This week’s most heartfelt news was the death of ex President Valentin Paniagua. After staying in a local hospital since August 21, the man who assumed the responsibility of leading the country out of a decade of corruption, died product of a pulmonary complication. Also this week the meeting between President Alan Garcia and President Bush took place, in order to promote the Free Trade Agreement with the United States (TLC in Spanish). On a local subject, President Garcia declared the state of emergency in the Chiclayo province, due to chaos caused by the clash between the two majors of the city.
Paniagua’s passing has been lamented not only because he had been President, but because he was one of the few politicians considered honest and honorable. When Fujimori’s government collapsed, Paniagua took charge of the country, called for elections and allowed the return of democracy to our country. Once his death was known, on October 16 at 5 in the morning, two days of grief were declared by Garcia’s government in order to honor the deceased President.
When the former President as hospitalized on August 21, nothing seemed to demonstrate that these would be his last weeks. He was hospitalized because of a heart disease, but four days later his condition worsened as a pulmonary infection developed. Members of all political parties gathered to say goodbye to Paniagua, including those who criticized him during the last electoral campaign, and who preferred that Paniagua withdraw himself from the race so that would help another candidate. More than one has wondered whether his defeat during the campaign was influenced by his deteriorated health.
During fifty minutes President Garcia and President Bush talked about the TLC, the war on drugs and the issue of migration. According to Garcia, Bush himself offered to do everything in his power to get the approval of the TLC, besides agreeing on the need of social justice. But the clock is ticking, and both Garcia and Bush know it. Bush had already announced to Congress his intention of signing the agreement, but he hadn’t said anything about sending the bill project as soon as possible. This was the main objective of Garcia’s trip to the US, and he showed his confidence in the fact that the project would be sent to Congress during the next month, and that it will be approved.
However, it is the new Congress that will have to approve the agreement, because of the November 7 elections. If there’s a new democrat majority, the chances of approval get considerably slimmer. Garcia, with his best disposition, tried to calm the distressed Peruvian exporters and convince the undecided in the US.
Likewise, both presidents issued a joint statement reassuring the principle of shared responsibility in the subject of the war on drugs. Garcia didn’t lose the chance to criticize Hugo Chavez, and talk about the possibility of the development of a “Andean fundamentalism”, which consists of using energetic resources or the coca crops to impose a political position. He assured that this kind of fundamentalism could be as dangerous as Islamic fundamentalism.
As long as the clash between the National Elections Court (Jurado Nacional de Elecciones, JNE, in Spanish) and the Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional, TC, in Spanish) isn’t solved, we will see episodes as the one occurring in Chiclayo over and over again. One mayor is withdrawn from his position by the JNE and then returned to it by a decision made by the TC, while other mayor is placed by the JNE. According to the 1993 Constitution, the decisions made by the JNE can’t be revised by anyone. On the other hand, the TC says that there can’t be any “isles” without constitutional control. For now, President Garcia has declared the state of emergency of the province so that the functions of the local authorities can return to normalcy.
The freedom of reunion hasn’t been suspended so the electoral campaign that is taking place isn’t affected. The political authority of the province will be Lambayeque’s prefect, Guillermo Baca. Arturo Castillo, one the protagonists of this episode, describe the measure taken by Garcia as dictatorial, because, according to him, he was arbitrarily removed from his position as major, and later returned to it. But the lawyer Jorge Avendaño agrees with the measure, saying is has been taken according to the Constitution, but assures the problem shouldn’t be solved by the President. This isn’t the first and won’t be the last time we see how the issues between the JNE and the TC affect the people.
Mariana Olcese