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Peru guide
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| © New Internationalist |
Peru has struggled to match the development performance of its neighbours Chile and Brazil, leaving the country prone to widening inequality as promises to the poor remain unfulfilled. The new government of President Alan García expresses more enthusiasm for adopting neoliberal instruments such as the US Free Trade Agreement than strategies to advance the Millennium Development Goals.
updated February 2007
Millennium Development Goals
Like many of its neighbours in South America, Peru is ranked in absolute terms as a "middle income" country, a status which has led to the UK Department for International Development (DFID) withdrawing its aid operations from Peru. Yet even DFID concedes that it is unlikely that Peru will achieve some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially that relating to poverty, such is the degree of socio-economic inequality.
Recent years of relatively high economic growth have failed to make significant inroads into poverty reduction. By the government's own criteria, 48% of the population lives below the poverty line. In rural areas this figure rises to over 60%, illustrating how poverty particularly impacts indigenous people as opposed to those of Spanish descent who dominate the urban business economy.
The impact of poverty is most evident in health indicators - about one quarter of the population has no access to health services despite the apparent introduction of free healthcare in 2002. The rate of maternal mortality is one of the highest in the region. Malnutrition is another inevitable consequence and children especially find themselves caught in the poverty trap, unable to benefit from economic growth.
Politics
The opportunity to elect a government committed to pro-poor policies was missed in the 2006 election when the populist candidate Ollanta Humala was defeated by Alan García, president during a turbulent period in the late 1980s. Humala had promised to bring about a "revolution for the poor" but the open support of Huga Chávez of Venezuela was exploited by García, citing interference with Peruvian independence. García has set himself the more modest target of reducing poverty from 48% to 40% over 5 years.
The president of Peru is elected by popular vote for a 5 year term during which he or she acts as head of both state and government. The legislative body is the 120-member elected Congress, whose term runs in parallel with the President. Voting in elections is compulsory. Alan García's powers to enact new legislation may be restricted by his opponent Ollanta Humala who heads the Union por el Peru (UPP) party which has 46 seats in Congress, more than the 36 seats of García's Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA) party.
Corruption has undermined Peruvian politics with both of García's predecessors currently under investigation. President Fujimori resigned whilst in office in 2000 as charges of corruption began to close in on him. He fled to Japan, his country of origin, beyond the arm of justice and recovery of the vast government revenues he is believed to have diverted. Apparently resolved to fight the 2006 election and clear his name, Fujimori flew to Chile to establish a base for his campaign. He was however promptly arrested by the Chilean authorities and is currently subject to an extradition order placed by Peru.
The victor of the 2001 election came from a large and poor Andean Indian family - Alejandro Toledo's rags-to-riches story captivated the voters but failed to pave the way to successful government. In striving to find a balance between his natural constituency of the poor and the demands of globalisation, Toledo satisfied neither. He is now under investigation for the corruption scandals exposed during his presidency.
It is hardly surprising that Peruvian civil society is mobilised by low public confidence in government institutions and is adopting an increasingly aggressive tone in campaigning for social justice. A potential setback for the sector has emerged in the shape of new legislation to curb NGOs through compulsory registration of any foreign funding.
Conflict
A key factor contributing to the entrenched poverty in Peru has been the diversion of vital government resources to deal with internal conflict. A violent insurgency by the Maoist Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) guerillas caused political instability throughout the 1980s. Another guerilla group - the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) - also gained in strength during this time. The 1990 presidential election victory of Alberto Fujimori brought fresh government resolve to deal with the violence which resulted in the capture in 1992 of inspirational MRTA and Sendero Luminoso leaders and the eventual reduction in violence.
Drugs-related crime remains a serious problem in Peru and is often attributed to former members of these revolutionary groups.
