Peru: Paths to Poverty - Brossura

Reid, Michael

Brossura

ISBN 10: 090615622X ISBN 13: 9780906156223

Casa editrice: Latin Amer Bureau, 1985

Riassunto

Peru has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. Industrialisation has further marginalised the Andean peasantry from national life but provided minimal gains for the millions of newly-urbanised poor. The country's economy, historically disadvantaged in the world market, has entered into a profound crisis for which the civilian government has provided no solution. For the great mass of Peruvians democratic government, regained in 1980, has given certain liberties but no escape from the horrendous cycle of poverty.Peru: Paths to Poverty traces the background to the present crisis, surveying the historic exploitation of the country's resources for the benefit of foreign capital and the local ruling class. It analyses the promise and limitations of the reformist military government of General Velasco (1968-75) and studies subsequent political developments, through the election of Fernando Belaunde's government to the resurgence of the left in the municipal elections of 1983. Outlining the government's attachment to monetarism and its debilitating effect on living standards, this special brief also considers the emergency of the Sendero Luminoso rural guerrilla.

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Peru

Paths to Poverty

By Michael Reid

Practical Action Publishing

Copyright © 1985 Latin America Bureau (Research and Action) Limited
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-906156-22-3

Contents

Maps, iv, 
1. Peru in Brief, 1, 
2. Colony and Republic, 17, 
3. The Birth of Mass Politics, 28, 
4. Military Reformism, 42, 
5. The System in Crisis, 54, 
6. Political Democracy and Economic Disaster, 81, 
7. Sendero Luminoso, 106, 
Appendices, 
1. Structure of Production, 1978-1983, 128, 
2. Real Income, 1978-1983, 128, 
3. Election Results, 1980 and 1983, 129, 

CHAPTER 1

Peru in Brief

A Note on Geography

Peru is the third largest country in South America, yet only 15 per cent of its land area is useable for agricultural purposes, and its dramatic and difficult topography has impeded national integration and development. The country is divided into three main natural regions. The coastal plain is a narrow strip of desert, watered by 36 rivers whose valleys have been turned into fertile oases. The coastal region accounts for only eleven per cent of Peru's land area but contains half the population. Rising sharply from the coastal desert, the massive ranges of the Andes (whose highest peak is the 22,205ft Huascaran in Ancash's Cordillera Blanca) cover more than a quarter of the country. The high western cordillera of the Andes has created an unfortunate hydrological division: barely a hundred miles inland from the Pacific coast all the rivers form part of the Atlantic-flowing Amazon system. Until 1940 two out of three Peruvians lived in the highland (sierra) region, but subsequent migration has reduced this to 39 per cent. This population is crowded into deep valleys carved into the rocky massifs and inter-montane basins (altiplanos) of high altitude rough pasture. Only 4.5 per cent of the sierra is cultivable, while about a quarter is grazing land, largely of poor quality. East of the Andes lies the immense tropical rain forest of the Andean basin, accounting for almost two thirds of Peru's land area, but containing only eleven per cent of the population. Most of the population and the cultivable land in the jungle region is concentrated in the ceje de selva ('the eyebrow of the jungle') -a sub-region formed by the eastern Andean foothills and the broad tropical valleys which divide them.

Chronology

1532 Pizarro lands at Tumbes.

1780 Popular uprising under the leadership of Tupac Amaru, based in Cusco.

1821 July 28 — Declaration of independence from Spain by General San Martin.

1826-65 Era of military caudillos.

1840-80 Guano boom years.

1879-83 War of the Pacific against Chile.

1895-1919 'Aristocratic Republic' of elected governments of the oligarchy.

1924 APRA founded.

1930 PCP founded; Colonel Sanchez Cerro takes power in coup, repressing the labour movement.

1932 July — APRA uprising in Trujillo, in which officers are killed, is crushed with great brutality by the army.

1948-56 Dictatorship of General Manuel Odria upholds the rule of the oligarchy.

1956-62 Government of conservative civilian Manuel Prado.

1962 Stalemate in elections between Victor Raul Haya de la Torre (APRA) and Fernando Belaunde Terry (Accion Popular) leads to military coup and convoking of fresh elections by army junta; collapse of ELN rural guerrilla in Madre de Dios.

