Peru is as complex

as its most intricate

weavings. Festivals
mix ancient pageantry
with stomping brass
bands. The urban
vanguard beams with
artistry and
innovation. Trails
mark the way from
dense jungle to glacial

Photo: National Geographic

Contents
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS....................................2
I. Geography & People..................................................2
II. Historical Background................................................8
POLITICAL FEATURES...............................................11
I. Electoral Process and Pluralism...............................11
II. Political Participation...............................................14
III. Foreign Relations & Human Rights........................19
IV. Political Culture.....................................................22
REFERENCES..............................................................24
Appendix A..................................................................29

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
I.

Geography & People

Peru extends for almost 2,414 km along the Pacific Ocean and
encompasses an area of 1 285, 215 km2 (Peru Travel, 2015). It is a Latin
American country bordering Columbia and Equator on the North, Brazil
and Bolivia on the East and Chile on the South (figure 2). Compared to
other world countries in size, Peru takes the 19 th place (Maximo Nivel
Peru, 2015). Its strategic position and geographical peculiarity account for
its greatest leverage: diversity. This country is the third largest in South
Africa and spreads over three different vegetation, climate and terrain
regions (Figure 1). The inland is characterized by extreme poverty and
subsistence agriculture, while the fertile river valleys of the lowlands have
produced a wealthier, more cosmopolitan culture (Geographia Peru,
2007). The coastline, where the capital Lima is situated, is the most
populated and urbanized zone of the country. The underlying reasons are
land fertility, suitable living conditions and availability of natural resources.
Highlands are also rich in minerals and ore such as copper, iron, zinc, gold
and silver (Borr, 2015). The highest point is Mount Huascarn (6,768
meters) placed at Andes (Maximo Nivel Peru, 2015). The Amazon

Figure 1. Peru's Geography and Climate (Peru Travel, 2015);

rainforest is the largest natural region, but it includes the smallest part of
the population due to intensive vegetation and tropical weather (Peru
Travel, 2015). Having sovereignty over such diverse territory, Peru
encompasses 11 ecological regions and 84 of the worlds 117 different
types of life zones (Peru Travel, 2015). This geographical wealth has
historically attracted colonizers and continues to work in the advantage of
Peru's public diplomacy and foreign investment today by creating a
favourable image of the country1. In addition, biodiversity contributes to
availability of food and opportunities for self-preservation of the population
(although region-specific opportunities). In other words, Peru is less
dependent on other countries in terms of resources. The relative
geographical proximity of the United States has not reflected itself through
serious influence over Perus politics and people as it is the case with
Central America. In contrary, its strategic location and openness to the sea
have brought the attention of Chinese government to the possibility of
accessing primary products and using Perus physical position as a
1 For example, Airlines in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey and South
Africa have expressed interest in flying to Peru, attracted by its tourism potential
and strategic location in the region (Andina, 2013).

gateway from Asia to the markets of Brazil and other countries of the
southern cone (Ellis, 2011). Since Peru shares the border with 5
neighbouring countries (Figure 2), its relationships within the region have
often been complicated, but remained prevailingly peaceful.

Figure 2. Perus regional surrounding (Infoplease, 2015);

Peru's population of about 30 million is mostly indigenous and

mestizo (CIA World Factbook, 2015). Amerindians make up to 45%, while
the mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) make 37% of population (ibid).
The rest of the population is comprised of descendants of Spaniards
(white) and minorities such as Chinese, Japanese and black (Figure 3).
Although there are different ethnic groups present on the territory of Peru
(even within the indigenous population) 2 the nationality they all relate to is
formally Peruvian. Despite the fact that the Amerindians constitute the
largest population group, 81.4% of Peruvians are Roman Catholics and
13% are Evangelists (ibid). This is probably the legacy of Spaniards who
conquered the indigenous people during the 16th century and violently
2A national study counted 1786 different indigenous communities made up of 60
different ethnic groups). Amazonian tribes make up 2% of Perus indigenous
population. Logging and mining have encroached into the Amazon basin, making
it difficult for these tribes to maintain their ways of life, and most have adapted
to more modern lifestyles. (Expat Peru, 2013)

imposed their religious practices and teachings. The population of Peru at

that time had the choice either to assimilate or to be whipped out. Today,
Spanish is the prevailing language (84.1%), although a multitude of
indigenous languages continue to hold sway in the highlands (CIA World
Factbook, 2015). For example, Quechua and Aymara (or a dialect of one of
them) are spoken in these regions more often than Spanish giving a solid
justification for their statuses of two remaining official

