POLITICAL PROFILE www.alertnet.org/db/cp/peru.htm?v=poli

Peru was once part of the Incan empire and later the major vice-royalty of Spanish South America. Peru declared independence in 1821, but was the last colony in Latin America to actually gain independence from Spain when it defeated the remaining Spanish forces in 1824.

Although the first free elections in many decades were held in 1945, repeated military coups meant that civilian rule did not return until 1980 when Fernando Belaúnde Terry was re-elected President. Belaúnde first became President in 1963 but was ousted by a military coup in 1968. By the time of Belaúnde’s re-election, the Peruvian economy was in a very weak state. The situation was aggravated by the cost of military action against Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).
Alberto Fujimori won the presidential election in 1990 and introduced a programme of sweeping economic reforms, which reduced inflation and increased growth. He also stepped up action against the guerrillas and by 1992 most of the Shining Path leaders had been captured and imprisoned. In June 2003, the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that up to 60,000 people either died or disappeared in the 20 years of fighting between guerrillas and government forces.

An economic slump in the late 1990s caused by the disastrous effects of El Niño and the financial crisis in Asia led to mounting dissatisfaction with Fujimori’s regime. In November 2001 the Peruvian Congress declared Fujimori “morally unfit” to govern, following a bribery scandal involving intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos. Montesinos has since been arrested, but has yet to be tried for many of the 75 charges brought against him. On 21 January 2003 a judge ordered that Montesinos should be freed as he had been detained for more than the legal maximum of 15 months without being sentenced. However, he will not be allowed to leave the naval base where he is jailed because of the outstanding trials.
Fujimori has been living in self-imposed exile in Japan since November 2000 and is wanted in Peru on human rights abuse, corruption, kidnapping and murder charges. Japan has rejected Peru’s extradition request, stating that it does not have an extradition treaty with Peru. Fujimori has announced that he plans to run for Peru’s presidential election in
2006.

In April 2003, Peru’s congress voted to return to a bicameral legislature and recreate a Senate. Fujimori dissolved the two-chamber system and suspended the constitution in April 1992 as part of his so-called self-coup, or autogolpe.

In June 2001, the centrist Alejandro Toledo was elected president with 53.1% of the vote, defeating former president Alan García. The Peruvian cabinet resigned en masse in June 2003, a month earlier than the traditional date this takes place each year, in an effort to head off criticism and revamp the administration’s image following a series of demonstrations and strikes which led to the declaration of a state of emergency. At that time, Toledo’s popularity rating had plummeted to 11%, from around 60% when he was elected president. Since then, Toledo has lost several top aides in scandals, and several of his family members have been implicated in corruption and influence peddling cases. In a bid to restore public confidence, he completed his fifth cabinet reshuffle in February 2004. However, a further blow came in July 2004 when César Almeyda, a friend and former personal adviser of Toledo, who is in prison on corruption charges, claimed that the president has $5m in bribes in a Luxembourg account. Another development which weakened Toledo’s position was the election of a member of the opposition to head congress. In this climate, some observers maintain that Toledo will not last to the end of his term. Currently, Toledo is registering record lows in popularity. In March 2005 the Peruvian president and his sister Margarita have denied allegations of using forged signatures to register his party “Peru Possible” for the 2000 election.

Peru joined Mercosur in December 2003 as an associate member. The commercial region is one of Peru’s most important partners, representing a market of over 200m people.
Peru has signed a cooperation agreement with Bolivia to export gas through the port of Ilo.
The country has reached an agreement over a free trade agreement with Thailand, confirming its desire of cooperation and openness to the Pacific and Asian markets. GDP growth is set to reach 4% for the third consecutive year.