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In fact, Fetterman’s office could have blamed his depression on his stroke, which is a common cause of depression. Instead, it made a point of saying that Fetterman had had depression in the past.
But I would like to focus on another aspect of this chapter in Fetterman’s life. As a national figure, Fetterman was continuously, relentlessly obligated to perform a certain role—that of a competent, confident politician. More than that, possibly: an accessible, obliging politician. The post–January 6 tightening of security notwithstanding, Congress remains one of the most open, porous environments in the country. It’s a place where reporters roam with almost unconstrained access, corralling senators in hallways, committee rooms, the elevator bank just off the Senate floor. Tourists and visiting constituents and lobbyists buzz about.
John Hendrickson: Don’t patronize Fetterman
As a senator, you can never not be on, in other words. Your life is an Iron Man triathlon of outward-facing obligations: constituent sit-downs, committee meetings, caucus lunches, votes on the floor, home-state parades and fairs and school visits and town halls and barbecues where you’re asked to don puffy chef’s hats.
I have often written about the usefulness of the sociologist Erving Goffman’s distinction between “front-stage” and backstage selves when it comes to politics. To briefly summarize: Our front-stage selves are controlled, formal, fit for public consumption; our backstage selves are unvarnished, less filtered, generally reserved for intimates—the people we are when we drop the facade. (For anyone who’s thirsty for more, see Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.)
Politicians, particularly members of Congress, are almost always required to be front-stage creatures, for exactly the reasons I have described: all those damn committee meetings, constituent sit-downs, puffy hats. We tend to expect a certain level of formality from them—and absent that, a certain consistency of performance.
But depression, almost by definition, is a backstage emotion: lonely, prickly, uncomely. When you’re in the throes of it—something I know a thing or two about—it positively defies salable shtick. What this means is that every high-functioning depressed person has a self they try very hard to conceal. It is work performing your wellness—for some people, it’s more exhausting than their actual day job.
And from what little we know, that seemed to be the case for Fetterman. It is said that he was unhappy that he missed out on (and still hasn’t gotten) the time he needed to properly recover from his stroke. And now here he is, in one of the most public-facing jobs imaginable—possibly even more so than the presidency, where you have the luxury of retreating into the antiqued seclusion of the White House, away from reporters and constituents.
On top of this, Fetterman was spending his weekdays alone, apart from his wife and three children, who are still in Braddock, Pennsylvania. For most of the week, he doesn’t have his loved ones by his side, the people with whom he could safely pull off the mask. Instead, he had to perform all day long, then return to an empty home.
Illness, too, can be cruelly isolating. Fetterman was trying valiantly to adapt to a demanding, high-intensity job with closed-captioning at his desk and audio-to-text transcriptions of committee hearings; he carries a tablet that converts what his colleagues say into text. This technological wizardry might make his work easier to do, but it also sets him apart, accentuating how different his lot is from everyone else’s. I’m guessing it isn’t easy to experience this difference during every interaction he has—not when his condition is so new, not when he hasn’t had ample time to adjust.
John Hendrickson: The Fetterman-Oz debate was a Rorschach test
Fetterman has basically been forced to contend with the effects of a severe brain trauma while working an absurdly demanding job in one of the most polarized and toxic political climates the country has ever known.
In the coming weeks or months, my suspicion is that most of his Democratic colleagues will be supportive of Fetterman, while the hooligans at Fox and in the even-further-right precincts of the Trump underworld will say that he’s unfit to serve. It’s possible, though, that some of his most ardent supporters will quietly wonder the same. And maybe the demands of the Senate will prove to be too much for him. But Fetterman was handily elected by Pennsylvanians, who knew quite well they were electing a man who had suffered a life-altering upset to his health. Now the question is whether they’ll allow him to acclimate on his own timetable and terms. And that may be the next test of how far we’ve come as a nation in thinking about mental, physical, and spiritual health.
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Former Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton testifies before the House Administration Committee on Feb. 9. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Jan. 6 had something to do with it, but that wasn’t the whole story.
