Peru:A Massive Crime Rate Is Bringing The Country To Its knees

Home Alone: Rule By Might Brings Peru to its Knees Peru On March 16, renowned Peruvian singer Paul Flores was shot to death by hitmen who attacked a bus he was on with his Armonia 10 group bandmates after a concert outside the capital of Lima. The musicians had been threatened by a criminal gang who had attempted to extort them for money. That’s not uncommon anymore, however – extortion and murder are now an everyday occurrence in Peru. “We’ve been abandoned and left to fend for ourselves,” local resident Pedro Quispe, 48, of Lima, told the Associated Press. “If you get on a bus, you can get shot; if you go to work, you can get asked for extortion payments.” Between 2019 and 2024, reported extortions increased sixfold to almost 23,000 incidents. In 2025, one out of every three Peruvians said they knew someone who had been extorted. Homicides, meanwhile, have doubled since 2019 to almost 2,000 in the country of 34 million. In 2025, more than 75 percent of Peruvians reported being scared to leave home. And yet, for years, the government downplayed the situation, say observers. “Well, homicides aren’t a simple problem, and they’re not unique to this country,” said Peru’s health minister César Vásquez in January. “Violence has increased dramatically around the world, and other nearby countries are much worse off.” Still, soon after Flores’ murder, the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency in Lima and sent soldiers onto the streets. Protests broke out soon after with Peruvians outraged over the killing of the Cumbia musician and also the government’s inability to stop the crime wave that is bringing Peru to its knees. As a result, in a country that has grappled for years with deep political and economic instability, it’s the crime wave that has now become the top priority for voters, according to recent polls. Many are calling for a strongman leader, such as President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, who has filled prisons with thousands of suspected gang members to stop the criminal gangs but has also repeatedly violated civil rights to bring order to the streets. The government of deeply unpopular President Dina Boluarte – her approval ratings are around 5 percent, while Congress’ is at 4 percent – has moved to institute states of emergency – three in the past year – which allow the government to use the military for civilian purposes and suspend civil liberties, for example making arrests without a warrant. The government says they have dismantled more than 60 criminal gangs. Meanwhile, in March, lawmakers designated the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization. Yet the murders and violence continue, wrote Bloomberg. The northern city of Trujillo is known for its economic ties to organized crime and illegal gold mining and is a good example of how out of control the situation is, say analysts. Trujillo has been under a state of emergency for months due to high levels of criminal activity. One reason for that is that organized crime gangs are cashing in on a boom in illegal mining supported by high gold prices. Protests have been breaking out since last year over a rise in extortion demands there. Then, in January, the prosecutor’s office was bombed as it was investigating cases against organized criminals. Still, analysts say that if Peru doesn’t do more to address the obstacles in stamping out the crime wave, it won’t be able to halt the slide into gang totalitarianism. Meanwhile, Boluarte’s announcement of fresh elections next year won’t stop that slide, they add, without addressing corruption and collusion by politicians. “In 2024, the Peruvian Congress passed laws and adopted other decisions that undermined judicial independence, weakened democratic institutions, and hindered investigations into organized crime, corruption, and human rights violations,” wrote Human Rights Watch. “President Dina Boluarte made little or no effort to stop these congressional attacks against democracy and the rule of law, and her administration also pursued policies that contributed to the erosion of democratic norms and civil rights. These included efforts to suppress protests and a growing disregard for judicial independence.” Last year, Boluarte herself came under investigation for corruption and bribery: She allegedly received illegal contributions to her political campaign and failed to declare the many Rolexes and other expensive watches and jewelry she sports – some of which were allegedly on loan from a provincial governor – in a scandal known as “Rolexgate.” Meanwhile, more than half of all 130 members of Congress were also under criminal investigation for corruption and other offenses, local media reported. As officials come under investigation, they have also acted to blunt investigation tools necessary by police and prosecutors that are also being used against themselves, say observers. For example, the legislature passed a law in 2024 narrowing the definition of “organized crime,” hindering investigations into corruption and extortion while weakening the Attorney General’s office in a move the Lima Bar Association called “a setback” in the fight against organized crime. Also, the president vetoed a bill in 2024 that would have made it easier to detain suspected criminals. Still, Peruvian analyst Martin Cassinelli of the Atlantic Council warned that a crackdown on crime or a change in government might not be the panaceas that voters hope for unless there is institutional change along with them. After all, Peru has had six presidents in seven years, some of them currently jailed. For example, he said Peru might soon fall into the same trap it did in 2021 – when angry voters elected populist Pedro Castillo as president and then, afterward, as public corruption ran rampant, the president tried to undermine democracy with an unsuccessful “self-coup,” for which he was later impeached and imprisoned. “Yet, while authorities focus on crackdowns against violent crime, they risk ignoring the deeper cause of the crisis: a decade of institutional decay marked by jailed presidents and pervasive corruption,” he wrote, “(and) any real solution must also tackle crime’s institutional roots. Candidates (for office) should promote a comprehensive political reform that reduces organized crime’s influence in the country’s political bodies.” Share this story