capitalism coronavirus this was a series and I uh when I heard the speech of Pedro Castillo I remember the four main points that explained why some alternative projects like Cuba, China, Vietnam, Kerala in India have had very good results in order to tackle the the pandemic the first one is that Pedro Castillo and he says in this speech he's going to take all all the political the political action and all the public policies going to be made in order to follow the science thinking not in order of any ideology or such kind of thing and that you can appreciate when he today announced that creation of the science and technology ministry the second one is referred to the to strong the public investment in strategic in strategic areas in order to for example build a hospital and such kind of things that for example is the project that I mentioned before have we have found it and today Pedro Castillo have announced in economic in the economic activation plan a very a very a very strong and deep a plan of public investment in strategic in strategic areas in strategic infrastructure in order to create jobs to create a all the infrastructure in order to tackle this pandemic and the third the third or the third characteristic is referred to the to the participation of the community that we can we for example we appreciate that here in our continent in Cuba or in Venezuela and I think that is the an approach that different that mark a very important difference of Pedro Castillo's government with our other government here Peru even with the last one of Francisco Salas because I think that liberal and the oligarchy here don't trust in people and and they think that all this all the measures in order to tackle the pandemic are also have to be only have to be understood in the in the state in the state area but today Pedro Castillo have announced that we need the participation of social movement of union of all the people and we need to organize and mobilize in order to tackle together the pandemic and finally this is have not been said today but I think that you can appreciate in some another speech of Pedro Castillo before is related with the international solidarity and I think that Cuba right now is the the the best example with the Henry Reef Brigade and we say we I think I say all the world all the planet we cannot have success in order in the fight to the pandemic if we approach it in an isolated way we need the solidarity of all the other countries in order to tackle this global problem in a in a global way so I think that this is the the kind of synthesis of what Pedro Castillo have said today regarding the the the first main actions in order to tackle the pandemic here in Peru. I have two points that I'd like both of you to comment on first regarding the president's vision for the country as social economic and political vision how will the president the executive office be working with the legislature or how will the legislature support or not support the president and also I know both of you in prior episodes that I've talked with you both brought this up that there's two peruse there's Lima and there's the rest of the country and I can see this is my personal observation opinion that the two of you are far far more far more capable of talking about this than myself the need for the social movements outside of Lima has got to be just enormous in order to unite people behind all these different projects and also to have an enormous population base supporting the president from the ground up I mean the people are going to have to really build a move multiple movements I would suspect to be certain that he has the voice and power of the people under him as he tries to move forward in the capital yeah absolutely I agree with your assessment Terry I think that it's pretty clear that Pedro Castillo wants to move from a free market economy to a more planned economy like what Jose Carlos was saying given people the opportunity to decide whether their territories and their resources should be extracted opportunities for industrialization however the legislature it's going to be a tough challenge they Pedro Libre does not have a majority in congress even with even if you count like some of their allies they don't make they don't have enough votes to actually maybe pass things through the legislature so like you said I think now it's a time for all social movements within Lima and outside of Lima to actually go out to the streets and demand the things that he has promised because I know for a fact that the opposition in congress all the right all the right wingers in congress are going to try to shut down any of his proposals any of his reforms so I suspect that the next five years are going to be tough but I'm also really hopeful because I've seen that a lot of people I've seen a lot of the left I've seen a lot of the social movements from a broader spectrum come behind him and support him and I think that's what gave him his victory so yeah that's what I think Jose Carlos you are a social movement organizer so what what what's your job now your job you got you got you got castillo elected which was the first part but now I as you said before we went live it's like yeah there's this whole mother phase of the work that is that has begun today yes I agree with the assessment of Juan that's what I've made right now I will make like when I when I when I think about the challenges that are coming I think like in three big boxes the first one is the the executive that today have shown many many measures that Juan said the social movement popular movement and all the Peruvian people have known and have and have confirmed that what they vote is right now is right now in agenda at least at this moment you know because the struggle against the class struggle right now is not it's not it's going to go deep and deep during the next during the next years one thing I forgot to mention that it is important and is related with this this this conflict relationship between the parliament and the government is that Castillo today was very clear and strong in order to promote the the path of the popular constituent assembly here for the for the for Peruvian people write a new constitution with a plurinational approach with a gender approach and with with this popular approach that that I mentioned today so I think that this is important this is an important issue to to to understand the relationship between the relation between the government and the parliament during the next year and the third box that when I think in challenge is related of what you mentioned but I I don't think so much in social movement or popular movement but I think that is more in the in the streets in the more in the people more mobilized for because one thing that I think most many times is for God is that the proclamation of Pedro Castillo was not the outcome of the of the of the Peruvian bureaucracy or of the Peruvian electoral authority the proclamation of Pedro Castillo is a result of days of mobilizing of protest of many people indigenous people mostly of Peru that come to Lima since the June 6th in order to respect their vote the popular vote around the country so the street is going to be a field of struggle that that is clear and we need to organize better get unity also educate in order to to to respond to the historical moment as Fidel Castro mentioned and and I think in the such way in such way is the challenge of the social movement and when you mentioned mentioned that I am so social movement social movement here I think that it is important to say that the racism and the colonialism thinking and behavior against Pedro Castillo is not only related to the Lima right-wing groups it's also within Lima left groups so when you when you ask me what we need to do I think that means even that right now