PeruVIAN POPULATION
Amerindian
white

mestizo
Japanese, Chinese and black

15%

3%
45%

37%

Figure 3. Population groups in Peru (CIA World Factbook, 2015);

languages in Peru. The ethnic belonging is usually related to the class in

the society. There is a sharp divide between the rural/indigenous and the
urban/colonial societies with the poorest areas often being largely
populated by Amerindians. The divide is not only economical but also
cultural, with differences evident in clothing, language and customs
(Figure 4).

Figure 4. Peruvian women in traditional clothing;

There is also a discrepancy in access to health care and education. Peru

has a decentralized health care system with multiple providers of services
and insurance that often function with a degree of overlap and lack of
coordination (World Health Organization, 2015). According to a report by
the Peruvian National Institute of Statistics and Information (INEI), 37.4%
of Peruvians do not have health insurance while 34% of the population
suffers from chronic illnesses, but only 52.2% of them receive some form
of treatment (INEI, 2012). This further deepens the social stratification of
the country and reflects itself in many aspects, but particularly high
maternal

mortality

rate.

According

to

Amnesty

International,

the

government is using a figure of 185 deaths per 100,000 live births for MMR
while the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) states that 240 women die for
every 100,000 live births (2009). Some of the underlying causes are

language barrier and lack of adequate transportation to hospitals from

rural areas (ibid). Such data suggests that the government needs to
undertake serious healthcare reform targeting particularly the indigenous
communities. Nevertheless, there is a progress in the field of life
expectancy at birth that increased for both sexes by 5 years over the
period of 2000-2012 (WHO, 2012). The increase might reflect the overall
economic development of the country in the recent period and perhaps
should not be taken as an indicator of improvement of accessibility of
health care in general.

The case with education is less problematic, yet a lot of efforts need to
be vested in fostering further equity. Education in Peru through primary
and secondary school is in practice inaccessible to many rural children due
to poverty and lack of transportation (Classbase, 2012). The education
system begins with pre-school before children enter primary school for 6
grades, continues through secondary school and there is a possibility of
earning

high-degree

diploma

on

universities

(ibid).

The

recent

information show a rather worrisome trend with the number of out-ofschool youth drastically increasing over the years. According to UNESCO,
there has been a sharp increase in this number since 2011 with the peak
in 2012 of more than 300 000 children and 230 000 young adolescents
being

out

of

school

(Figure

5).

Figure 5. Participation in education Peru (UNESCO, 2013);

The impact of such findings is very negative for any society, but
particularly for developing ones. This further implies that the youth not
gaining appropriate education or dropping out of school may turn to
criminal activities, not be qualified for the job market and not be
motivated to engage in political participation. For Peru, this could mean
deepening social inequality. However, some positive trends, such as
increased literacy rates throughout the last 35 years (from 80% to above
90%) for both sexes indicate that there is a potential for improvement in
education sphere (Figure 6). Overall, bad health care and education
policies hamper the countrys long term stability and development as well
as prospects in the increasingly globalized world.

