In a somewhat stunning turn of events, the people of Peru have apparently elected an unrepentant socialist, Pedro Castillo, to be their new president. I say apparently because allegations of voter fraud and electoral corruption are running rampant. Yet, that did not stop Castillo from declaring victory. It never deters socialist strong men from declaring victory.
Shortly after his so-called victory, Castillo said, “The people have already chosen their path.” He added, “No more polarization in the country. Let us leave it to the authorities so that once and for all these things are no longer prolonged and so the popular will is respected.”
I think this is just the beginning of a whole new chapter of polarization in Peru. After all, we have seen this story play out in many other countries. As soon as a far-left leader comes into power, he declares the era of “division” is over. All will unite for the upcoming utopia! That is, all who are on-board with said leader’s socialist schemes.
And, as far as we can tell, Castillo is not a middle-of-the-road socialist.
Per his electoral platform, Castillo’s party is “a leftist socialist organization” that embraces “Marxist theory.” Last time I checked, Marxist theory was based on polarization, pitting groups against one another in a struggle for power and prosperity.
Moreover, Castillo plans to prohibit private media ownership so he can control the nation’s narrative. Sorta reminds me of Pravda.
And Castillo has said he will make private corporations cough up 80 percent of their profits to the government. That does not sound like a strategy for less polarization in Peru.
It is sad to see another nation fall to the siren call of socialism. At this point, you would think the book has been written on socialism, and the overwhelming point is that it does not work. Unfortunately, the people of Peru might have to learn this lesson the hard way.
PHOTO: Peru flag in Chivay. Photo by Nicolas Nova. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is the editorial director and a research fellow at The Heartland Institute, as well as a researcher and contributing editor at StoppingSocialism.com.