Blanton was the one remaining member of the Capitol Police Board who had been serving during the insurrection; the other two had already since departed the board. (The Capitol Police Board oversees and supports the Capitol police.) A Senate report found that the board members’ lack of familiarity with emergency procedures slowed down the process of getting help from the National Guard on Jan. 6, as things were getting out of control at the Capitol.
But that wasn’t the half of it for Blanton, apparently—at least, according to a scathing Office of Inspector General report about him that was released late last year, and a heated committee hearing that followed earlier this month.
In case you missed the whole saga, we’re here to catch you up:
What does the architect of the capitol do, anyway?
As architect of the capitol, Blanton oversaw the federal agency of the same name, which is responsible for maintaining the U.S. Capitol complex. That includes the House and Senate Congressional office buildings, Library of Congress, U.S. Supreme Court building, and more—all told, around 570 acres of ground throughout Washington, D.C. Blanton oversaw all of the Capitol’s maintenance and operations, from changing out lightbulbs to landscaping and managing official Capitol visits.
The job is appointed by the president and holds a ten-year term.
What was he accused of doing wrong?
The OIG report found that Blanton misused his government-issued car by letting his wife and daughter drive it and by using it for personal weekend trips, including to a craft brewery and out-of-state vacations. Blanton’s work car racked up about 29,000 miles, the report said, which is nearly 19,000 more miles than what’s allowed for travel strictly between home and work. “Evaluation of the additional mileage added to the AOC vehicles, wear and tear, and extra maintenance in accordance with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) policies for 2020 and 2021 amounted to a total of no less than $12,434.00 in unreported, taxable noncash fringe benefits to Blanton,” the report said.
The report also said that Blanton used a government-issued car, equipped with lights and sirens, to impersonate a police officer, after his daughter’s boyfriend’s car was struck in a hit-and-run. He also drove the car to South Carolina and Florida when he was technically on annual leave, the OIG report said—and to top it off, multiple complaints were filed against Blanton’s car for reckless driving.
Wow. Anything else?
While the Capitol was closed due to COVID, Blanton’s wife posted on social media appearing to invite people in for tours. “This is happening!!!” she wrote on Sept. 30, 2020, alongside a photo of the two of them in front of the Capitol Building. “All PATRIOTS welcome…PM Me.” She captioned another photo from the same day with: “Contact me for a private tour. All PATRIOTS accepted!”
Though posting to social media isn’t technically in violation of U.S. code, offering private tours of the Capitol creates “the appearance of impropriety and using a public position for private gain, which is a violation of AOC policy,” the OIG report said.
Blanton also admitted to giving tours while the Capitol was closed—but only to lawmakers who requested one. When asked about those photos his wife posted, he said he did give a tour of the “exterior of the Capitol,” which was technically not closed during the pandemic. “Did you take them inside?” asked Republican rep. Greg Murphy. “I don’t remember specifically…it was a surprise to me,” responded Blanton.
So what did he do on Jan. 6?
As architect of the capitol, Blanton is required to physically oversee the Capitol grounds. But Blanton did not report to work at any time on Jan. 6, 2021. According to the OIG report, Blanton confirmed last year that neither he nor any of his employees “engaged in conversation with the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) regarding a request for an emergency declaration or interest seeking National Guard support in advance of the breach of the U.S. Capitol.”
“I am outraged that you would be in a comfortable place, sir, while the rest of us were thinking about dying that day and how we were going to come out alive,” Rep. Norma Torres said during the House hearing on Feb. 9. Torres described how the police officer guarding the area of the House gallery where she huddled on the floor with other lawmakers did not have a key to lock the door.
“Do you know that?” asked Torres. Blanton responded, “That’s news to me. “
What did Blanton have to say about all this?
In his testimony to lawmakers on Feb. 9, Blanton denied any wrongdoing. “I wholeheartedly reject any assertion that I engaged in unethical behavior during my service to this country,” he said in his opening statement.
Blanton said he allowed his wife and daughter to drive his government-issued car, but only while he accompanied them as a passenger. When asked if he ever let them drive when he wasn’t present, he demurred. “My recollection is no. But…I can’t say 100 percent definitively because that may have occurred or it may not have occurred.”