Figure 6. Literacy rates in Peru 1980-2015 (UNESCO, 2015);

II. Historical Background

Peru has been the heart of Incan Empire for almost half a century in the
beginning of the second millennium. These ancient cultures left behind
some

of

the

most

valuable

collections

of

architecture,

ceramics,

metallurgy and textiles known to man (Maximo Nivel Peru, 2015). They
were conquered in 1532 by Francisco Pizarro, the leader of Spanish
expedition in Latin America and became a part of Spanish Vice-royalty with
capital in Lima (BBC, 2012). By the 20th century, many of the indigenous
people of the Andes were reduced to what some describe as Fourth
World poverty through violence, illnesses and exploitation (CJC, 2014).
Peru was born as an independent nation through a long emancipating
process in 1824, but for a hundred years thereafter revolutions were
frequent. Nonetheless, the doctrinaire foundations of the emancipating
process were directly tied to the democratic ideology, which sought to
warrant the full effect of citizenrys rights and duties; the consolidation of
the juridical and political order of the country; the respect of the
Constitution and the rule of law; the peoples well-being, and the
permanent validity of individual guarantees and rights (Congress of the
Republic of Peru, 2015). The foundations were in theory democratically
oriented, but many features of the real political life of the country were
non democratic with periods of autocratic military rule breaking the
democratic consolidation. Until the development of mass party politics in
the latter part of the 20th century, the majority of population was politically
excluded and economically diminished while the nation was dominated by
an aristocratic oligarchy of Spanish descent (CJC, 2014). Ruling military
elites have had good ties with business class of Peruvian society that
enjoyed benefits on the expense of rural population. In the 1980s the
economic situation had become pivotal while the extent of external debt
was reaching its peak. Thereupon, military rule ended after being faced
with serious revolts from the people, unstoppable economic breakdown
and the leftist opposition (APRA - American Popular Revolutionary Alliance
and Alan Garcia as the President).

Since the economic trend was continually falling, the leftist government
soon lost the office to the president Alberto Fujimori one of the most
famous Peruvian political figures. Since the tradition of personalism is very
strong in Peru, the period after 1980s was characterized by strong
Presidential figures impacting government more than political parties
through Parliament. Although Fujimori managed to return economy to an
upward trend through severe
austerity and privatisation programs, his practices soon developed
authoritarian features (BBC, 2012). In 1993, he adopted a new constitution
enabling himself a re-election. He was accused of corruption, human rights
violations and political killings all of which led to his imprisonment once
he returned to Peru from which he escaped after the situation escalated
publically in 2001. In that year, a historical event took place: the first
indigenous President was elected to the office Alejandro Toledo. Toledo
was more oriented to social policies, attempting to improve political and
economic inclusion of poor and marginalized groups (Diamond, 2008). The
Toledo government successfully returned Peru to democratic path and led
to an economic boom through effective economic management and
promotion of foreign investments (The Lima Guide, 2015). However, the
progress was mostly felt among the upper classes of society and Toledos
social policies failed at employing poor and excluded. In 2006, he was
replaced by Alan Garcia whose term proved to be more effective. He
continued the liberalization of the countrys market that was started by
Toledo making Peru one of Latin America's top destinations for foreign
investment (Figure 7). As evident from Figure 7, Peru reached the highest
FDI/GDP Index individually and in comparison to the most developed
economies in the region in 2008 which is during Garcias term. On the
other side, the opponents accuse him for

10

Figure 7. FDI Index for Latin American Countries (Americas Market Intelligence, 2012);

allowing foreign companies to hold control over Peru's wealth of natural

resources and the growth of drug trafficking which was an inevitable
consequence of market liberalization. The current Peruvian President is
Ollanta Humala, former military officer and head of the Peruvian
Nationalist Party. His goals at the time of elections were to increase the
minimum wage and the salaries of the public sector, create a guaranteed
pension for people over 65 years who have no social protection, expand
health care including building of hospitals especially in rural areas and
implementation of an emergency ambulance network, improve the public
education system, fight malnutrition as well as expand basic infrastructure
to all areas in Peru (The Lima Guide, 2015). Yet, the country has
experienced a relative stalemate since Humala came to power and it is
questionable in what state of affairs he will leave Peru next year when his
term expires.

11

Figure 8. Presidents Garcia (on the left) and Humala (The Lima Guide, 2015);

12

POLITICAL SYSTEM
I.

