A week of contrasts

By: Pedro Corzo - 14/05/2025

Guest columnist.
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Although the week that just ended confronted us with a harsh reality, perhaps one that, even knowing it was present, we would not have wanted to experience. I am referring to the atrocious and perverse killing of 13 miners who were martyred in what was a massacre that left us, I believe all of us, with the idea that there are no real and legal forms of control, surveillance, and protection. And, on the other hand, the harsh confirmation that criminal organizations are taking control of many aspects of our social life.

The Pataz case highlighted the spread of illegal mining, its terrible consequences, and the lukewarm action of the State, not to mention the weakness of Congress in issuing effective regulations and demanding their enforcement. The immediate reaction, beyond horror and fear, led the population to the necessary interpellation of the Prime Minister; while this may be a necessary political action, it is worth mentioning that this interpellation and the loss of confidence in an entire cabinet (which, by the way, seems to be largely deserved by its members) in no way mitigate the mining crisis or the growth of illegal mining, with consequences such as those experienced: loss of human lives and serious damage to the country's economy, in addition to a decline in Peru's positive image worldwide and a decline in the willingness to invest in our region.

Added to this are completely untimely decisions, such as the one made in this difficult context from the Government Palace, requesting an increase in the president's monthly salary. Few actions could be more untimely and unnecessary than this, and the mandatory shutdown of mining companies, "bearing the brunt" of terrorist attacks and abandoning formal mining companies that invest, take risks, and pay significant taxes, deserving of respect, backing, and government support.

It cannot be ignored that these are terrorist acts, something Peru has already experienced sadly, but has learned, with considerable success, to carry out and attempt to defeat this scourge. This acquired wisdom must be recovered with leadership and courage, and if the president cannot do so and Minister Adrianzén is censured, a Prime Minister must be elected who can command respect and act with stern diligence in strict compliance with the law, which requires, first and foremost, defending the interests of the State, as if we were in an undeclared war, and protecting its citizens. It is essential to halt the spread of a terrorism we dare not call such, acting with the utmost severity, supporting law enforcement so they can act advantageously against Peru's enemies and for the future. Additionally, it will be necessary to review the Reinfo (National Intelligence Report), doing so with serenity and prudence, as this is neither the time to generate further uncertainty nor for the just to pay for the sinners.

And, in that critical context, the world saw, from St. Peter's Square in Rome, a message of pristine and sincere love for Peru, in the words of the newly elected Pope Leo XIV, who in his first public appearance from the main balcony of that imposing basilica and before thousands of attendees and billions of people watching him around the world, contained his emotion almost to the limit and showed, despite it, serenity, strength and temperance.

It is worth mentioning the importance of all the gestures because in the Vatican, the details say more than the words themselves and the fact of having chosen to continue the saga of Leo XIII necessarily implies, from my perspective, that being able to thank Francis, almost as in a mere gesture, does not join or raise his legacy and that it chooses, rather, to return to the origins of the Social Doctrine of the Church, contained in the extraordinary encyclical Rerum Novarum and, at the same time, propose an active life in prayer, remembering that he was elected on the day in which the Church remembers Saint Michael the Archangel and that it was Pope Leo XIII who, in his anguish for the situation of the Church, composed that beautiful prayer of supplication to the Archangel that, today as then, we must repeat.

Peru feels blessed by the closeness of this Pontiff, who knows us, speaks like a Peruvian, and feels like one of us. May his be a time of fair winds that guide the ship of the Church along paths of harmony, respecting the unique doctrine of Christ and preserving the "deposit of faith" as the treasure it is.

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