Peru: Fujimori Faces First Protests of Her Administration

A wave of protests and demonstrations have rocked diverse regions of Peru in recent days. The recently inaugurated right-wing President Keiko Fujimori is facing, very early on, the first protests of her term.

Several transport workers’ groups have taken to the streets due to the rampant rise in fuel prices plaguing the entire region. They also decided to halt their activities and blocked several roads in protest against prices that, they claim, are impoverishing them.

Prices have skyrocketed across Latin America due to the US-Israeli war on Iran. Furthermore, Peru is experiencing a serious domestic supply shortage that dates back to March of this year, particularly at the state-owned oil company Petroperú, which distributes a significant amount of diesel and gasoline to various regions of the country.

These events, in a strongly neoliberal country, have caused diesel prices to double between February and August 2026, while the prices of other fuels have risen by 50%.

One of the areas most affected by the protests is in the Peruvian Amazon, specifically in Ucayali, where several kilometers of roads have been blocked. In addition, clashes between protesters and police have been reported, resulting in the arrest of 11 civilians and injuries to five police officers.

In response, the country’s president announced a temporary subsidy of up to 15% for “freight and passenger transport operators,” hoping this will ease the protesters’ demands and restore calm to the situation. According to Economy Minister Elmer Cuba, the subsidy will also include river transport operators and motorcycle taxi drivers.

The measure, however, will last only three months and, as previously mentioned, will meet the demand of only a portion of the population. According to the government, it is estimated to lower prices by between 15 and 20%.

Nevertheless, despite the promises and the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the government representative in the area, Manuel Gambini, and some union leaders, several groups of transport workers stated that they will continue with roadblocks and strikes because they consider the Fujimori administration’s measures to be “insufficient.”

In light of this situation, some experts have pointed out that Fujimori’s measure is purely palliative and does not resolve the serious contradiction between a highly volatile pricing system and workers’ living conditions, which remain stagnant.

Thus, if prices remain high after the three-month subsidy period, experts assert that there is a high likelihood that the cost of the crisis will be passed on to transportation service users, which could lead to even greater dissatisfaction and potential future protests.

For now, Fujimori has stated that the transport workers’ demands are “fair” and has responded with a measure to calm tensions. In this way, she has gained some time and legitimacy in the face of protests that have “knocked on her door” barely a few days into her term.

However, Peru’s economic model (clearly aligned with neoliberal orthodoxy) demonstrates just how fragile stability is for the most impoverished sectors once an internal cause (shortages) and/or an external cause (war in West Asia) shakes the markets. Faced with this, the Peruvian government has failed to find a satisfactory solution, leading to significant political instability that is often masked by partisan conflicts and crises involving political leaders.

Courtesy: BreakThrough News