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Short History Of Peru and Culture
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The indigenous Inca civilisation of what is now Peru was conquered by Spain in the early 16th century. The city of Lima was founded in 1535 and became the effective capital of the vice-royalty of Peru, established seven years later. Spain ruled the country until the early 19th century, using the rich silver reserves to finance its costly imperialist struggles with England, France and The Netherlands. The wars of independence, which expelled the Spanish from virtually the entire South American continent, reached Peru in the early 1820s. After the 1821 declaration of independence, Peru was challenged by the royalists. The new government appealed to the revolutionary leader, Simon Bolivar, for assistance.
Arriving from Colombia, Bolivar defeated the royalists at the Battle of Ayacucho in December 1824, after which he became head of state. Relations between Peru and its neighbours were difficult in the early years of independence. There were border disputes with Brazil and Ecuador – which have not been settled to this day – but especially with Chile. The War of the Pacific, which broke out between Peru (supported by Bolivia) and Chile in 1879, ended after five years, with a complete victory for Chile and the loss to Peru of some southern territories. Internal problems dominated the agenda for the next 30 years, as a series of governments struggled to keep the economy, which was almost completely destroyed as a result of the Pacific War, from disintegrating.
The first of Peru's many military coups was in 1914. The junta lasted five years, before giving way to the civilian Government of Augusto Leguia. Between 1919 and 1930, despite rampant corruption, Leguia instituted important reforms in education and social services. His tenure ended with another military take-over. While the military has always been a powerful force in Peruvian politics, its principal opponent and the country's largest political party for much of the 20th century has been the Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA), founded by Dr Victor Raul Haya de la Torre in 1924, as a continent-wide anti-imperialist movement, although increasingly moderate and Peruvian-centred in its appeal.
APRA has nevertheless been illegal for much of its history. Civilian administrations from 1963-67 and 1980-85 were headed by right-wing President Belaunde Terry of the Accion Popular Party, although APRA was usually the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies. Under Alan Garcia, APRA took power for the first time in 1985. Garcia's administration was a failure on both the political and economic front. On the political front, Garcia was faced with the continuing growth of the Maoist guerrilla movement, Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), which benefited substantially from the deteriorating economic situation. The failure of the Garcia Government froze APRA out of the 1990 Presidential election, which developed into a two-way race between Mario Vargas Llosa – the world-renowned author who led the Democratic Front coalition – and the comparatively unknown independent centrist candidate, Alberto Fujimori – an agricultural engineer of Japanese extraction – who was the surprise landslide winner.
The new Government followed the trend on the Latin American continent for radical free-market economic shock treatment, although steady capital flight and the distorting effects of the illegal cocaine economy proved insoluble problems. The 'war on drugs' was at the heart of relations between Peru and the USA. Fujimori also focused on resolving outstanding border disputes. The most serious of these was with Ecuador over access to the Amazonian river system and control of the potentially mineral-rich Condor mountain range. In early 1995, full-scale fighting broke out between Peru and Ecuador after talks broke down. This continued intermittently until a settlement was reached in 1999.
At home, the security forces made a major breakthrough in September 1992 against Sendero Luminoso, by capturing its leader, Abimael Guzman. The capture of Guzman helped to bolster Fujimori's position and also marked the beginning of the end for Sendero. By the mid-90s it was a pale shadow of its former self, active in only a few small coca-growing regions. (There are some indications of a resurgence in the last few years.) A South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up to record and investigate the estimated 70,000 deaths during the insurgency for which both Sendero and the security forces bore responsibility.
The victory over Sendero was a blessing for Fujimori who at the time was playing fast and loose with the Peruvian constitution and his executive powers. After winning the 1995 election, he contrived to stand for an unprecedented third term of office in 2000 which he also won, this time by default when his opponent, Alejandro Toledo, withdrew citing numerous irregularities.
Fujimori's triumph, such as it was, was short-lived. During his first two terms, he had relied heavily on the dubious services of his intelligence chief and principal fixer, Vladimir Montesinos. The mysterious appearance of a videotape showing Montesinos bribing an opposition assembly member to switch sides triggered Montesinos' fall. As investigations into his activities widened, he was found to be implicated in an extraordinary range of illegal activities, including drug trafficking, money laundering and organising death squad killings. He has since been jailed.
Montesinos' demise also meant the end for Fujimori, who was implicated in many of the same crimes. He resigned the Presidency in November 2000 and quickly left for Japan – he carries dual Japanese/Peruvian nationality and Tokyo has refused requests for his extradition. Bizarrely, Fujimori now apparently believes that he can make a political comeback, possibly at the 2006 Presidential election. However, the Peruvian authorities are currently seeking his extradition from Chile, where he is currently being detained by the authorities, to Peru to face trail.
