An American in Lima

Public outrage over animal cruelty in bullfighting is mounting in Lima, home to the famed Senor de los Milagros bullfighting festival (Nov. 2 – 23, 2008). The festival takes place in Plaza de Acho, the oldest bullring in the Americas and the second-oldest in the world.  

Say hello to my little friend: Anti-bullfighting posters in Lima feature a blood-crazed matador a la Tony Montana (poster: www.peruantitaurino.org)

Last Sunday, November 2, about 300 members of the group Peru Antitaurino rallied at the Plaza San Martin, in downtown Lima, to protest the start of the month-long festival. (The Spanish word for “antibullfighting” is “antitaurino.”) The protestors marched at 2;30 p.m. to Acho stadium, where they were stopped by a barricade of 200 riot police. Protestors waved signs and chanted to passersby, while the bullfights continued inside the arena.

The peaceful protests contrasted with those held last year at Acho, where police officers fired tear gas at the activists.

Antitaurino protestors at Plaza San Martin, November 2, 2008; photo by Jorge Vera 2008

PeruAntitaurino is urging Peru’s Congress to pass bill #496, which would amend existing Animal Cruelty laws that exempt bullfighting and cockfighting from its writ. If passed, the bill would prohibit bullfighting throughout Peru.

A survey of residents in Lima and Callao shows that nearly 80 percent of those polled do not approve of bullfighting (University of Lima, 2008). However, bullfighting continues to be popular with the city’s wealthy elite and with a core group of passionate aficionados, who defend the tradition of fiestas bravas as part of Peru’s cultural patrimony.

Similarly, many Limeños who disapprove of bullfighting are apathetic about banning the spectacle, on the grounds that it is a historic tradition.

In contrast, the antitaurinos insist that bullfighting is a sadistic blood-sport that is “ni arte, ni cultura” (neither art not culture). They want it banned in Peru and say that they speak for the majority of Peruvians.

Most of the antitaurinos are young students (average age 20, according to Peru Antitaurino), artists and theater people. The movement represents a new voice in Peru, where until recently few spoke out against the suffering endured by bulls in the bullring.

–Barbara R. Drake

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