When asked about his absence on Jan. 6, Blanton said he was using his government-issued car as a “mobile command center” and that he wouldn’t have been able to get into Capitol grounds that day, due to police barricades and security. Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice wasn’t buying that. “That fact that you would say, ‘I wasn’t going to be able to get in’—I cannot fathom that,” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
How was this received on Capitol Hill?
In a rare moment of bipartisanship, Republicans and Democrats came together to call for Blanton’s firing. A group of prominent Democrats released a statement late last year that said, “Based on the overwhelming evidence of misconduct outlined in this report, Mr. Blanton must resign. He should be held accountable and reimburse the government,” according to The Hill.
Republican leaders joined in, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy saying on Monday that Blanton “no longer has my confidence to continue his job,” and called on Biden to fire him immediately. The official House GOP Twitter account agreed, tweeting, “#FireBlanton.”
That same day, Biden officially fired Blanton. Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle, also the ranking member on the House Administration committee, immediately put out a statement applauding Biden’s decision. “After being given the opportunity to respond to numerous allegations of legal, ethical, and administrative violations, and failing to directly respond, the President has removed Mr. Brett Blanton from his position—a decision I firmly stand behind.”
Will Blanton face any other repercussions?
The OIG has sent its investigation’s findings to Virginia law enforcement officials, congressional oversight committees and the Internal Revenue Service for review. It’s not yet clear if they’ll pursue their own investigations or charges against Blanton.
Who is going to oversee the Capitol grounds now?
The process of picking a replacement has begun, but it’s not expected to be easy. Under former president Trump, it took a little over a year to fill the role. Normally, the architect of the capitol’s deputy would be promoted to take on the job, but under Blanton there was no deputy. Instead, Chere Rexroat, chief engineer at the office, will assume the interim role.
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Yulia Bondarenko, left, waiting for weapons training in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. (photo: Lynsey Addario/NYT)
When Russian missiles shattered that routine and Russian troops threatened her home in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, Ms. Bondarenko, 30, volunteered to fight back, despite her lack of experience, the grave risk to her life and Ukraine’s apparently impossible odds.
“I never held a rifle in my hands and never even saw one up close,” Ms. Bondarenko said. “In the first two weeks, I felt like I was in a fog. It was just a constant nightmare.”
For weeks, she had followed the ominous news of Russian troops massing on Ukraine’s border and decided on Feb. 23 to enlist as a reservist. The next day, the largest land war in Europe since World War II began.
As explosions shook Kyiv, Ms. Bondarenko took the subway to report for duty, uncertain the recruiting office would take her without finished paperwork or a fitness exam.
But in the chaotic swirl of volunteers, officers asked no questions. They handed her a rifle and 120 bullets, and assigned her to a unit expecting to fight in urban combat if the Russian Army broke into the capital. She was only one recruit in a huge influx of volunteers who swelled the size of Ukrainian forces — from about 260,000 soldiers to about one million today — and whose lives were transformed by the war.
In a recent interview, Ms. Bondarenko recalled the intense stress of those early days. Unaccustomed to the sounds of artillery, she said, she expected to be hit after every blast. She thought she would die.
Step by step, she learned how to be a soldier. Fellow volunteers showed her how to load, aim and fire her Kalashnikov rifle. They practiced trench fighting and other tactics.
During the weekslong battle for Kyiv, Ms. Bondarenko and about 150 other volunteers, almost all men, lived in a shopping mall, rotating through shifts at checkpoints in the city. She and two other women changed in a bathroom away from the men.
It was so cold at night she slept hugging one of the other female soldiers. Slowly, sleeping bags, mats and warm uniforms turned up — and the unit eventually made it to a barracks.
Not all of the new recruits needed training. Eight years of fighting against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has schooled a generation of Ukrainian soldiers — about 500,000 — in trench warfare on the plains, the type of combat dominating the war today. Many veterans returned to active service when the full-scale invasion began.
In the weeks after Ukraine fended off Russia from the capital, and as Russian troops retreated in the spring, the fighting shifted to the east. Ms. Bondarenko was offered a chance to resign or take a position in a desk job or as a cook.