Electoral Process and Pluralism

Peru has had difficulties with consolidating democratic rule in all

aspects necessary for a functioning political system. Following that
argument, it is only natural to claim that true democratic features have
begun to gain grounds in Peru after the collapse of Fujimoris government.
Electoralism is one of the democratic tenets that has been manipulated
historically in this country to justify different regimes with authoritarian
features. However, since 2000, the elections have been free and fair as
evident from the countrys progress and stability. In that year, the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and The Carter Center
(TCC) organized an international monitoring focusing on the critical preelection period in which number of concerns that were undermining public
confidence in the election process were revealed and later on addressed
(National Democratic Institute, 2000). They included:
o lack of access to the media for opposition candidates;
o pro-government media bias, particularly in the broadcast media;
o intimidation of opposition leaders and their supporters by the
national tax agency;
o actions by state security agencies to harass and intimidate
opposition leaders;
o the misuse of state resources for electoral advantage;
o falsification of signatures to qualify one of the parties in the Peru
2000 alliance;
o widespread impunity for perpetrators of electoral violations;
o general lack of confidence in the neutrality of the election
authorities (ibid).
The underlying cause was the decade-long rule of President Fujimori
who used the economic crisis in the country to root himself in power
employing all means available (even intimidation, falsification and abuse
of media). Once the situation got out of hands, people started openly

13

confronting

such

rule

and

international

actors

dissatisfaction with the state of democracy in Peru.

began

to

express

In particular, The

Organization of American States (OAS), U.S. Department of State, U.S.

Congress, White House, European Union, and others expressed formal
support for the work done by NDI and The Carter Center (ibid). Their joint
efforts contributed to the performance of national observers and increased
media coverage and public awareness. By targeting the masses, they laid
down foundations for one of the most important democratic stones
accountability. Ultimately won by Toledo, turmoil had decreased in the
years precluding the 2006 elections although many economic difficulties
remained for the new presidential candidates. The very fact that Toledo
was of indigenous origin is a huge step forward for the quality of
democracy in the country that demonstrates inclusion and representation
of Amerindian population that has for centuries been dominated by elites.
After the instability in 2000, the next elections in Peru were generally
peaceful without the need for international observers (General Election,
2006).

They have, nevertheless, maintained a dialogue with the

government to encourage implementation of specific measures targeting

credibility of elections. President Garcias liberalization of the country may
have indirectly brought the currents waking up civil society since many
groups mobilized against increased control of Perus resources by foreign
capital. Despite the progress, corruption scandals and illicit drug trafficking
have cost him the next term. These issues proved the immaturity of Perus
democracy in spite of free and fair elections. The last elections in 2011
were most highly polarized and contested presidential elections in Perus
recent history (Youngers and Burt, 2011). The polarization indicates the
presence of healthy political spectrum and pluralistic competition for
government. Ollanda Humala, a candidate of leftist party, won tightly
against the daughter of an ex-President Keiko Fujimori and no irregularities
were recorded.3
Today, there is no legal obstacle for any minority or identity group to
vote, candidate itself or be elected. Women achieved suffrage in 1955
3 The vote ratio was 51% : 48.5% (ibid).

14

under the influence of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The

issue of their political participation is more complicated and the levels of
womens political representation in Peru remain below the countrys 30%
quota target (IDEA, 2014). Several factors influence this: electoral system
design,