1963 Belaunde wins elections and presides over mildly reformist administration.

1965 MIR rural guerrilla fails in Junin and La Convencion.

1968 October — bloodless coup led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado ousts Belaunde; Velasco presides over strong military regime until 1975, introducing a series of major socio-economic reforms.

1975 February — deteriorating economic situation leads to riots in Lima during a police strike; 200 people killed.

August — Velasco overthrown in bloodless coup led by General Francisco Morales Bermudez, who consolidates the regime's shift to the right; principal supporters of Velasco are retired from the armed forces; orthodox economic stabilisation policies introduced.

1976 June — wave of strikes against deflationary policies and devaluation of the currency (the sol); state of emergency declared and leading members of the opposition jailed or exiled.

1977 June — further series of price rises provokes widespread social discontent.

July 19 — national general strike paralyses country.

July 28 — Morales Bermudez announces timetable for return to civilian rule and lifts state of siege.

1978 February 27 and 28 — general strike fails to force reversal of redundancies.

May — teachers' union SUTEP strikes for 81 days.

May 22 and 23 — general strike; state of emergency declared and left-wing leaders exiled.

June 18 — elections for Constituent Assembly; APRA wins greatest single representation but the left receives 30 per cent of the vote.

1979 January 9 — three-day general strike for reinstatement of redundant workers fails to achieve objective.

June — SUTEP stages national strike for wage rise; action finally called off in September without major success.

July — new Constitution ratified by Assembly; Haya de la Torre dies.

1980 May — general elections won by Belaunde and Accion Popular; the left's vote collapses; Sendero Luminoso stage first armed action in the department of Ayacucho; Belaunde administration begins to apply liberal policies and implement harsh deflation.

July — formation of Izquierda Unida left-wing alliance; APRA splits at party congress.

November — municipal elections show continued support for Accion Popular.

1981 January — government removes many price subsidies, provoking one-day general strike (15th).

April — decree no.46 introduced making it a crime to express support for Sendero.

September 22 — general strike against economic policies fails to generate mass support.

October — state of emergency declared in five provinces around town of Ayacucho; 701 armed actions by Sendero reported in 1981.

1982 March — Sendero occupy town of Ayacucho for a night.

May — new IMF loan agreed.

September — mass participation in Ayacucho funeral of leading senderista Edith Lagos, killed by security forces.

December — seven provinces in Ayacucho declared to be an emergency zone under military administration, led by General Clemente Noel.

1983 January 26 — eight journalists murdered in village of Uchuraccay, department of Ayacucho, leading to widespread suspicion that they were killed on military orders by local peasants; government-appointed commission led by novelist Mario Vargas Llosa later issues report largely favourable to the military; Sendero launches series of attacks, including the cutting of Lima's electricity supply, which becomes a recurrent tactic.

March 10 — general strike against Belaunde's economic policy gains broad support.

August — Amnesty International sends open letter to Belaunde protesting at violation of human rights, particularly in Ayacucho, Belaunde vehemently rejects Amnesty's findings.

September — strike called by CGTP fails to make an impact.

November — Izquierda Unida wins municipal election in Lima; Alfonso Barrantes becomes the city's first leftwing mayor.

December — a total of eleven provinces in Ayacucho are now under direct military rule.

1984 March — one-day general strike by all unions.

July — military given overall charge of operations against Sendero; repression increases.

August — 50 bodies found in mass grave in Ayacucho; widespread belief that the massacre was perpetrated by the military.

Political Parties

In 1984 there were four main electoral forces in Peruvian politics.

1. Partido Popular Cristiano (PPC)

A right-wing party formed in 1966 when lawyer Luis Bedoya Reyes and other conservatives split from the more progressive Partido Democrata Cristiano (PDC). The PPC draws its support chiefly from industrialists and the Lima upper middle class. It was the minor partner in a coalition government with Accion Popular (AP) from 1980 until April 1984.

2. Accion Popular (AP)

Formed in 1956 after the presidential candidature of Arequipa architect Fernando Belaunde Terry, AP began as a reformist party of the provincial middle class, committed to the development of Peru into a modern industrialised society through state planning and public works within the framework of a mixed economy. Belaunde was elected president in 1963 and again in 1980. By the 1980s the party had evolved towards a moderate conservatism.