She overcame her fears and chose to stay with the infantry, living in the barracks and training for campaigns to come.
Like other recruits without experience, Ms. Bondarenko learned on the job: how to find trip wires and explosive traps, to duck for cover from shells, to provide battlefield first aid.
At first, she worried about her abilities. Bookish and shy, she never had any interest in the military, and knew nothing of weapons or wars. But on patrols and at the firing range, handling supplies and learning tactics, her confidence grew.
“It was pleasant when the guys said, ‘It’s working out with you,’” she said. “And they said, ‘I would go into battle with you.’”
Her brigade was stationed in a village south of Kyiv, where soldiers formed relationships with residents: They frequented a shop for snacks, and Ms. Bondarenko grew close to a local math teacher.
But at spring’s end, they had to say goodbye. They were heading toward the northeastern Kharkiv region, toward the front.
In the northeast, the unit came under near constant Russian shelling over the summer. Ms. Bondarenko helped handle logistics and supplies to keep Ukraine’s forces fighting.
Patriotism, and learning the history of Moscow’s repression of Ukrainians, had motivated her to enlist in the first place, she said.
She had moved to Kyiv from a village in central Ukraine for university studies, arriving shortly before mass street protests toppled a pro-Russia president in 2014. During the political awakening that followed, she re-evaluated her family’s history and found injustices from Russia’s long rule in Ukraine.
During Soviet times, she said, a hydroelectric dam had flooded her village, Khudyaki, but the authorities did nothing to relocate residents. Villagers had to salvage what they could from their homes and rebuild on higher ground.
“When I became older, I understood how history was taught incorrectly in schools,” she said.
Even as green new soldiers swelled its ranks, Ukraine adopted dozens of new, Western-donated weapons. By the fall, it had gained strength. Ukraine counterattacked and, upending long-held ideas of the balance of military force in Europe, defeated the Russian Army on the battlefield in two successful offensives, in Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
Over the New Year’s holiday, Ms. Bondarenko was given a respite. She returned to Kyiv, where she got to indulge in joys from before the war: a new haul of books delivered to her apartment; coffee with friends; time with her sister and 4-year-old niece.
She also used her leave to visit her 67-year-old mother, Hanna Bondarenko, at her village in central Ukraine, where she had grown up speaking Ukrainian in contrast to the Russian spoken in Kyiv’s cafes. But her anger at Russia had simmered as Moscow fomented fighting over the past eight years, and she had long switched to speaking Ukrainian in public.
When Russia invaded, her mother said, she at least felt a sense of relief that her daughter would not be drafted. “I was happy I didn’t have a son because I didn’t have to worry about him going off to war,” she said. “I never imagined my daughter would sign up.”
Her daughter said she tried to stave off some feelings while her unit was deployed. She feels guilt about her mother’s fears for her, and misses teaching and her boyfriend. She keeps a box of letters from former students at home.
“When I am away on the base or in the field, I try to shut down emotionally,” she said.
The backpack she carried held a small part of her life as a teacher: books. Some were children’s books that she sometimes read to cheer up fellow soldiers.
But she said that she needed to serve her country, meaning that, before long, she had to make another round of goodbyes. Parting with her boyfriend in Kyiv, she said, she thought of his daily fears and their hopes for the future.
The relationship, she said, “shows me that even in the dark, there can be light.”
Of the many volunteers she has met over the past year, many were deployed to eastern Ukraine, where fighting is raging, and Ms. Bondarenko knows some who have been killed.
She has not yet fired her rifle in combat, but if her platoon is sent to the front, she said, she feels ready to fight.
“I am an infantry soldier now,” she said.
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Ron Desantis with his wife, Casey, at an election night watch party in Tampa, Florida, on 8 November 2022. (photo: Giorgio Viera/AFP/Getty Images)
How Florida's Republican Supermajority Handed Ron Desantis Unfettered Power
Richard Luscombe, Guardian UK
Luscombe writes: "If there's one word Floridians have heard plenty of since their Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, was sworn in for a second term last month, it is 'freedom.'"