political

party

structures,

political

culture,

socio-economic

inequities and campaign funding (ibid). IDEA has been heavily engaged in
solving this issue in cooperation with countrys government, but more
efforts need to be vested into directly addressing the root problem. The
issue in itself is very complex because many women, particularly those of
indigenous origin and elderly, are neither educated nor raised to have
interest in political affairs of the country. Peru is still very patriarchal
society with a lot of women in rural areas being forced to take care of their
families at home while their husbands and fathers manage the money and
societal relationships. Such situation may be treated through better
economic and social policies as well as education opportunities. Another
category that was previously excluded from elections was illiterate people.
Their right to vote was established only in 1979. The Constitution of that
year stated that all citizens have a voting right as long as they are in the
enjoyment of their civic capacity the vote is personal, equal, free, secret,
and compulsory up to seventy years of age (Congress of The Republic of
Peru). It is interesting to note that voting is compulsory in Peru even
today. This is a useful mechanism for generating high voting turnouts and
mobilizing population to exercise at least some extent of political
participation. On the other hand, it can be dangerous because people who
are not genuinely aware of the meaning of democratic vote may easily be
manipulated. The civic capacity this constitution referred to is a
formulation to be debated particularly after different human rights
organizations pointed to the obstacle people with disabilities have. In
2011, Peru restored voting rights to more than 23,000 people with mental
and intellectual disabilities that had been excluded from the voter registry.
According to Human Rights Watch, it is one of the most important steps in
ensuring full participation in society without discrimination (2011). The
readiness of countrys government to adapt certain policies and laws to

15

appeal to international organizations and respect human rights in the

electoral aspect is an important democratic progress. Therefore, elections
are the segment of Perus democracy that is working in full capacity today.

II. Political Participation

The civil society in Peru has been shaped by a history of instability,
social inequality and economic distress. What this means is that
proliferation of different social movements and organizations was not
directly stimulated by democratic motivation but rather protest against the
poverty and exploitation. Even thought that is the case, there are tenets
stimulating political participation in the country. For example, the current
Constitution which is approved by the Democratic Constituent Congress in
1993, extended the participation of citizens in public affairs through
referendum, legislative initiative, removal or revocation of authorities and
the demand of accountability (Congress of The Republic of Peru, 2015).
Yet, the relationship between government and NGOs remains distant with
weak platforms for coordination. Today, there are two main rebel groups
operating in Peru, both coming from left-wing: Shining Path and the Tupac
Amaru Revolutionary Movement (The Lima Guide, 2015). They arose in

16

response to Peru's entrenched system of race and class based

discrimination, which has deeply impoverished most of the country's
population, especially citizens of indigenous descent (ibid).

Figure 9. MRTA takeover of Japanese ambassadors residence in 1996 (The Lima

Guide, 2015);

They

both

aspire

to

overthrowing

government

and

establishing

communism. These groups are militant (particularly Shining Path) and they
terrorized the country during 1980-90s. The Tupac Amaru Revolutionary
Movement is best known for invasion of the Japanese ambassador's
residence in Lima and keeping 72 hostages for more than four months in
1996 (Figure 9). President Fujimori effectively dealt with this opposition by
sending armed forces to kill MRTA members and later launching a violent
campaign

to

exterminate

them.

Since

then,

these

groups

exist

underground and their membership has reduced significantly. The fact that
they had external support from movements in countries such as Cuba and
El Salvador should be considered when disregarding them today. If Peru
finds itself in a crisis and the existing inequality deepens, these groups
might pose an unhealthy civil society response.

17

In general, the development of civil society in Peru started with the leftwing groups in the 1970s. In the context of leftist revolutions across Latin
America, the spillover was expected to reach Peru. The political aims of
these movements have varied from fighting poverty and political militancy
to gaining popular education (Alasino, 2008). Therefore, NGOs in Peru first
appeared in great number in the early 1980s when the country emerged
from twelve years of military rule. Once Fujimori took over public authority
and patronaged politics, NGOs emerged as the crucial points of protest;
however, human rights NGOs and organisations defending democratic
rights ended up suffering serious government persecution (ibid). This
repression

ended

with

Toledo's

government

that

opened

new

communication channels. NGOs multiplied and professionalized assisted

by the foreign funding. The sector of development was especially
expanded with many organizations targeting growth as their goal. Some of
these development NGOs have been criticized for abusing their status for
economic and social gain hereby distorting their institutions and
betraying their supposed efforts on behalf of Perus poorest people (ibid).
Such problems occur because regulatory mechanisms in the government
are weak. Some surveys tested government and NGOs officials on the
control of resources and 70 percent replied that there was no information
on how these resources were used while 80 percent agreed that there was
a

