Biblioteca Digital de VanguardiaThe political use of terrorism in the 2021 Peruvian presidential campaign
The 2021 presidential elections constituted a turning point in the Peruvian’s recent history. In a contextof sociosanitary crisis and impugnments to the political system, the Bicentenary Elections evidenced theprofound social fragmentation and polarization between the representatives of the neoliber...
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| Formato: | Revistas |
| Lenguaje: | Español Inglés |
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Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (Ecuador)
2022
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| Acceso en línea: | https://universitas.ups.edu.ec/index.php/universitas/article/view/36.2022.10 |
| _version_ | 1782340263937572864 |
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| author | Mendoza, Marina |
| author_facet | Mendoza, Marina |
| author_sort | Mendoza, Marina |
| collection | Revista |
| description | The 2021 presidential elections constituted a turning point in the Peruvian’s recent history. In a contextof sociosanitary crisis and impugnments to the political system, the Bicentenary Elections evidenced theprofound social fragmentation and polarization between the representatives of the neoliberal project andthose who promote a reformist alternative. In particular, the presidential campaign for the second round between the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and the left-wing candidate Pedro Castillo configured a propitious scenario for the instrumentalization of the “teruqueo”. This strategy, used by the dominant elites in the post-conflict period to discredit any person, act or group that constitutes a threat to the established order, was reconfigured at this juncture to avoid a potential victory for the Serrano candidate, constructing him as a terrorist threat that would put democracy at risk. Through critical discourse analysis, we analyse which were the discursive resources used by the dominant elites to delegitimize the left-wing adversary, using for this the messages issued in the presidential debates, the graphic campaign pro Fujimori and her government plan and the public speeches from right-wing representatives. As main conclusions, it is observed that the three most used strategies were: 1. the negativization of the leftist candidate through his construction as a terrorist enemy; 2. the presentation of the right-wing candidate as the protector of democracy and freedom against the communist threat; 3. and the appeal to the social memory of the internal armed conflict that fueled the fear of the return of terrorism. We maintain that these strategies managed to frame the media treatment of the presidential campaign as a confrontation between “us” the defenders of democracy and “them” the promoters of the communist dictatorship due to the persistence of socio-historical elements that systematically emerge in Peru in contexts of sociopolitical crisis. |
| format | Revistas |
| id | oai:revistas.ups.edu.ec:article-5820 |
| institution | Universitas |
| language | Español Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (Ecuador) |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | oai:revistas.ups.edu.ec:article-58202022-02-24T16:24:44Z The political use of terrorism in the 2021 Peruvian presidential campaign La utilización política del terrorismo en la campaña presidencial peruana de 2021 Mendoza, Marina Perú Terrorismo Campaña Criminalización Bicentenario Conflicto armado interno Enemigo interno Terruqueo Peru Terrorism Campaign Criminalization Bicentenary Internal armed conflict Internal enemy Terruqueo The 2021 presidential elections constituted a turning point in the Peruvian’s recent history. In a contextof sociosanitary crisis and impugnments to the political system, the Bicentenary Elections evidenced theprofound social fragmentation and polarization between the representatives of the neoliberal project andthose who promote a reformist alternative. In particular, the presidential campaign for the second round between the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and the left-wing candidate Pedro Castillo configured a propitious scenario for the instrumentalization of the “teruqueo”. This strategy, used by the dominant elites in the post-conflict period to discredit any person, act or group that constitutes a threat to the established order, was reconfigured at this juncture to avoid a potential victory for the Serrano candidate, constructing him as a terrorist threat that would put democracy at risk. Through critical discourse analysis, we analyse which were the discursive resources used by the dominant elites to delegitimize the left-wing adversary, using for this the messages issued in the presidential debates, the graphic campaign