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An F-22 Raptor shot down an airborne object last Saturday, in an incident that could be linked to a balloon put into the sky by a hobby club. U.S. officials say they're still investigating. (photo: 1st Lt. Sam Eckholm/U.S. Air Force)
A military spokesperson tells NPR it's their understanding that the FBI has spoken to the hobbyist group in question — the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade, based just north of Chicago — in an apparent attempt to determine whether their small balloon might have inadvertently caused a big ruckus.
But the hobbyist club's members are warning that while their balloon, whose radio callsign is K9YO-15, is missing in action, it's too soon to say whether it was shot down by a warplane. They also say their balloon launches follow all federal regulations.
The Biden administration said on Friday that it cannot confirm any reports potentially identifying the objects that were shot down, citing ongoing investigations.
Questions rise about an object shot down over the Yukon
The as-yet-unexplained incident began on Feb. 10, when U.S. defense officials detected a "high-altitude airborne object" over U.S. airspace in Alaska, days after a Chinese balloon crossed much of the continental U.S.
Two F-22 fighters were dispatched to track the mysterious object over Alaska. When it crossed the international border into Canada, aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force joined the formation. It quickly prompted calls between President Biden and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand.
With the use of force authorized, a U.S. F-22 used an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile to shoot down the cylindrical object over Canada's Yukon Territory on Feb. 11.
Officials have not yet offered an explanation about the origin or purpose of the unidentified object. But an intriguing theory quickly emerged in the community of hobbyist balloon enthusiasts: that a high-altitude "pico" balloon, similar to a Mylar party balloon, was shot out of the sky.
And as it happens, Saturday, Feb. 11, was the last time the amateur group in Illinois heard from their balloon.
"98% certainty" that it's the same balloon, an expert says
"Before the Yukon balloon was shot down, us amateurs were watching [K9YO-15] go towards Alaska," Dan Bowen, a stratospheric balloon consultant, told NPR.
Bowen, who 12 years ago helped to research and design small balloons like the one used by the Illinois club, says he and others were using a tracking website to follow K9YO-15. The tool also gives a forecast of a wandering balloon's likely path.
When the prediction showed K9YO-15 heading from Alaska over the Yukon, Bowen said, "we really hoped it wouldn't be intercepted. But we knew the moment that the intercept was reported, whose it was and which one it was."
Asked if he believes the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade's balloon was shot down, Bowen didn't hesitate.
"Yes. Absolutely," he said. "You know, I would say with 98% certainty."
A spokesperson for NORAD, the joint U.S.-Canadian military organization, told NPR on Friday that from their understanding, the FBI has spoken with the balloon hobby club.
Representatives from the FBI and NORAD told NPR on Friday that they have no new information to provide, with the FBI saying that "the overall recovery operation is ongoing." But Canadian officials said Friday that they called off the operation after they searched the "highest probability area" without success. "Given the snowfall that has occurred, the decreasing probability the object will be found and the current belief the object is not tied to a scenario that justifies extraordinary search efforts," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it was terminating the search.
The balloon had already circled the Earth 6 times
K9YO-15 was launched last fall by members of the Bottlecap Balloon club — the group takes its name from the Pixar movie Up, which prominently features both balloons and a bottle cap.
Its journey began with a launch from Libertyville, Ill., on Oct. 10, 2022. Before it disappeared, it was one of the club's longest-flying balloons; in its 123 days aloft, it had circumnavigated the Earth nearly seven times.
On Tuesday, the club published the balloon's last known coordinates and its projected path. "For now we are calling Pico Balloon K9YO Missing in Action," wrote club organizer Cary Willis.
In the days since, speculation has grown over the possibility that the U.S. Air Force shot down the 32-inch silver Mylar balloon. On Friday, the NIBBB posted a statement saying there is presently no connection between its balloon and the unidentified object shot down by the F-22 last weekend.
"As has been widely reported, no part of the object shot down by the US Air Force jet over the Yukon territory has been recovered," the club wrote. "Until that happens and that object is confirmed to be an identifiable pico balloon, any assertions or claims that our balloon was involved in that incident are not supported by facts."