lack

of

control

over

programming

and

management

activities

(Hernndez Celis, 2006). This is mostly the case with developmental NGOs
that receive huge amounts of donations from foreign partners. Other NGOs
that are gaining increasing popularity come from educational, human
rights fields and indigenous cultures. Overall, NGO activity has increased,
but the scenery of voluntary organisations is not strong and is crippled by
scarce organisational resources.
Another form of political participation that adds to the previous analysis
of electoralism in Peru is the voting turnout. An important fact needs to be
taken in consideration when looking at this. Voting is compulsory in Peru,
as is in most of Latin American countries. A powerful motivation for
political participation as it is, does not always generate 100% voting
18

turnout. In Peru, the voting turnout has generally had an upward trend
over the last 20 years (Figure 10).

Figure 10. Voter turnout data for Peru (IDEA, 2011).

It was the lowest in 1995, during the second term elections for President
Fujimori and highest during elections for President Garcia. Parliamentary
elections followed the same pattern. The reason for lowest turnout during
Fujimoris government was probably his control of election results as well
as use of authoritarian techniques such as intimidation and oppression to
win. On the other hand, the highest turnout was recorded after Toledos
term whose priority was social inclusion and stimulation of political
participation. Similarly, international observers concluded it was possible
for Peru to hold elections without their intervention in this year. There is a
possibility that people saw Toledos social policies insufficient, but were
motivated by economic progress and restored liberties to influence their
fate further through voting. In last elections, the voting turnout dropped
slightly despite the fact that the voting age population increased
significantly (in contrast to previous election year, 2 million more
Peruvians were now of age to vote). The underlying cause might be the
19

highest economic development country experienced in its democratic age

and content of middle-class voters for whom the progress was beginning
to be felt. Nevertheless, the development of civil society and continued
exclusion of rural poor managed to keep the voting turnout percentage
above 80%, which is still one of the highest in the region. In comparison
to Latin America, only Equator and Uruguay had higher voter turnouts in
2011 (Figure 11). In comparison to the USA, Peru outperformed by more
than 20%. Although one of the factors contributing to high voter turnouts
in is compulsory voting, which in the USA is not the case, there is a
significant difference in political culture and economic advancement. USA
as world economic superpower and one of the oldest democracies has
stable situation in country and relatively satisfied population. Peru, on the
other hand, still has a long path ahead of itself before the level of inclusion
and participation may be compared to that of USA. The advantage here is
that Peruvians finally see voting as one of the methods to make an impact
on the political life of their country.

Figure 11. Voting turnout of Latin American countries in comparison to USA (Hiffington
Post, 2012)

20

Modern political parties in Peru emerged during the 20 th century. Among

the first ones there were leftist American Popular Revolutionary Alliance
(APRA) and Popular Action (AP) and conservative Christian Democratic
Party (PDC) and Christian Popular Party (PPC). APRA has been one of the
most influential parties in Peru and its leader today is ex-President Garcia.
Throughout Perus history, many parties have attempted to gain office and
this was intensified after the rebirth of democratization in 1980s.
Nowadays, the country is a multiparty system and the current Parliament
composition includes 6 political parties (Figure 12). Conservative and
leftists parties have always had more success in Peruvian politics because
they reflect the divided social reality of the country. High class, elites,
business-owners, very religious people and traditionalists usually vote for
more right-oriented parties because this means protection of their capital
and interests. Poor and excluded vote for leftist parties hoping for better
social policies and improvement of their underprivileged position in the
society. Ollanda Humala comes from Peru Nationalist Party which is one of
the parties founding alliance Gana Peru (Figure 12). Gana Peru is formally
a leftist alliance making it difficult for the parliament to reach majority
since Fuerza Party upholds conservative ideology and it is the second
largest party in the Congress.

