Original article: Advierten que Balcázar es “el tonto del régimen” y llaman a no caer en “la trampa” de la izquierda gobernando en Perú
Journalist Laura Arroyo Gárate has accused the election of leftist leader José María Balcázar as Peru’s president of being a «masterstroke» by the Fujimorists, aiming to manipulate public perception ahead of the upcoming general elections. «They want everything this illegitimate government, this illegitimate dictatorship—first with Dina Boluarte and then with José Jerí—has done to appear as if the left did it,» she warned.
Amid an ongoing political crisis and just 50 days before a critical electoral process, Balcázar’s election by Congress as interim president of Peru has sparked mixed reactions. While some view it as a shift in the power dynamic, Arroyo Gárate delivers a cautionary message: do not fall into the trap of believing that the left is governing the country when, according to her analysis, Balcázar is merely «the regime’s useful idiot.»
Following the removal of José Jerí, the 83-year-old lawyer and former magistrate from the Perú Libre party has become the eighth leader in a decade marked by political instability in the South American nation.
Balcázar will serve as interim president for the next five months until July 28, when he will hand over power to the president elected in the general elections scheduled for April 12.
According to Arroyo Gárate, this move does not signify a victory for progressive forces but rather a carefully orchestrated strategy by the right associated with the Fujimorism camp.
In a video shared on her social media, Arroyo Gárate emphatically described the situation as a «masterstroke» designed to confuse both national and international public opinion.
From her perspective, appointing a leftist politician as president of Peru has a clear goal: to reshape the political narrative in favor of conservative sectors ahead of the upcoming elections.
«It’s a masterstroke to make you believe Fujimorism lost, and just in case, the ultra-left is governing,» Arroyo Gárate declared, breaking down what she sees as the political and communicational strategy behind the appointment.
«Today, international media tells you that the ultra-leftist José María Balcázar is in charge, and the national media is even worse, because this is the masterstroke. Who thinks that, just in case, a leftist president has now been appointed? They want to shape everything necessary for the right to prevail in the next elections,» she asserted.
The journalist elaborated on her analysis, highlighting that the maneuver aims to link the unpopular policies and authoritarian accusations that have characterized the administrations of the ousted Dina Boluarte and José Jerí with Balcázar’s administration.
«And why? Because it benefits them to make it appear that everything this illegitimate government, this illegitimate dictatorship, first with Dina Boluarte and then with José Jerí, was supposedly the work of the left,» the communicator explained.
«Why do Keiko Fujimori and the Fujimorist circle come out to say this? Because it suits them for you to believe it,» she warned.
Laura Arroyo Gárate: «Balcázar is the Regime’s Useful Idiot»
Arroyo Gárate not only questioned the current situation but also conducted an exhaustive review of Balcázar’s legislative history to support her assertion that the new interim president of Peru has been functional to the regime.
Balcázar was elected as a congressman in 2021 for the Lambayeque region under the banner of Perú Libre—a party that identifies as Marxist-Leninist—and with which Pedro Castillo won the presidential elections five years ago.
According to the journalist, far from being an opponent, he has consistently voted as a legislator in favor of initiatives that benefited the right.
«Balcázar has voted with Fuerza Popular, Renovación Popular, Avanza País, and Bloque Democrático Popular and has always supported laws that favored the regime,» Arroyo detailed, listing concrete examples from his behavior in the hemicycle.
«He voted in favor of government-sponsored laws, such as the law that allowed the National Police to review completely abusive preliminary investigations; Mr. Balcázar knew very well what to do, even preventing the board of Jerí from being censored so that Jerí could later assume the presidency,» she recalled.
The journalist emphasized the need to analyze not only who Balcázar is now as president of Peru but also who he has been throughout his political career. In this sense, she placed him within a trilogy of characters who, in her view, have served the same purpose: to be interchangeable pieces at the regime’s service.
«What’s important is not so much who he was before being president, but who he has been to become president,» Arroyo Gárate emphasized.
«Balcázar, like Jerí and Boluarte, is indeed a piece fulfilling the same role. He’s the regime’s useful idiot but in the version the regime currently needs,» she argued.