A representative for the club did not respond to an interview request.
You wouldn't need a missile to take the ballon down
Balloons like K9YO-15 are inexpensive — when asked for a cost estimate, Bowen replied, "I don't think you'd break $100."
"Some of them are the same silver balloons you buy in the grocery store," he said, "and I mean from the same manufacturer of the same model."
After they're launched, the balloons expand as they climb, swelling until the Mylar envelope pressurizes. They stop rising at altitudes where the air density is equal to the balloon's density. The pico balloons "just float the same way a fish bladder or a submarine does underneath the water," Bowen said.
One thing that might make a pico balloon hard to shoot down, Bowen said, is its small size. "The entire thing that the balloon lifts is a business card-sized circuit board and two little tissue paper-thin solar cells," he said.
Those characteristics help the balloons meet legal regulations that require them not to pose a danger to aircraft. They're made to be safe — and a missile isn't needed to pop them.
"These balloons are pressurized just below the point of popping," Bowen said. "So if you can hit them with [aircraft] turbulence, they'll pop. If they get hit with a sonic boom from nearby, absolutely going to pop. Those are the easiest ways to pop them."
The Bottlecap club says its balloons sometimes go silent
In its Friday statement, the club also noted that it's normal for pico balloons to lose touch. "It is not unusual for significant periods of time to elapse between received transmissions," they explained, adding that K9YO-15 had previously gone MIA around Christmas before reappearing in late January.
One explanation is that the balloon's GPS pings require solar power. At higher latitudes in wintertime — like the recent path of K9YO-15 — the tiny solar panels can struggle to receive enough sunlight to power the balloon's lightweight systems.
The balloon was equipped with a GPS module, a transmitter, a tiny computer and a small solar panel package. Its total payload weight was just 16.4 grams, or about half an ounce, according to a blog post about the launch.
Federal law requires most large flying objects to be registered with the Federal Aviation Administration. But amateur pico balloons, like K9YO-15, are so small and light that they are not subject to those requirements. (Its radio transmitter is registered with the FCC.)
Amateurs await potential policy changes
Balloon enthusiasts say they're happy to see so much interest in their hobby. And they're hoping to be able to keep pursuing it, even if the U.S. and other countries adopt new rules.
"These are often launched by schoolchildren," Bowen said. "The amateurs who have figured this out have gone to schools to get them excited about science and engineering, and the kids just love the ability to see their little robot creature wandering the planet."
The students track their balloons, much like the Bottlecap Brigade club. As the U.S. and other countries take a fresh look at balloons and high-altitude objects, Bowen notes that there are 10 to 20 more balloons still out there, making their way around the world — "and there's no way for us to bring them down remotely."
An Aymara woman, holding a Peruvian national, stands on a pile of dirt serving as a roadblock set up by anti-government protesters, in Acora, southern Peru, Jan. 29, 2023.(photo: Rodrigo Abd/AP)
Among the makeshift refuge’s occupants is Marcelo Fonseca. The 46-year-old watched as a a friend was shot and killed in December as they battled security forces in the southern city of Juliaca. Within hours, Fonseca joined a caravan of demonstrators that descended on the capital, Lima, to demand the resignation of interim President Dina Boluarte.
“Our Andean blood burns when we become furious,” Fonseca, whose native language is Quechua, said in a halting Spanish. ”It runs faster. That’s what brings us here.”
Two months into Peru’s angry insurrection, emotions have hardened. While the unrest has barely disturbed the late-night revelry in Lima’s beachside enclaves, roadblocks still rage across the countryside, scaring away foreign tourists and leading to shortages of gas and other staples.
The tumult, which has left at least 60 dead, was triggered by the impeachment in December of President Pedro Castillo. To Peruvians like Fonseca, the leftist rural teacher was a symbol of their own exclusion, while Boluarte’s ascension to power from the vice presidency in cahoots with Castillo’s conservative enemies in Congress is seen as an unforgivable class betrayal.