Figure 12. Distribution of seats in Peru's Congress (2011): red = Gana Peru 47 seats,
orange = Fuerza 37 seats, green = Peru Posible 21 seats, blue = Alianza por el Gran
Cambio 12 seats, yellow = Alianza Solidaridad 9 seats and light red = Apra 4 seats (The
Lima Guide, 2015);

21

In 2004, IDEA launched a project strengthening political party

systems in Peru and its neighbouring countries (IDEA, 2014). Technical
cooperation,

dialogue,

networking

and

applied

research

were

the

capacities political party and civic leaders were trained to accomplish in

their respective groups. In 2008, the program expanded to all active
members of national and regional parties with the purpose of promoting
multi-party political cooperation and consensus building as well as
improving internal agendas of the parties (ibid). The most recent work of
IDEA in Peru regarding party system occurred in pre-election time in 2010
in form of technical assistance program to help parties improve their
programmatic proposals (government plans). Even though no international
observers are required for elections, international involvement is needed
in building up capacities of civil society and political parties of the country.
Such endeavours only witness the depthless democracy Peru is constantly
working on over the past 15 years, especially in terms of political
participation.

22

III. Foreign Relations & Human Rights

Peru has been a member of the United Nations since its foundation. The
signing of Universal Declaration of Human Rights has impacted the politics
of the country in several aspects, but the most important outcome was
granting women suffrage in 1955. Peru has also been a member of
Organization of American states since 1948 whose main pillars are
democracy, human rights, security, and development. Since the modern
history of Peru has been peaceful and no serious internal conflicts took
place, international involvement from these organizations in peacekeeping
missions was not necessary. According to UNDP Human Development
Index that includes different measurements of education, health and GDP,
Peru is ranked 82nd (UNDP, 2014). This is a fairly good score for a country
that started its recovery 15 years ago and in this sense it does not require
foreign aid to sustain life. On the other hand, due to problematic
democratic history and several economic crises that shackled the country,
foreign investment is very important for Peru today. As a resource-rich
area, it needs infrastructure, industrialization and technology to further
develop. According to Figure 7, Peru is one of the fastest growing
economies (in terms of GDP) in the region due to increased inflow of
foreign direct investment. It is therefore crucial for the country to keep or
improve this rate of investment and development, making it highly
dependent upon foreign capital. In some sense, investment is good
because it makes countrys market more competitive globally, but in
other, it brings dissatisfaction of the people who see foreigners as
controlling their resources. Perus foreign relations are therefore shaped by
the economic currents. One of the largest impediments for positive
country image is certainly the illicit drug production and trafficking. As of
2013, Peru has overtaken Colombia as worlds top coca grower (Groll,
2013). Most of the

23

Figure 13. Bags containing more than 11 tons of drugs being prepared for incineration
in Peru (WSJ, 2014);

product is transported to Brazil and then to Europe or Asia. This creates

undesirable attributes for the country because investors do not feel safe in
environment in which government cannot combat the drug production and
transportation over its own borders. Hence, the efforts of Peruvian police
to seize the cocaine paste have been increased several fold in the last
year (Figure 13).
The state of human rights in the country has been problematic
throughout some periods in the past with the accent on military rules and
Fujimoris presidential terms. In 2015, Human Rights Watch issued a report
in which several fields of progress for Perus respect of human rights have
been identified. First, there are often confrontations between police and
protesters (protesting against large-scale mining projects) in which
civilians are wounded or killed (HRW, 2015). The report states that 34
civilians had been killed during protests as of September 2014. The
government should undertake serious measures to control police forces
more

effectively

since

protests

are

usually

regular

occurrence

in

democratic societies and no violent response must be recorded from the

state side. Second, there is a Law in place shielding security forces

24

Figure 14. Protestors clashing with the police in Peru anti gold-mining protests
(BBC, 2012);

from accountability for acts conducted in official capacity. Such Law

resembles those that were in place during authoritarian/military rules in
Peru that prohibited government officials from being prosecuted. Third,
improvement must be made in freedom of expression since a lot of
journalists investigating the corruption and businesses that got rich fast
are frequent targets of physical attack, threats, and criminal defamation
suits. Fourth, the human rights of women in terms of reproduction are
being violated by prohibiting abortion unless from medical reasons. This is
very discriminating towards women in the country and particularly those
with less equal access to healthcare which is not a rare occurrence in Peru.
Last, Peru needs to address past abuses more efficiently. Most of the
breaches that happened in 1990s are being dealt with, but slow progress
is taking place with those of 1980s when insurgent groups committed
massive violations of human rights across the country. According to
Human Rights Watch Report, Peru had failed to consolidate a specialized
judicial system with sufficient staff and resources to bring most cases to
court (2015). In that light, there are many unsolved issues in the field of
human rights and Peru will have to deal with its ghosts of the past at a