This characterization as «useful idiot» is not coincidental. The journalist explained that the regime has been evolving and requiring different profiles to maintain power and manage its public image. According to her account, the first moment demanded a hard hand and a figure who imposed control at any cost, referring to Dina Boluarte’s administration, marked by heavy repression of social protests that resulted in tragic consequences.
«Just as the regime initially needed a Dina Boluarte to impose control through bloodshed, I remind you of the 50 Peruvians who were killed,» Arroyo noted, referring to the fatalities amidst protests demanding Boluarte’s resignation and the closure of Congress following Castillo’s ousting.
«Then, with Jerí, they needed a slightly more amiable face not linked to the Pedro Castillo government to avoid accusations of betrayal, and to appear new and fresh. That was what they tried with Jerí,» she explained.
However, the strategy with Jerí, according to the journalist, did not work out as they expected. «With Jerí, it was also a bad play because the individual had too much baggage,» she asserted.
According to her analysis, that failure forced the regime to seek a new profile, and that profile is José María Balcázar.
«And then enters the new phase of the regime that needs a person like Balcázar (…) What is the new phase that the regime requires? For you to believe that the left is governing. Because that’s how they prepare the ground in the next 50 days leading up to the elections. And for you to think that everything this dictatorial regime has done, from Boluarte to Balcázar, is allegedly the work of the left,» the communicator warned.
«Balcázar is the President the Regime Needs Before the New Elections»
For Arroyo Gárate, the proximity of elections is crucial for understanding the urgency of this «masterstroke.» By associating the entire period of governance—with its unpopular policies and questioned management—with the left represented by Balcázar, the right seeks to distance itself from that legacy and present itself as an option for change and order.
This is a strategy of transferring political responsibilities that, she warns, could have a devastating effect on voter perception.
The journalist acknowledged that, on the surface, Balcázar’s election could be interpreted as a defeat for Fujimorism, especially since he was not their original candidate. However, she dismissed that naive reading, pointing to Fujimorism’s ability to always have multiple options and ensure that, no matter who wins, the regime’s interests are safeguarded.
«And the play has worked splendidly for them because it seems even Balcázar has managed to come out against what Fujimorism wanted,» Arroyo acknowledged. «I insist, just because he wasn’t their Plan A doesn’t mean it will go poorly for them because Fujimorism has eggs in all baskets, and anyone who came out of this regime was part of the regime. That’s exactly what Balcázar is.»
At this juncture, the communicator was categorical in defining the political nature of the new president of Congress. Stripping him of any label as an opposing leftist, she firmly placed him within the power structure governing Peru since the vacancy of Pedro Castillo.
«Balcázar is part of the regime, has been constitutive of that regime, has even changed parties to remain within the regime, and what he is now is the president of the regime,» she concluded. «But be aware, Balcázar is the president the regime needs before the new elections.»
«Don’t Let the Play Work in Their Favor»
Arroyo Gárate’s analysis suggests that Balcázar’s function in this final stage is two-fold: on one hand, to provide a facade of pluralism and political alternation in the Congress; on the other hand, and more importantly, to act as a lightning rod that absorbs all the «filth» and discontent generated by the administrations of Boluarte and Jerí.
Thus, when citizens head to the polls, they associate the crisis, repression, and instability with a leftist government, paving the way for a conservative triumph.
«They even want all the filth from their dictatorial government to stick to Balcázar, to make it seem like it’s Perú Libre or the left when we actually know that both Perú Libre and Balcázar have been useful idiots and members of the right-wing regime governing Peru, a dictatorial right-wing regime,» the journalist insisted.
For Arroyo Gárate, this image-transfer maneuver constitutes a deliberate deception of the electorate. Therefore, her final message was a call to the public not to be misled by appearances and to grasp the depth of the political strategy at play.
«That’s Balcázar. He is a terrible president, but above all, he is the president the regime needs at this moment to make you believe that we are governed by the left,” the journalist concluded with a direct warning: «Don’t let the play work in their favor.»
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Advierten que Balcázar es “el tonto del régimen” y llaman a no caer en “la trampa” de la izquierda gobernando en Perú
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