The impasse has given a jolt of self-confidence to Peru’s Indigenous movement. Unlike neighboring Bolivia, where Indigenous groups were emboldened by Aymara coca-grower Evo Morales’ election as president in 2006, or Ecuador, where ethnic groups have a long tradition of toppling unpopular governments, Peru’s Indigenous groups had long struggled to gain political influence.
Although Peruvians of all backgrounds take pride in the history of the Inca Empire, the country’s Indigenous population is often treated with neglect and even hostility. Little is done to promote Quechua, despite its being spoken by millions and being an official language since 1975. Not until the 2017 census were Peruvians even asked whether they identify with any one of 50-plus Indigenous groups.
Tarcila Rivera, a prominent Quechua activist and former adviser to the United Nations on Indigenous issues, attributes the disdain to systemic racism stretching back to the Spanish conquest.
“Despite the two hundred years since the founding of our republic, the reality is that those of us who come from pre-Hispanic civilizations haven’t obtained our rights, nor are those rights taken into account,” said Rivera.
The current turmoil has also unleashed a torrent of racism. One lawmaker from the floor of Congress disparaged the rainbow-colored Wiphala flag, which represents the native people of the Andes, as little more than a “chifa tablecloth,” using the word for a cheap Chinese restaurant. Another urged security forces to send protesters to Bolivia with a big “kick.”
Rivera says the crackdown has radicalized younger protesters. Meanwhile, the spread of smartphones and the Internet during the past few decades of economic stability has made Indigenous Peruvians more aware of their rights, the country’s gaping inequalities and the sacrifices of previously unheralded Indigenous heroes, whose achievements contrast with narratives of perennial victimhood.
“All our kids are ever been taught is that we’re losers, miserable souls who were conquered without a fight,” Rivera said.
The current protest movement is centered in the southern Andes, where Indigenous identity is strongest. The area is the source of much of Peru’s mineral wealth and is home to archeological jewels that attracted more than 4 million tourists a year before COVID.
Its peasants are also among Peru’s most neglected.
Those inequalities were on vivid display this month at a roadblock near Cusco, where a group of campesinos sat vigil for hours over a roadblock of tires, tree trunks and boulders. As the line of stranded vehicles grew, tensions flared as motorists complaining that they had family emergencies.
“Don’t yell at me when I’m speaking to you with manners!” barked one motorist who faulted the protestors for voting for Castillo, who lived in an adobe home in one of Peru’s poorest districts before winning the presidency. “Don’t let shameless politicians, who are often from the same community, trick you,” he said repeating a false narrative held by elites that Castillo’s victory was the result of bribes, fraud and chicanery.
Eventually, the demonstrators yielded to the pressure and briefly opened the road, after a harangue against the “millionaires” and powerful interests blamed for driving their community to desperate actions.
Back in Lima, the safehouse is a hive of activity as another day of demonstrating awaits. Hand-written signs list daily chores to keep the cramped quarters safe and clean. Dozens more activists from Cusco are expected soon and need to be lodged in one of the few dozen homes, apartments and businesses across the capital that have opened their doors, like clandestine rebel bases.
Discretion is a must. Like Fonseca, many of the demonstrators were already detained when security forces firing tear gas last month stormed a university campus at breakfast and arrested hundreds for trespassing. As a result, occupants are encouraged to leave the safehouse one or two at a time, turn off lights early and immediately report any police intrusion to two human-rights attorneys on permanent standby. The windows are covered with newspapers and dog-food bags to block out would-be snoops.
But more than fear, the mood is one of hope.
“No matter what happens, I dare say we’ve already won,” said Victor Quinones as he stuffs a wad of coca leaves into his cheek.
At 60, Quinones is one of the group’s veterans. He says the past few weeks in the capital have strengthened his resolve to push forward and no longer accept the status quo — or futile standoffs with police back home as the best way to change it.
“We broke the barrier. We’ve started our long march — and look at all this support we’ve garnered along the way,” he reflects. “We’ve won because, now, the world knows.”
The Guppyfriend Washing Bag is designed to filter out microfibers released by textiles during washing to prevent plastic pollution. (photo: Guppyfriend)
Washing less often and doing full loads can help you reduce the amount of microfibers released by your clothes, experts say
As your clothes and linens churn in the washing machine and tumble around in the dryer, they often shed tiny fibers — many of which are small bits of plastic from synthetic fabrics such as polyester — that can wind up in waterways and the air.