I am in Cusco Urbamba I promise but I am from Lima the capital I think that the the task for us from Lima is to to understand the moment and start to open a space of dialogue with our province with the two main for example the two main social forces that have are the I think that are the authors of the winning of Pedro Castillo during the first round that is the peasant patrol from the campesinas that are around all the country and the teacher unions that is the is the most large union right now in Peru so we need to understand such such thing from Lima from Lima from the colonial left thinking that's still here and I think that we need to tackle manage such such contradiction as as revolutionary and and start to to dialogue and to open spaces of conversation and organization with the social movement and popular movement around the country and stop to think that we from Lima are going to who are going to control who are going or or that we we deserve all the ministry because we have we are in the I we are from the I be Peruvian I believe university and such all such kind of stuff that that I think that they are if they are not tackle in a massive way in a historical materialism historical approach from Lima left group we are we are not responding to the historical task right now this this is fascinating to me to hear me and I think it's in your comments are relevant to many nations who have strong leftist movements and I think you know Juan would support my comment on this that we see this in the United States as well that this fracturing or these don't think we have a racial bias on the left in the US but as you've mentioned and you know it's similar and there's work to be done within our own political bodies and it's what's interesting to me is that and and correctly if I'm wrong it was this unification of progressive and leftist that elected Castillo it was it was fascinating to many of us around the globe to watch because this has not happened in other countries with a leftist candidate there's often a fracture in the left in Peru the left unified and and and was able to get Castillo elected and so I think what your comments now are really really important because overcoming some of these racial and economic and educational biases are going to be very very important within the left itself to keep the left cohesive and supportive of the president because once there's that once it fractures then you it's going to be hard to have a widespread ground movement unified ground absolutely Terry I think that a lot of the things that Pedro Castillo has done today are symbolic but I think that a lot of the people that voted for him in rural areas indigenous people for Peruvian people they are waiting actually to have leadership positions they're waiting to be in power they're waiting to have control of their territories and their resources so if this coalition is to remain together we we within the left need to start acknowledging those biases that you mentioned you know like that anti-racist anti-colonial work needs to be done within our own groups as well we are not extent from that even though we're leftist so Jose I just want to say and you know I'm sure I hope all of you know and Peru and I'm sure Juan knows us because he's been there and back to the States so many of us throughout the Americas are so excited so thrilled and so uh impassioned and hopeful for what Peru represents on this day today it's just I think just please know so many hearts and minds and prayers are with all of you to um to lead and and and join this return I think so many of us are calling this return of the pink tide is where we're so hopeful to see the rise of um more progressive and leftist governments in the Americas and boy Jose Carlos when we talked in April we were we were so thankful that Pedro Castillo made it through the first round but who thought we would be talking today on his inauguration day is it that's true right yeah yeah it's just it's it's it's just really um it's very exciting and very very it's it's very inspiring and I think gives so many of us across the Americas a lot of hope so what well oh no thank you and thank you for all your work and you as well Juan what um is there anything that that you both would like to say in closing our program this evening what can we do for you in Peru well uh first of all thank you so much for such feelings I we we share what are you what are you talking right now social movement who practice this internationalism and that's that's why also we remember today uh Hugo Chavez birthday today I have uh receiving a lot of message from comrades from Africa from Asia from North America sharing this this message of hope and joy and hope for also for Peru the continent and the working class around the world and I think that what we what what we need a social movement or the Peruvian movement will need a lot of international solidarity and I mentioned this not just for for um for maybe a social media uh strategy or such kind of thing I say I mentioned this because from the other side the Peruvian oligarchy have shown uh evidence that they will fight in order to recover the government by means of this uh alt-right uh alt-right profile as Bolsonaro as uh Trump as uh in Bolivia uh Camacho and and there there are a lot of proof that they are articulated with this uh phases uh international network for example with the Spanish people of both so if they are organizing in international in this international phases movement we need from the working class people around the world get united and and support Pedro Castillo project the Peruvian people project the popular assembly the popular constituent assembly because if we achieve the Peru uh is uh will be not anymore uh a rich country with poor people I am sure that we will achieve uh that the earth will not be a rich planet with poor people around the world so we need a lot of such international solidarity and I think that uh this kind of this kind of of way and space of organizing of you our comrades from Codepin is an example of that thank you thank you all thank you so much you know you mentioned um today being the birthday of Hugo Chavez and Saturday was um the anniversary of the birth of Simon Bolivar so we had two two historic um leaders and visionaries to celebrate this week and now we have a third with Pedro Castillo so Juan what would you like to add in closing our program yeah I um I just want to echo what Jose Carlos said you know it's a very hopeful and celebratory moment but we need to stay organized we need to keep mobilizing people in the streets and as a Peruvian living abroad I think that I am fully committed to international solidarity through the democratic socialists of America it is time for the United States to turn a page from that imperialist and globalist agenda to one that is truly based on working class relationships that is based on on true international solidarity and and this is a historic opportunity it could really set the stage for other um elections in Latin America so I'm feeling really hopeful and also ready to organize thank you so wonderful so I want to thank both of you for joining us this evening Jose Carlos Llorena and Juan from the United States we've had Peruvians in Peru and Peruvian in the US so I just also want to remind our audience that CodePink's what the F is going on in Latin America broadcasts every Wednesday on CodePink YouTube 4 30 p.m. Pacific 7 30 p.m. Eastern and also be sure to catch CodePink radio every Thursday 11 a.m. Eastern 8 p.m. Pacific on WBAI out of New York City and WPFW out of Washington DC the program simulcase cast on both stations so thank you gentlemen really an honor to have you both with us this evening on this very very historical and exciting and visionary day I'm so honored to have to have shared the program with you