Transcript Peru`s Precarious Democracy

From Oligarchy to
Neoliberalism: The role of
Violence in the Construction of
Peru’s Constitutional Order
Max Cameron
Poli 332
March 1, 2016
Structural Conditions
• Spanish colonial domination: Peru was an important
Vice Royalty in the colonial period: It had the mines
and labor to support a massive aristocracy.
• Economic dependency on major capitalist powers:
Mancera divides Peruvian history before/after 1500
as “autonomy” and “dependency”. Economic base
extractivist. Large landholdings (latifundios) and
enclave economy
• Ethnic heterogeneity very high: Peru has a large
indigenous population. Long tradition of
“indigenismo”: “which saw in the regeneration of
exploited Indians a bright future for Peru” (Mayer
1991, p. 475).
Political Processes
• Long period of anarchy following
independence
• Oligarchy consolidated in late 19th century
• Pressures for change in 1920s and 1930s
• Oligarchic state collapses in 1970s under
military rule
• Rise of the Shining Path, autogolpe 1992
• Neoliberalism in 1980s
• No left turn
Oligarchic Domination
The “clique of Creoles and foreigners who
inhabit the strip of land between the Pacific Ocean
and the Andes do not form the real Peru; the
nation is made up by the Indian masses spread
across the Eastern slopes of the mountains. The
Indian has dragged along at the bottom level of
civilization for three hundred years, as a hybrid
with the vices of the barbarian without the virtues if
the European. Teach him only to read and write,
and you will see whether or not in a quarter of a
century he will rise to the dignity of a man.”
-- Manuel Gonzales Prada (18441918)
Populism
Republican, democratic ideas were
inappropriate in a heterogeneous society
divided along racial and class lines. Indians
could not read or write because there was no
policy of educating them for citizenship, and, as
a result, Peru had democracy “in name
only.” Constitutional government was a
“façade that masked cruel and despotic rule.”
-- Victor Raul Haya de la Torre
Socialism
Peru a “country in which Indians and
foreign conquerors live side by side but do
not mingle with or even understand one another.
The republic feels and declares its loyalty to the
viceroyalty and, like the viceroyalty, it belongs
more to the colonizers than to the rulers. The
feelings and interests of four-fifths of the
population play almost no role in the formation of
the national identity and institutions.”
-- Jose Carlos Mariategui
Breakdown of Oligarchic
Domination (1950s-1960s)
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Oligarchy persisted until 1960s
“Structural dualism”
Haciendas and peasant communities
Gamonales, gamonalismo
Peasant mobilization in 1950-60s
Guerrilla movement
Military Regime, 1968-80
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A corporatist, nationalist regime
Land reform, peasant co-ops
Industrial communities
Unionization
Anti-imperialism
Unintended consequences:
– Social mobilization
– Rise of a “new left”
Transition to Democracy/
Democracy Under Stress
• Constitution of 1979
– Progressive features
• Shining Path Maoists
initiate “Prolonged
Peoples’ War”
José Matos Mar’s Desborde Popular
• Argued that the “Creole republic” (i.e. the state institutions
of “Official Peru”), had lost the ability to exclude and
marginalize the Andean majority (the “Marginal Peru”).
• Legislative and judicial institutions—not to mention
parties, large firms, unions, the church, the armed forces,
and the bureaucracy—formed part of “Official Peru,” and
they were monopolized by literate Creoles.
• “Marginal Peru” was made up of smaller scale
neighborhood associations, peasant self-defense groups,
or “rondas,” the informal and subsistence economies, and
indigenous cultural organizations generally composed of
bilingual, often illiterate, sometimes unilingual Quechua or
Aymara speakers.
Sendero Luminoso
• Emerged from the breakdown of
oligarchic domination
– Story of Lino Quintanilla
• Armed propaganda: “terrifying act that
breaks the rules of civil society.”
-- D.S. Palmer.
“el pueblo clama y nosotros respondemos
a ese clamor, a esa exigencia, sentimos lo
que sienten y queremos lo que quieren, quieren
que sus manos hablen el lenguaje preciso y
contundente de los hechos armados.” -- Guzman
The Caudillo Messiah
• Use of Biblical and messianic language: evoke world
of violence as a form of purification.
• Example of militarization of language: “Contra la
fascistizacion del gobierno de Apra” – Bandera Roja
graffiti in Comas.
• Cult of the leader: absolute authority of “Dr.”
• Disdain for dialogue: preference for violence.
• “Marxism-Leninism-Maoism-Guzman thought”
Violence and Hyperinflation
Rise of Fujimori
• Elected 1990 as “outsider”
• Autogolpe in 1992
– Close congress
– Suspend constitution
– Purge courts
– Rule by degree
– Call for referendum
• Result:1993 constitution with wider
executive powers, more neoliberal features
State Response
– The role of intelligence (Montesinos &
Colina group)
– Selective executions and disappearances
– Military courts
– The Ronda Campesina
– Repentance law
– Will to win
The Capture!
Collapse of a Hybrid System
Next Class
• Neoliberal governance in Peru
• Why Peru missed Latin America’s left
turns