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Peru’s ex-president faced bigotry for impoverished past

FILE - A woman holds up a sign with a message that reads in Spanish; "I am a teacher, not a terrorist" in a march in support of presidential candidate Pedro Castillo, weeks after the presidential runoff election, in Lima, Peru, June 19, 2021. Castillo defeated by just 44,000 votes one of the most recognizable names among Peru’s political class: Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former strongman Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for the murder of Peruvians executed during his government by a clandestine military squad. Keiko Fujimori's supporters have often called Castillo “terruco,” or terrorist, a term often used by the right to attack the left, poor and rural residents. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File) FILE - Supporters of President-elect Pedro Castillo watch a live broadcast of his swearing-in ceremony at a public square in Tacabamba, Peru, located in the Cajamarca department where Castillo is from, July 28, 2021. His supporters hoped Castillo, a populist outsider of humble roots, would redress their plight — or at least end their invisibility. But during 17 months in office before being ousted and detained Wednesday, supporters instead saw Castillo face the racism and discrimination they often experience. (AP Photo/Francisco Vigo, File) FILE - Peru's then President-elect Pedro Castillo and his wife Lilia Paredes, wave as they leave the Foreign Ministry to go to Congress for his swearing-in ceremony on his Inauguration Day in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Castillo was often mocked for wearing a traditional hat, ridiculed for his accent and criticized for incorporating Indigenous ceremonies into official events. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo, File) FILE - Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, center front, waves alongside his new cabinet outside the government palace as his cabinet leaves for Congress to ask lawmakers for a vote of confidence, in Lima, Peru, March 8, 2022. Castillo swore in the fourth Cabinet of his half year in office amid criticism for his poor previous choices for ministers and even calls by his rivals to step down. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File) FILE - An opponent of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo holds a poster depicting Castillo as a rat with a message that reads in Spanish: "Miserable delinquent, terrorist," during a rally near Congress in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Peru's Congress voted to remove Castillo from office Wednesday and replace him with the vice president, shortly after Castillo tried to dissolve the legislature ahead of a scheduled vote to remove him. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File) FILE - President of Congress Jose Williams, left, and Sen. Jose Cevasco, place the presidential sash on Vice President Dina Boluarte as she is named the country's new president, in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Boluarte replaced ousted President Pedro Castillo and became the first female leader in the history of the republic after hours of wrangling between the legislature and the departing president, who had tried to prevent an impeachment vote. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo, File)
Peru’s ex-president faced bigotry for impoverished past