Microfibers are the most abundant type of microplastic found in the environment, according to studies. Microplastics have also been discovered in human waste — suggesting that they’re present inside people’s bodies.
“We know we are exposed to them,” said Britta Baechler, associate director of ocean plastics research at the Ocean Conservancy, an environmental advocacy group. The impacts of microplastics on human health are still being understood, she noted. Some research already shows exposure to microplastics can cause negative health effects in certain animals.
While textiles can also shed microfibers as they’re being made or just by being worn, reassessing how you do laundry can help make a difference. Washing a single load of synthetic clothes can release millions of these minuscule fibers.
The most impactful way to tackle microfiber pollution is developing better textiles, said Kelly Sheridan, research director at the Microfibre Consortium, which works to reduce microfiber release in the textile industry. It’s often the construction of a garment and how the fabric is processed that will determine how much it sheds, Sheridan said.
Still, you can also help at home. Here’s how:
Can I reduce microfiber pollution by switching to natural fabrics?
While many studies show that polyester and other synthetic clothing can be a major source of harmful microplastic fibers, choosing to wear more natural fabrics, such as cotton, isn’t really as simple of a solution as you might think.
“By the time it turns from the cotton plant into a fiber that’s usable for garments, it’s processed such that its original chemical structure is different,” Sheridan said. “A cotton fiber in its finished state doesn’t necessarily degrade, and if it still does, it will be a much slower rate.”
“As it biodegrades,” she continued, “what chemicals is it releasing into the environment?”
Natural fibers have been documented in oceans. One peer-reviewed study published in 2020 analyzed ocean water samples from around the world and reported that most of the fibers found were dyed cellulose, not plastic.
“The assumption that natural fibers are not a problem certainly hasn’t been proven,” Sheridan said.
How do I wash my clothes to reduce microfiber pollution?
Cutting down on how often you do laundry is an easy first step.
Ask yourself if you really need to wash something after only wearing it once, said Elena Karpova, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro who studies textile sustainability.
And since microfibers are also released from dryers, try air drying your clothes more often.
Washing and tumble drying your clothes less frequently can also help them last longer and creates additional environmental benefits, such as reduced energy and water consumption.
Some research suggests that machine-washing clothes in larger amounts of water with more agitation can increase microfiber shedding. Experts recommend doing normal-sized loads rather than running your machine half or partially full.
It can also be helpful to wash your clothes at a lower temperature and for a shorter amount of time because hotter and longer washes can produce more polluting fibers.
If you can, use a front-loading machine, which has been found to generate less microfiber release than top-loading appliances.
Do filters and other laundry devices work?
There are several devices designed to combat microfiber pollution, including washing machine filters as well as laundry bags and balls. Studies suggest that the filters may be the most effective.
In one laboratory study, for instance, the filter that was tested (Lint LUV-R) captured an average of 87 percent of fibers. Another study examined the impact of installing filters in nearly 100 homes in a small Canadian town and found a significant reduction in microfibers in wastewater, with lint samples from the filters capturing an average of up to 2.7 million microfibers per week.
While some washing machine models in other countries can come with these filters built in, in the United States they more often have to be bought separately and installed, which can be expensive. The Lint LUV-R, for instance, costs $150 for just the filter.
More affordable laundry bags or balls can also reduce microfiber shedding, though research shows performance can vary. A 2020 study of six devices found that the XFiltra filter performed the best, reducing microfiber release by 78 percent. The Guppyfriend laundry bag came in second with a 54 percent reduction in fiber shedding and was followed by the Cora Ball laundry ball at 31 percent.
If you try these devices, dispose of the captured fibers properly by putting them in the garbage. A covered trash can help reduce the amount of fibers that become airborne, Baechler said. Make sure to avoid rinsing anything used to catch fibers off in the sink.
Keep in mind, though, that adopting these tips isn’t going to solve the problem, Sheridan said. But doing “a combination of all those things can only help.”
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