Wednesday July 27th: The people, united, will never be defeated...
 
Cusco, Inca heartland of Peru, is hot and high and alive to the sound of protestors today, as between the heavy beating of a hundred drums shattering off the Cathedral in Plaza de Armas come the voices of thousands of campesinos (country/working people) bringing the city to a standstill:
 
"Atras atras atras, el gobierno incapac!" - a frequent complaint against poor governance in (ex) President Fujimori's era back in the 80s and the ongoing detention of thousands of Peruvians under shady circumstances without an opportunity to review their cases.
 
"Donde esta el agua!?" or "Where is the water!?" - this is a fair question as the government moves to privatise Peru's waterways (wtf?!) with a Chilean company; in turn farmers are forced to pay for a resource they have shared harmoniously and sensitively for hundreds of years.
 
Finally, "Escucha!" - simply, "Listen!" as in, listen to the people...
 
When was the last time you saw a worker's union stop a city in protest in the UK? If we have learned anything from our own dirty little version of the financial crisis with swollen pensions for failed bank CEO's, increasing homelessness and a crippling national debt, it is that the little people pay fast and hard for the recklessness and greed of a precious few. Blaming government for all our present ills is about as stupid as it gets, particularly when we do not take responsibility for our own decisions, be they personal, financial or political. But do we let the system roll on? Are we prepared to fight and claim our future anymore? Or will it be just another case of 'stiff upper lip'?
 
In Peru, people everywhere frequently take the reins away from government and big enterprise with strike action and mass mobilisations in Lima, Cusco and Arequipa; to let their leaders know how dissatisfied they are with the lack of real progress in their daily lives. The government in Lima posts GDP growth figures of 6% in the midst of a global financial storm, yet why don't the campesinos have clean running water or heating/electricity in their children's schools? Most Peruvians lack a good education and the types of opportunities we in the UK have taken for granted for so long, yet they are prepared to leave their chacras (fields of crops) and journey hundreds of kilometres into their regional cities to draw a line in the sand and stand up to brutal riot police and officials. So where are our show-stopping marches?
 
If we saw a week of unrest in the UK on the level I have witnessed here in Peru over the last three weeks, involving large sections of the populace and disrupting commerce, there would be no 'keep calm and carry on' this time. When any government fails to curb excess and the answers are thin on the ground, it is time for all people to join together and force an equitable change in society - and what better time while both parties scramble toward an election? Good luck to all Ctrl.Alt.Shift writers and readers.

Words: Ryan Gunn. Rogue journalist Ryan is reporting from his travels across South America.