“Who is Charlie Kirk?”. How became a political tool, thousands of kilometers away from the US, the American activist assassinated to an event

“Who is Charlie Kirk?”, One of the participants in the commemoration that took place on Saturday in a famous park in Peru asks. The event was organized by a right -wing politician in memory of American influencer in September, according to The New York Times.

Dozens of people got off the buses on Saturday, near the Magic Circuit of Water Park. Families from Poor Lima's poor outskirts were brought to the city with free transportation, where they were given free lunch and tickets to an water park in the city, writes journalist Jack Nicas, the head of The New York Times in Mexico City, in a report for the American publication.

“I have never seen him”

Some of the people arrived at Lima wore holiday clothes and had Bibles with them. They had heard that there would be a commemoration for a evangelical Christian, like them. He was told that he was killed in the United States for his beliefs, although few knew his name. Others were simply confused, reports the journalist.

“Who is Charlie Kirk?,” Asked Milagros Garcia, 56, a woman who participated in Lima on Saturday in the commemoration of Charlie Kirk. “I have never seen him,” she added when the event butterfly showed him, with a photo with Kirk in front of the Peruvian and American flags.

Like Milagros Garcia, many participants believed to be there for a rally in support of the mayor of Lima, Rafael López Aliaga, a right -wing politician known as “Porky”, considered one of the main candidates for the position of President of Peru. “They were not completely deceived,” the journalist The Times notes.

He says that López Aliaga, 64, tries to position himself as one of the future leaders of modern global right in Latin America, joining Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Javier Milei in Argentina and Nayib Bukele from El Salvador. He announced the commemoration of Kirk at an extreme right -wing conference in Madrid, last month, and presented as the only tribute held by the Government for Kirk in Latin America.

The moment was also timely, writes Jack Nicas and points out that López Aliaga organized the event for the activist aligned to Trump even when he requested-and received-the help of the Trump administration in a legal battle with a large stake in the United States.

“Trump launches a bomb”

López Aliaga fought for Lima to take a private network of roads with tax and to eliminate taxes, to the delight of the voters. He has already blocked the company that manages the roads to perceive several taxes, arguing that the contract is null because it was concluded on the basis of the bribe.

These alleged bribes were part of an extended multinational network of corruption, revealed in the Brazilian investigation “Car Wash Operation” ten years ago and investigated by the United States Justice Department.

Brookfield Asset Management, which was not involved in that corruption, later bought a majority participation in the Lima contract. Since then, Lima has sued and won. The arbitration courts forced Lima to pay Brookfield $ 200 million. Brookfield sued Peru for $ 2.7 billion, claiming that López Aliaga's actions violated a commercial agreement.

These processes could lead to the bankruptcy of Lima and the end of López Aliaga's political career, but the mayor recently received support from the Trump administration, according to the journalist.

The journalist says that in March this year Edward R. Martin Jr., an official of the justice department appointed by Trump, reported that the Administration Reexamine Corruption accusations related to the Lima contract.

A few days after announcing the Kirk event in Spain, López Aliaga flew to Washington and, as his lawyer confirmed, met with the US official. Shortly thereafter, the American official sent letters to a former official of the Department of Justice and his former law firm, asking why Lima was not appointed victim in the Car Wash investigation, which would have allowed him to cancel the contract.

On Friday, the day before Kirk's commemoration, this news appeared on the first page of an important conservative newspaper in Peru, with the title: “Trump launches a bomb.” López Aliaga has repeatedly distributed her on social networks.

Charlie Kirk's name used at far -right assemblies

Charlie Kirk's assassination has become a strong tool for the right, which allows him to motivate his base, attack the left and promote his policies, writes the journalist.

The Trump administration invoked this event to take measures against left -hand groups and cancel the visas of foreigners. But also the right -wing groups from abroad took advantage of this event, using Kirk's death as a slogan at the largest right -wing assembly in the UK in recent years and at the Madrid conference organized by Vox, the far right party in Spain, which is gaining more and more popularity.

López Aliaga said in an interview given last week at the City Hall in Lima that he had never heard of Charlie Kirk before his death. After his shooting, he said he started watching the videos of American influence.

“They say it was a hate instigator speech, that it was intolerant. I did not find any video in which it was aggressive or intolerant,” said López aliaga. “On the contrary, in my opinion, he showed a lot of patience. Too much patience,” added Aliaga then.

The Polotician said he decided to organize Kirk's commemoration while in Spain. There, he announced that it would be a “apotheosis” ceremony and compared to the American activist with the martyrs who contributed to the spread of Christianity after the death of Jesus.

“From the blood of the martyrs a revolution, which was the spread of Christianity. Harlie Kirk is a turning point, because many young people reacted,” We are Charlie Kirk. “He did not die,” he said in the interview.

“We are attacked, as in the United States.”

His plans to honor Charlie Kirk at the Magic Circuit of Water, a park with careful land and 13 synchronized fountains, were not well received by many inhabitants of Lima, a city with 10 million inhabitants. Commentators from all over the political spectrum have questioned the organization of such an event for a slightly known stranger, but not for any Peruv.

Despite the critics, López Aliaga continued to keep the event. When he was asked about the rumors that the municipality would transport people by bus, he denied. “It has to be something organic,” he said.

The next morning, the streets around the park were full of buses from which passengers came from distances of up to four hours, reports NYT journalist, who spoke to people there and reported that three bus drivers said the town hall paid him. Another two said they were paid, but they didn't know who.

Mariela Ramos, 44, came by bus with her young daughter at the event. She had heard that López Aliaga was going to present her plans as president. “As a citizen Peruvian, I want to hear what he has to offer,” she said.

In contrast, when he arrived, he found two large screens running with Charlie Kirk clips, subtitles in Spanish, and then with a woman playing Christian songs.

Until then, it was clear that the number of participants was much smaller than López Aliaga had foreseen. Several thousand people had probably gathered, most of them coming by bus.

The event was actually attended by people who came to pay tribute to Kirk. Some wore shirts with the inscription “Yo Soy Charlie Kirk” (no “I am Charlie Kirk”). A woman holding a banner with Kirk's image cried when she talked about what she considered to be an increasingly intense persecution of Christians. Stefano Ferrigno, who said he was like Podcaster, wore a completely black military uniform, inspired by a fascist party in Peru in the 1930s.

“The only solution to this country is true nationalism, a powerful man to lead Peru with an iron hand,” said Ferrigno. López aliaga “is a very good option”.

The mayor arrived accompanied by a band and scandals: “Porky”. On the stage, he gave a speech about how Kirk's death showed “the serious threat that the left represents for society”: “The left is not the Party of Love. It is the Party of Hate. It is the Party of class struggle. It is the Party of envy. We must realize that we are attacked, as in the United States.”

He concluded by handing an honorary diploma from the city of Lima in memory of Kirk to the only American present on stage: Martin de Luca, the lawyer of the mayor of Miami in the case of road taxes.

The event lasted 90 minutes. At the fall of the night, the park designed images with Kirk on the artesian fountains, but most of the participants had already climbed into buses to return home.

Contacted by telephone the next day, López Aliaga said he has no idea where the buses came from. “I have three or four events a day, okay? It's not my role to go into details about how people are organizing. Imagine asking the mayor of New York how people mobilized. You have a little more respect,” the politician said with the New York Times journalist.