By George Ygarza
New Jersey’s Peruvian community has been slow to condemn the violence perpetrated against their compatriots of Indigenous origin.
On Jan. 9, 20 people in the southern province of Puno in Peru were killed by state forces, bringing the total number of civilian deaths in the most recent uprising to 50 throughout the country.
One would imagine that such an unprecedented episode of violence would move a large ex-pat community, known as the diaspora, to respond and condemn such violence. Yet, none of the significant Peruvian organizations of New Jersey or even the local consulate have denounced the violence. This silence reflects a longstanding disregard for Peruvians of Indigenous and afro-descendent backgrounds.
New Jersey is home to over 80,000 Peruvians according to the U.S. Census Bureau, while the Peruvian Consulate estimates that that number could even be twice as high. The largest concentrations are found in the ethnic enclaves within Harrison, Newark and Paterson. Paterson is home to what is known as Little Lima, a gastro and commercial hub, as well as the annual Peruvian Day Parade, which has been running for nearly 40 years and draws in visitors from across the country.
One would think that with so much cultural pride the Peruvian community would come together to condemn the recent and unprecedented violence, not least because it relies on so much of its Indigenous heritage to promote tourism.
Puno, the site of the recent massacre — which is now being investigated for genocide — is home to Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. It is also the province where Rainbow Mountain can be found; in neighboring Cusco, one of the world’s seven wonders, Machu Picchu, sits 7,972 feet above sea level.
Neither the General Consulate of Peru in Paterson nor the Peruvian Civic Association of New Jersey, Inc. has responded to requests for comments on the recent violence.
So then, what could explain the relative silence in the community?
Diasporic communities, or groups of people living yet maintaining deep cultural connections to their homelands abroad, hold notoriously conservative and reactionary values and beliefs.
According to M. Cristina Alcalde, vice president for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and a professor at Miami University, says in her 2018 book that “diasporic communities are motivated by racialized discourses that reinforce and sustain inequalities and exclusion. Negative attitudes and racist practices toward internal Others are central to Peruvian middle- and upper-class identities transnationally.”
This can help explain why Peruvians in the U.S. voted overwhelmingly (nearly 78%) for Keiko Fujimori in the last presidential election where she ultimately lost to the now-ousted president Pedro Castillo.
Fujimori is the daughter of imprisoned far-right former dictator Alberto Fujimori, who oversaw a forced-sterilization program and whose government was found responsible for half the civilian deaths during the internal conflict of the 1990s, the majority of whom were Indigenous peoples.
Keiko is herself under criminal investigation and is currently out on bail.
Appreciating a culture does not automatically equate to caring for or advocating for their rights. Take for example the disproportionate police violence and criminalization of Black Americans in the US.
While African American culture is often celebrated, and may I add, appropriated worldwide, the same cannot be said for Black people, as Black Lives Matter, the Movement for Black Lives and other organizations have recently reminded the general American public.
The Peruvian community can do better. Like other indigenous communities, Andean society is composed of deep relationships and collectivity. When a community/family member dies or in this case is killed, their social bonds are deeply impacted. We must help these most vulnerable populations.
George Ygarza is a first-generation Peruvian-American and New Jersey Native.
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