Human Rights
In 2001 a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established and its final report in 2003 estimated that over 69,000 people had died or disappeared in the conflict, with atrocities committed by both guerillas and government forces.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had no powers to bring to justice the perpetrators of human rights abuses and both government and military have been accused of laxity in following up the report. Nevertheless, during 2006 cases were transferred to civil courts and resulted in several hundred convictions. These included Victor Campos and other senior figures from MRTA as well as Abimael Gusman, founder of Shining Path, all of whom received long prison sentences for their part in atrocities committed in the 1980's and 1990's. The new government has promised to continue these cases and to organise reparations for victims of the crimes.
Economy
A central issue for the Peruvian economy is the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) promoted by the US in the absence of progress in the Doha round of trade negotiations. Critics of the FTA are concerned that it will have an adverse impact on poor agricultural communities whose produce will be undercut by subsidised US output. Backed by the new president, the FTA has been passed by the Puruvian Congress and awaits approval by its US counterpart.
The economy in Peru is characterised by high internal and external debt with low levels of social spending in relation to neighbouring economies of similar size. Poorer regions are much dependent upon remittances received from the many Peruvians working overseas, the amount typically as high as $2.5 billion per annum.
Information and Media
In recent years Peru has successfully nurtured an increasingly vibrant media scene. Dozens of radio stations and several TV services now operate independently out of Lima and a great many radio stations and regional newspapers are available in the provinces.
The increase in objective and independent news coverage has come about since the fall of the disgraced former president, Alberto Fujimori, whose regime strictly controlled the state-owned media. Journalists opposing the government often faced harassment and imprisonment - and television and radio programmes were suspended and closed down for "insults". Ironically, the scandal that led to the collapse of the Fujimori government involved political bribery of the heads of America TV and Panamericana TV.
Although public confidence was dented by the Fujimori affair, Peru has been rebuilding a reputation for objective and impartial media. However, 2005 has seen a worrying increase in violence against journalists, suggesting that new freedoms remain fragile.
Environment
Whilst the Peruvian economy has been heavily dependent upon exports of natural resources, insufficient attention has been placed on guarding environmental sustainability. For example, the mining industry has been virtually unregulated for decades and is responsible for the poor water quality of the principal river systems, extensive deforestation, and damage to ecologically sensitive parks and coastal areas. Peruvian environmental interest groups and INGOs such as the WWF and Oxfam have been exerting pressure on the government to adopt stronger legislation to control abuses by the mining industry.
As the government continues to seek foreign investment, questions arise as to who bears the liability for past environmental abuses and what frameworks will be put in place to enforce responsible behaviour in the future. One example is the Camisea gas pipeline project which threatens 700 miles of Amazonian ecosystems and tribal communities, and has attracted the attention of global environmental campaigners. President García has promised to review the Comisea contract.
Peru's environmental woes are completed by the misfortune that its vulnerability to the impact of climate change is possibly as serious as any country in the world. Its tropical glaciers are predicted to disappear by 2015 with fundamental consequences for the availability of freshwater to the entire population.
The OneWorld Peru Guide was first published in January 2005 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Stuart Doxford
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Recent years of relatively high economic growth have failed to make significant inroads into poverty reduction. By the government's own criteria, 48% of the population lives below the poverty line. In rural areas this figure rises to over 60%, illustrating how poverty particularly impacts indigenous people as opposed to those of Spanish descent who dominate the urban business economy.
The impact of poverty is most evident in health indicators - about one quarter of the population has no access to health services despite the apparent introduction of free healthcare in 2002. The rate of maternal mortality is one of the highest in the region. Malnutrition is another inevitable consequence and children especially find themselves caught in the poverty trap, unable to benefit from economic growth.
Politics
The opportunity to elect a government committed to pro-poor policies was missed in the 2006 election when the populist candidate Ollanta Humala was defeated by Alan García, president during a turbulent period in the late 1980s. Humala had promised to bring about a "revolution for the poor" but the open support of Huga Chávez of Venezuela was exploited by García, citing interference with Peruvian independence. García has set himself the more modest target of reducing poverty from 48% to 40% over 5 years.