AP's electoral success owed much to Belaunde's personal charisma and ability to draw votes from all social classes and regions. The unpopular record of his current government, and Belaunde's age (73) mean that his party's recent dominance of Peruvian electoral politics is unlikely to continue. Other leaders: Javier Alva Orlandini, Manuel Ulloa.

3. Partido Aprista Peruano (APRA)

The Partido Aprista Peruano (PAP) was founded in 1930 by former student leader Victor Raul Haya de la Torre. It is Peru's oldest and best organised political party although it has never governed the country. The PAP is technically the Peruvian section of a continent-wide APRA (Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana), founded by Haya de la Torre when exiled in Mexico in 1924, but the movement never spread beyond Peru.

APRA evolved from a populist nationalism in the 1930s — which provoked a fifty year feud with the army — to a conservative, pro-US stance in the 1950s and 1960s. The death of Haya in 1979 opened a prolonged internal struggle over the party's political line and leadership. This was resolved in 1982 with the election of Alan Garcia as general secretary, with the support of APRA's conservative leaders. Garcia has steered the party towards a moderate social democracy. An associate member of the Socialist International, APRA has particularly close links with Venezuela's Accion Democratica. APRA's traditional social base is amongst the lower middle class of the northern coast, but it also enjoys significant working class and some business support. Other leaders: Luis Alberto Sanchez, Armando Villanueva.

4. Izquierda Unida (IU)

IV was formed after divisions on the left resulted in disaster in the 1980 presidential elections. Its president is Alfonso Barrantes, a labour lawyer and non-aligned marxist. He was elected mayor of Lima in 1983. IV is a front of the following political parties:

Partido Comunista Peruano — 'Unidad' (PC-U)

The Peruvian Socialist Party was formed by Jose Carlos Mariategui and seven colleagues in 1928. In 1930, following Mariategui's death, the party affiliated to the Third International and changed its name to the PCP. To distinguish it from other fractions descended from the original party, the Moscow-line PC-U is popularly identified by the name of its weekly paper ('Unidad'). Although relatively small, the PC-U has the strongest working class base on the left. General Secretary: Jorge del Prado.

Unidad Democratica Popular (UDP)

Itself a front inside IU, the UDP was formed in 1977. Its main components were:

Movimiento de la Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR)

The MIR was formed by radical ex-Apristas who, influenced by the success of the Cuban revolution and APRA's sharp rightward shift, left the party in 1959. They founded 'Apra Rebelde', which in 1962 changed its name to the MIR. Under the leadership of Luis De la Puente Uceda, the MIR staged an abortive rural guerrilla action in 1965. This resulted in De La Puente's death and the repression and division of the party. Several of the major tendencies reconstituted themselves in the 1970s as MIR-Unificado, which was a founding member of the UDP. General Secretary: Carlos Tapia.

Vanguardia Revolucionaria (VR)

VR was formed in 1965 when a group of revolutionary intellectuals linked up with a fraction of the MIR and dissident elements of Accion Popular. VR developed an independent marxist position drawing heavily on Mariategui's insistence on the need for a distinctively Peruvian socialism. Together with the PC-U and Patria Roja, VR is one of the larger parties on the left, with a dominant position in the CCP campesino federation and the miners' federation. General Secretary: Javier Diez Canseco.

In 1984, MIR and VR, together with the bulk of the PCR, formed the Partido Unificado Mariateguista (PUM), and UDP was effectively dissolved. The PUM has considerable support among students and intellectuals, as well as trade union and campesino leaders.

Partido Comunista Revolucionaria (PCR)

Formed in 1975, when a group, mainly composed of radical catholic youth and students, split from VR. After a further split, the majority of the PCR (known as Clase Obrera) supported UNIR (see below) in the 1980 elections. In 1984, the bulk of Clase Obrera joined the PUM, leaving an independent rump around General Secretary Manuel Dammert.