pro Fujimori and her government plan and the public speeches from right-wing representatives. As main conclusions, it is observed that the three most used strategies were: 1. the negativization of the leftist candidate through his construction as a terrorist enemy; 2. the presentation of the right-wing candidate as the protector of democracy and freedom against the communist threat; 3. and the appeal to the social memory of the internal armed conflict that fueled the fear of the return of terrorism. We maintain that these strategies managed to frame the media treatment of the presidential campaign as a confrontation between “us” the defenders of democracy and “them” the promoters of the communist dictatorship due to the persistence of socio-historical elements that systematically emerge in Peru in contexts of sociopolitical crisis. Las elecciones presidenciales de 2021 constituyeron un punto de inflexión en la historia reciente de Perú. En un contexto de crisis sociosanitaria e impugnaciones al sistema político, las Elecciones del Bicentenario evidenciaron la profunda fragmentación social y la polarización entre los representantes del proyecto neoliberal y aquellos que promueven una alternativa reformista. En particular, la campaña presidencial para la segunda vuelta entre la candidata de derecha Keiko Fujimori y el candidato de izquierda Pedro Castillo configuró un escenario propicio para la instrumentalización del “teruqueo”. Esta estrategia, empleada por las élites dominantes en el período posconflicto para desprestigiar a cualquier persona, acto o colectivo que constituya una amenaza al orden establecido, se reconfiguró en esta coyuntura para evitar un potencial triunfo del candidato serrano, construyéndolo como una amenaza terrorista que pondría en riesgo la democracia. A través del Análisis Crítico del Discurso, se analiza cuáles fueron los recursos discursivos utilizados por las élites dominantes para deslegitimar al adversario de izquierda, utilizando para ello los mensajes emitidos en los debates presidenciales, el plan de gobierno de Keiko Fujimori y la “campaña anticomunista” que sostuvieron los principales sectores de derecha en los principales medios de comunicación nacionales e internacionales. Como principales conclusiones, se observa que las tres estrategias más utilizadas fueron: 1. la negativización del candidato de izquierda mediante su construcción como un enemigo terrorista; 2. la presentación de la candidata de derecha como la protectora de la democracia y la libertad frente a la amenaza comunista; 3. y la apelación a la memoria social sobre el conflicto armado interno que avivó el miedo al retorno del terrorismo. Sostenemos que estas estrategias lograron encuadrar el tratamiento mediático de la campaña presidencial como un enfrentamiento entre “nosotros” los defensores de la democracia y “ellos” los impulsores de la dictadura comunista debido a la persistencia de elementos sociohistóricos que emergen sistemáticamente en Perú en contextos de crisis sociopolítica. Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (Ecuador) 2022-03-22 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion application/pdf application/pdf application/zip text/html https://universitas.ups.edu.ec/index.php/universitas/article/view/36.2022.10 10.17163/uni.n36.2022.10 Universitas; No. 36 (2022): (March 2022-August 2022): Elections in the U.S. and Latin America: campaigns, electoral behavior, polarization and protests; 243-268 Universitas; Núm. 36 (2022): (marzo 2022-agosto 2022): Elecciones en EE. UU. e Iberoamérica: campañas, comportamiento electoral, polarización y protesta; 243-268 1390-8634 1390-3837 10.17163/uni.n36 spa eng https://universitas.ups.edu.ec/index.php/universitas/article/view/36.2022.10/5086 https://universitas.ups.edu.ec/index.php/universitas/article/view/36.2022.10/5087 https://universitas.ups.edu.ec/index.php/universitas/article/view/36.2022.10/5088 https://universitas.ups.edu.ec/index.php/universitas/article/view/36.2022.10/5089 Derechos de autor 2022 Universidad Politénica Salesiana http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Mendoza, Marina The political use of terrorism in the 2021 Peruvian presidential campaign |
| title | The political use of terrorism in the 2021 Peruvian presidential campaign |
| title_full | The political use of terrorism in the 2021 Peruvian presidential campaign |
| title_fullStr | The political use of terrorism in the 2021 Peruvian presidential campaign |
| title_full_unstemmed | The political use of terrorism in the 2021 Peruvian presidential campaign |
| title_short | The political use of terrorism in the 2021 Peruvian presidential campaign |
| title_sort | political use of terrorism in the 2021 peruvian presidential campaign |
| url | https://universitas.ups.edu.ec/index.php/universitas/article/view/36.2022.10 |