The president of Peru is elected by popular vote for a 5 year term during which he or she acts as head of both state and government. The legislative body is the 120-member elected Congress, whose term runs in parallel with the President. Voting in elections is compulsory. Alan García's powers to enact new legislation may be restricted by his opponent Ollanta Humala who heads the Union por el Peru (UPP) party which has 46 seats in Congress, more than the 36 seats of García's Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA) party.
Corruption has undermined Peruvian politics with both of García's predecessors currently under investigation. President Fujimori resigned whilst in office in 2000 as charges of corruption began to close in on him. He fled to Japan, his country of origin, beyond the arm of justice and recovery of the vast government revenues he is believed to have diverted. Apparently resolved to fight the 2006 election and clear his name, Fujimori flew to Chile to establish a base for his campaign. He was however promptly arrested by the Chilean authorities and is currently subject to an extradition order placed by Peru.
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| Alejandro Toledo © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep |
It is hardly surprising that Peruvian civil society is mobilised by low public confidence in government institutions and is adopting an increasingly aggressive tone in campaigning for social justice. A potential setback for the sector has emerged in the shape of new legislation to curb NGOs through compulsory registration of any foreign funding.
Conflict
A key factor contributing to the entrenched poverty in Peru has been the diversion of vital government resources to deal with internal conflict. A violent insurgency by the Maoist Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) guerillas caused political instability throughout the 1980s. Another guerilla group - the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) - also gained in strength during this time. The 1990 presidential election victory of Alberto Fujimori brought fresh government resolve to deal with the violence which resulted in the capture in 1992 of inspirational MRTA and Sendero Luminoso leaders and the eventual reduction in violence.
Drugs-related crime remains a serious problem in Peru and is often attributed to former members of these revolutionary groups.
Human Rights
|
| Exhumations Carried Out by CVR Perù |
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had no powers to bring to justice the perpetrators of human rights abuses and both government and military have been accused of laxity in following up the report. Nevertheless, during 2006 cases were transferred to civil courts and resulted in several hundred convictions. These included Victor Campos and other senior figures from MRTA as well as Abimael Gusman, founder of Shining Path, all of whom received long prison sentences for their part in atrocities committed in the 1980's and 1990's. The new government has promised to continue these cases and to organise reparations for victims of the crimes.
Economy
A central issue for the Peruvian economy is the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) promoted by the US in the absence of progress in the Doha round of trade negotiations. Critics of the FTA are concerned that it will have an adverse impact on poor agricultural communities whose produce will be undercut by subsidised US output. Backed by the new president, the FTA has been passed by the Puruvian Congress and awaits approval by its US counterpart.
The economy in Peru is characterised by high internal and external debt with low levels of social spending in relation to neighbouring economies of similar size. Poorer regions are much dependent upon remittances received from the many Peruvians working overseas, the amount typically as high as $2.5 billion per annum.
Information and Media
|
| Peruvian vendors © Helen Jones |
The increase in objective and independent news coverage has come about since the fall of the disgraced former president, Alberto Fujimori, whose regime strictly controlled the state-owned media. Journalists opposing the government often faced harassment and imprisonment - and television and radio programmes were suspended and closed down for "insults". Ironically, the scandal that led to the collapse of the Fujimori government involved political bribery of the heads of America TV and Panamericana TV.
Although public confidence was dented by the Fujimori affair, Peru has been rebuilding a reputation for objective and impartial media. However, 2005 has seen a worrying increase in violence against journalists, suggesting that new freedoms remain fragile.
Environment
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| Citizens of Tambogrande, Peru, protest against gold mine © Oxfam International |
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| Camisea pipeline scars rainforest © Amazon Watch |
Peru's environmental woes are completed by the misfortune that its vulnerability to the impact of climate change is possibly as serious as any country in the world. Its tropical glaciers are predicted to disappear by 2015 with fundamental consequences for the availability of freshwater to the entire population.
The OneWorld Peru Guide was first published in January 2005 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Stuart Doxford
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