Union Nacional de Ia lzquierda Revolucionaria (UNIR)

UNIR was formed as a front to contest the 1980 presidential elections and later became a part of IU. Its most important member is:

Partido Comunista del Peru — Patria Roja

An orthodox pro-Peking maoist party, Patria Roja's roots go back to the Sino-Soviet split of 1964, when the maoist-sympathising campesino and youth sections of the PCP split and formed the PCP Bandera Roja, under the leadership of lawyer Saturnino Paredes. In a confused series of schisms between 1968 and 1970, a group calling itself the Comite Nacional Coordinadora left the by then pro-Albanian Bandera Roja. The dissident group subsequently changing its name to Patria Roja.

Patria Roja has an important base of support in the teachers union (SUTEP), which it controls, as well as supporters in campesino and student organisations. Unlike other members of IU, a large part of Patria Roja's membership remained in clandestinity following the return to civilian rule in 1980. General Secretary: Alberto Moreno.

Frente Obrero Campesino Estudantil y Popular (FOCEP)

Formed in 1963 by lawyer Genaro Ledesma and novelist Manuel Scorza, both of whom had assisted the campesinos of the central sierra in their struggles against the Cerro de Pasco Corporation and other landowners. In 1978, Ledesma formed an alliance with the trotskyist PST and POMR parties (see below). Running under the name of FOCEP, these combined forces won 12 per cent of the vote in the constituent assembly elections, largely because of the charismatic presence of the trotskyist Hugo Blanco. The trotskyists left FOCEP in 1980, and the rump around Ledesma that joined IU has little support outside Cerro de Pasco.

Partido Socialista Revolucionaria (PSR)

Founded in 1976 by progressive retired military officers and their civilian allies who had been identified with the more radical reforms of the government of General Juan Velasco. The PSR split shortly after the constituent assembly elections, its left-wing (PSR-ML) attaching itself to the UDP. The party retains a controlling presence in the CNA campesino organisation. The election of university teacher Enrique Bernales as secretary general following a further split in 1982 consolidated the PSR's evolution towards a left social-democrat position.

Other Parties

Sendero Luminoso

Formed in 1970 out of the Ayacucho regional committee and other fractions of Bandera Roja, Sendero's full name is 'Partido Comunista del Peru — Por El Sendero Luminoso de Jose Carlos Mariategui'. After establishing a base in Ayacucho's university and the surrounding campesino communities, Sendero began armed action in 1980. Using a maoist strategy of rural insurgency, combined with urban terrorism, Sendero was by 1984 waging a full-scale guerrilla war. During 1983 it formed a People's Revolutionary Army with an estimated strength of 2,500-3,000, supported by a rural militia and urban cells. Its major base of support is in Ayacucho and surrounding areas of the south-central sierra, but it also established a presence in Lima, Arequipa and the central jungle. Sendero is led by former philosophy teacher Abimael Guzman ('Camarada Gonzalo'). Sendero's armed insurgency has gained the support of a number of small groups:

Vanguardia Revolucionaria-Proletaria Comunista under Julio Cesar Mezzich, who as a VR member led mass campesino land invasions in Andahuaylas in 1974. Mezzich's group is believed to have merged with Sendero.

MIR-Cuarta Etapa, which began armed action in the northern sierra in 1983.

Puka Llacta, a dissident fraction of Patria Roja with support in the mining region around La Oroya and Cerro de Pasco. Puka Llacta has itself split into three fractions, one of which is engaged in armed action alongside Sendero.

PSR-Marxista Leninista. After supporting the UDP in the 1980 elections, some of the PSR-ML went underground. They began urban guerrilla actions in Lima in 1983.

Trotskyist Parties

There are three main trotskyist parties in Peru, none of which is large. The Partido Obrero Marxista Revolucionaria (POMR) was formed in 1971 by ex-VR leader Ricardo Napuri. The Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores (PST) was formed in 1974 when the previous Frente de Izquierda Revolucionaria of Hugo Blanco changed its name. In 1978 Blanco left to form the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores (PRT). Both the PST (general secretary: Enrique Fernandez) and the PRT are aligned with the Unified Secretariat of the Fourth International. In the 1980 elections PRT, PST and POMR ran together under the name of the PRT.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Peru by Michael Reid. Copyright © 1985 Latin America Bureau (Research and Action) Limited. Excerpted by permission of Practical Action Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Latin Amer Bureau
• Data di pubblicazione: 1985
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 090615622X
• ISBN 13: 9780906156223
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 136
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile