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| By Rivera Sun Impeachment is in the air. It’s a powerful thing to look around the world and see presidents being convicted for their crimes. Yoon in South Korea. Bolsonaro in Brazil. Now, after years of struggle, Peru has finally impeached President Dina Boluarte and banned her from fleeing the country to avoid legal charges. Nonviolence News has followed the throes of Peru’s movement since 2022, when more than 500 protests erupted in the first 3 months of Boluarte’s presidency. Boluarte was not elected, but rather assumed the office after President Castillo was impeached for attempting to dissolve congress. The first female president of Peru, she was deeply unpopular – due in part to a crackdown on protesters that led to two appalling massacres – and reached a historic low of a 2% approval rating. Boluarte was impeached 8 times previously to this, over corruption and abuses of power. This latest impeachment centered on her administration’s failure to reduce crimes like murder and extortion. She was also the nation’s sixth president in under a decade during a period of intense political upheaval, manipulated ousters, and resignations or impeachments over corruption. Peru’s political instability continues to be a deep concern to both citizens and lawmakers. Madagascar is also in major transition after weeks of GenZ protests. Angered over power outages and water shortages, young people channeled their frustration into an anti-government movement that has rocked the nation. The protesters forced the president to dissolve his cabinet and appoint a new prime minister, but even that did not quell the uprising. Earlier this week, soldiers from key army corps began to defect from the government, expressing loyalty to the protesters and refusing to participate in attempts to repress them. They called on the police to do the same. Now, a military unit has seized power through a coup, claiming that it will establish a transitional government and hold new elections within 2 years. Some protesters are cheering, but should they be? We’ve seen similar situations where the military stepped into a power vacuum opened by a protest movement, including in Egypt in 2011 and in Sudan in 2019 (which led to a civil war). From Peru and Madagascar, activists can glean a few take-aways. Mass movements are powerful and can change governments. Peru has done this numerous times over the last decade. But toppling a bad leader is not enough – there also needs to be a solid plan for their replacement. In 2022, Sri Lankan protesters ousted the president, prime minister, and many others over an economic crisis, but many were deeply disappointed when the new administration tried to replicate many of the same policies as the last. Have a plan for the power vacuum that your movement might open. Bangladesh forced their president to resign in August 2024; the movement chose exiled Nobel Prize in Economics winner to lead an interim government. In December 2024, South Koreans rose up against their president’s power grab and demanded that parliament and the courts follow-through with a full impeachment process and follow their constitution for the replacement. Opening power vacuums without a plan – and the robust organizing and people power to stick to it – has led to heartbreaking movement failures. Let’s turn to the United States, where the anti-authoritarianism movement is holding mass protests today. With 2,700 demonstrations happening, #NoKings Protests on October 18 could become the largest single-day protests in the nation’s history, breaking the record set earlier this year. While critics wonder if protests make any difference, organizers know that mass protests play many roles in a sustained movement. They energize. They break through fear and isolation. They show strength in numbers. They alert the general public that this is not a fringe group. They lift up the issues and demands. They counter regime propaganda and lies. They mobilize new people to stand up. On their own, a single-day protest is not enough to make change. The #NoKings Protests are not happening in isolation, however. They are an outgrowth of the immense, ongoing resistance that has been happening nonstop since January. Three significant noncooperation actions took place this week. Major airports across the country refused to play a video clip of Secretary Kristi Noem blaming the government shut down on the Democrats, arguing that it violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits the use of public assets for political purposes and messaging. This strategy may open up a whole world of possibilities for federal workers, state and local officials to resist some of the blatantly partisan, abusive, and corrupt actions of the Trump administration. The refusal to be tools of propaganda also erupted among major news networks who wouldn’t sign an unconstitutional Pentagon press policy that limited their ability to report on anything that wasn’t approved by the Trump administration. Journalists turned in their badges, packed up their things and walked out of the Pentagon rather than comply. Similarly, a growing number of universities are rejecting Trump’s 10-point ‘compact’, calling it ‘extortion’ for the ways it slows federal funding if universities don’t comply with anti-DEI, pro-conservative demands. The compact blatantly violates the independence of higher education and would establish dangerous precedents for the ability of partisan politics to control educational institutions. The frontline of authoritarian repression is most visible around the deployment of National Guards and the increasing violence of ICE agents during raids and at detention center protests. Resistance in left-leaning targeted cities is growing stronger, however. DC is putting up “ICE Kidnapping” signs at every location where someone was taken off the streets. Los Angeles County declared a state of emergency and will provide economic relief to families and businesses impacted by ICE raids. In Chicago, a US District Judge temporarily barred ICE attacks on journalists and nonviolent protesters at Broadview Detention Center while a court case proceeds. (To be clear, the constitution already protects the freedom of the press and the right to protest. A judge should not have had to explicitly tell ICE this.) Portland’s wonderful weirdness – exemplified by their Emergency World Naked Bike Ride – is winning nationwide support and poking holes in the outrageous lies of the administration. Cities are also preparing for ‘invasion’ after repeated threats from Trump. Hands Off NYC has formed a large coalition of unions and civic groups preparing to prevent or resist potential military or federal intervention. Seattle‘s mayor signed executive orders supporting migrant residents and preparing the city’s legal defense and administrative response if federal troops are deployed to Seattle. The executive order also sets in motion plans to implement strategies used in other cities, including banning ICE from using city property for their raids, banning facial coverings, requiring identification, and reaffirming that local law enforcement will not aid ICE or National Guards. A new, nationwide veterans campaign called Remember Your Oath is handing out leaflets to National Guards about how to disobey an unconstitutional, illegal, or immoral order. |
Rivera Sun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, has written numerous books, including The Dandelion Insurrection and the award-winning Ari Ara Series.She is the editor of Nonviolence News, Program Coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence, and a nationwide trainer in strategy for nonviolent campaigns.
This article was sent to The PeaceWorker and other like groups on Oct. 18, 2025, by Rivera Sun.
In other Nonviolence News, Calgary students held a walk out over anti-trans laws. 600,000 marched in London for a lasting peace in Gaza. In New Jersey, 100 people blocked weapons trucks headed to Israel. Two Knesset members were expelled for disrupting Trump’s speech and held a banner that read: Genocide. Some activists have suggestions about how pension fund divestment from billionaire businesses could mobilize both workers and retirees. Beyond the Bars convinced Miami-Dade County Commission to wipe out $10 million in jail fees and $100 million in jail debt for 6,000 families of incarcerated persons. There is rising nationwide backlash in the United States against energy and water gobbling AI data centers. Exxon’s sponsorship of the iconic New Mexico Ballon Fiesta prompted satirical billboards against fracking and banner drops at the New Mexico State Roundhouse.