Country Profile: The Republic of peru

“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 peaks...”

- Lonelyplanet.com

Nejra HodžićCourse: Democracy – Theory and Debate Instructor: Maja Pulic de Sanctis May 2015

Photo: National Geographic

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ContentsGENERAL 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

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICSI. Geography & PeoplePeru 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 19th 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 Huascarán (6,768 meters) placed at Andes (Maximo Nivel – Peru, 2015). The Amazon

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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 world’s 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 Peru’s 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 Peru’s “physical position as a gateway from Asia to the markets of Brazil and other countries of the 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).

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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. Peru’s 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 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,

2A national study counted 1786 different indigenous communities made up of 60 different ethnic groups). Amazonian tribes make up 2% of Peru’s 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)

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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

45%

37%

15%3%

PeruVIAN POPULATIONAmerindian mestizowhite Japanese, Chinese and black

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).

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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.

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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 a high-degree diploma on universities (ibid). The recent information show a rather worrisome trend with the number of out-of-school 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

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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 country’s long term stability and development as well as prospects in the increasingly globalized world.

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

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II. Historical BackgroundPeru 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 citizenry’s 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 people’s 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).

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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 severeausterity 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 Toledo’s 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 country’s 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 Garcia’s term. On the other side, the opponents accuse him for

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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.

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

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POLITICAL SYSTEMI. Electoral Process and PluralismPeru 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 Fujimori’s 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 country’s 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 pre-election 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

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employing all means available (even intimidation, falsification and abuse of media). Once the situation got out of hands, people started openly confronting such rule and international actors began to express dissatisfaction with the state of democracy in Peru. 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 Garcia’s liberalization of the country may have indirectly brought the currents waking up civil society since many groups mobilized against increased control of Peru’s 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 Peru’s democracy in spite of free and fair elections. The last elections in 2011 were “most highly polarized and contested presidential elections in Peru’s 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

3 The vote ratio was 51% : 48.5% (ibid).

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Today, there is no legal obstacle for any minority or identity group to vote, candidate itself or be elected. Women achieved suffrage in 1955 under the influence of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The issue of their political participation is more complicated and the levels of women´s political representation in Peru remain below the country´s 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 country’s 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

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ensuring full participation in society without discrimination (2011). The readiness of country’s government to adapt certain policies and laws to appeal to international organizations and respect human rights in the electoral aspect is an important democratic progress. Therefore, elections are the segment of Peru’s democracy that is working in full capacity today.

II. Political ParticipationThe 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

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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 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 ambassador’s 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.

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In general, the development of civil society in Peru started with the left-wing 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 Peru’s 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 (Hernández 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

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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 Fujimori’s 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 Toledo’s 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 Toledo’s 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 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

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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)

Modern political parties in Peru emerged during the 20th 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-

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President Garcia. Throughout Peru’s 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);

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

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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.

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III. Foreign Relations & Human RightsPeru 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 country’s market more competitive globally, but in other, it brings dissatisfaction of the people who see foreigners as controlling their resources. Peru’s 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 world’s top coca grower (Groll, 2013). Most of the

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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 Fujimori’s presidential terms. In 2015, Human Rights Watch issued a report in which several fields of progress for Peru’s 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

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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 faster pace as well as simultaneously treat the questions of women, LGBT and civic rights.

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IV. Political CultureThe 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 country’s 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).

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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 a 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 people’s satisfaction with democracy was among the lowest in Latin America (McClintoc, 2013). All these indicators are voiced strongly and President Humala’s 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.

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Alasino, E., 2008. Peru: The Kingdoom of the NGO?. Available at: http://fride.org/descarga/WP49_NGOs_Peru_ENG_feb08.pdf. Accessed: 15 May 2015.

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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.