25

faster pace as well as simultaneously treat the questions of women, LGBT

and civic rights.

26

IV. Political Culture

The democratic political culture in Peru is flawed today. As evident from
previous analyses of political participation and respect for human rights as
well as economic inequality, the country needs to strengthen its efforts in
democratic consolidation. Although the elections are free and fair and the
government has established checks and balances, judiciary is very weak
when it comes to prosecuting government officials for accusations of
corruption. Similarly, the political culture still reflects encroached elitism
and patrimonialism that is the biggest legacy of Peruvian colonial history.
Before

the

Spaniards

came,

indigenous

people

lived

under

the

communitarian, theocratic principles and shared resources. Afterwards

they were exploited, oppressed and forced to assimilate. The roots of
current Peruvian democratic weaknesses is therefore century-long social
inequality. The economic liberalization of the country enriched the existing
business class, improved life of middle classes but rarely reached rural
poor. Not only is this part of population excluded economically, but their
political participation rarely goes beyond voting. Historically, insurgent
movements gathered these groups under a common goal of establishing
different

government.

At

this

point,

development

of

civil

society

organizations serves as a healthy alternative to these movements that lost

support in the past 15 years. Nevertheless, the democratic progress of the
country has been evident with the terms of past 4 governments. The
existing flaws of inequality, smaller human rights violations and corruption
are matters all countries in transition from military/authoritarian regimes
have to deal with. The aspect of human rights is especially acted upon by
the current government as evident from one of the first moves of President
Humala was to restore right of vote to disabled people. If the countrys
government desires to establish strong democracy, it will need to
simultaneously further economic development but also urgently address
inequality.
Other sources such as Economic Intelligence Unit also categorize
Peru as flawed democracy in their Democracy Index Map (Appendix A).

27

The measurements include electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties,

functioning of government, political participation, and political culture.
Peru is on the lower part of the scale for flawed democracies (6-6.99)
which

in

comparison

to

couple

of

decades

ago

is

significant

improvement. The major setback to democracy and the rule of law,

according to USAID, is corruption that continuously undermines citizens
trust in the political system and its institutions (2014). Consequently,
USAID works with the judiciary, regional, and local authorities and civil
society to strengthen tools to address corruption and increase public
awareness of how to fight it (ibid). This argument is supported by the
survey of Peruvian public opinion where peoples satisfaction with
democracy was among the lowest in Latin America (McClintoc, 2013). All
these indicators are voiced strongly and President Humalas political
manifesto seems to address them:
"Our dream is to build a country where everyone has equal rights and
duties; [a country] without racism and social inequality; a country where
children and young people are healthy, nurtured, educated and happy,
and have access to employment and a fair income; where women are not
harassed or discriminated against because of their gender; where our
elders live with decency and dignity; where Peruvians with disabilities feel
integrated and loved (The Guardian, 2011)."
He seemed determined to build a representative and participatory
democracy, promoting full respect for all Peruvians. Nevertheless, 4 years
after it seems to be one of the hardest tasks to realize. Democratic
building will surely be vocation of many Peruvian generations to come.

28

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Appendix A

The Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy index map for 2014. Greener colours
represent more democratic countries. Full democracies: 9.00-9.99 8.00-8.99 Flawed
democracies: 7.00-7.99 6.00-6.99 Hybrid regimes: 5.00-5.99 4.00-4.99 Authoritarian
regimes: 3.00-3.99 2.00-2.99 1.00-1.99 Insufficient information, not rated.

33