Overview
Famous for its touristic richness and gastronomic variety, Peru is located on the west coast of South America In 1542, The Spanish conquerors colonized the vast and rich Inca Empire, known for its sophisticated system of social organization and mystical thought. The “conquistadores” named this region “Peru.” Under the motto of “God, Gold and Glory,” the Spanish crown made Peru the center of its viceroyalty in order to control the appropriation of natural resources. More than 200 years later, the first chants of independence were pronounced by José de San Martín in 1821 and later by Simón Bolivar in 1824 during the final battle of Ayacucho. For a time, territorial disputes with Peru’s neighbors tested the country’s independence and paved the way for a series of military dictatorships from 1948 to 1979. Many of these were influenced by ideals related to the Cuban revolution and also some are known to have been connected to the CIA . Although several rulers tried to re-establish Peru’s faltering economy during the 1960s and 1970s, it wasn’t until the emergence of the terrorist group, Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), in rural areas in 1980, and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) in Lima, that mathematician-turned-politician Alberto Fujimori was elected president in 1990. Under Fujimori, inflation fell dramatically, but human rights abuses abounded. In November 2000, Fujimori fled to Japan amidst charges of political and economic mismanagement. In June 2006, Alan García Pérez was elected to the presidency, and has begun to turn the country’s economy around. Probably his biggest step toward relations with the United States has been the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries..
However, several controversies have erupted in recent years between the US and Peru. News reports uncovered that American aid has helped fund a sterilization program in Peru affecting thousands of women, and US oil companies have pushed for a pipeline that could endanger an important ecological area. In the midst of the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, President Garcia implemented new decrees which he claimed to be essential for the signing of such a treaty. In June 2009, protests against these laws, which gave foreign investors the right to explore in the Amazon for fossil fuels inside communally-owned indigenous land, led to clashes in which at least 50 people died. The event that garnered the greatest amount of attention, though, was the 2001 shooting down of a private plane carrying American missionaries by the Peruvian military. The CIA was accused of trying to cover up its involvement in the attack, which came as part of a joint US-Peruvian anti-narcotics program.
Basic Information
Lay of the Land
: Peru occupies the southern portion of the “bulge” on the west coast of South America. A land of truly striking geographical contrasts, Peru’s coastal desert strip terminates abruptly in the great mountain range of the Andes, which divides the country in half from north to South. East of the Andes is the montaña, covering about half of Peru’s entire territory. The Andes are at their most spectacular in Peru, with 20,000-foot peaks and high, windswept plateaus. The altiplano of the southern Peruvian Andes is the largest single such plateaus – a high, cold barren region about 5,000 square miles in area, inhabited by Indians who farm potatoes and herd llama as their ancestors have done for generations. Other mountain valleys, notably the Mantaro River valley in south central Peru, are most hospitable and fertile. Northeastern Peru, drained by the upper Amazon River, is true jungle – hot, steamy, and lush.
Population: 29.2 million
Religions: Catholic 85%, Protestant 11%, other Christian (Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses) 2%, Buddhist 0.2%, Baha’i 0.1%, non-religious 1.2%. The Catholic non-governmental organization estimates that only 5% of Catholics attend mass on a weekly basis.
Ethnic Groups: Amerindian 45%, mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 37%, white 15%, other (black, Japanese, Chinese) 3%.
Languages: Spanish 72.7%, Quecha language cluster (e.g. Ambo-Pasco, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Chacahpoyas, Cusco, Huallaga Huánuco, Huaylas Ancash, Lambayeque, Yanahuanca Pasco) 17.3%, Aymara 1.6%, Asháninka language cluster (e.g. Pajonal, Pichis, Ucayali-Yurúa...) 0.3%, Aguaruna 0.1%. There are 93 living languages in Peru, all of which are official languages.
History
Most of the territory that is now called Peru was originally settled by the Pre-Inca, the Paracas and Norte Chico, around 6000 BC. By 1438, the social organization developed by these early cultures gave way to the Inca Empire, which dominated much of the western coast of South America until 1532. The Incan Empire was best known for establishing the capital at Cuzco and creation of Quechua, the empire’s shared language. The Inca economy was based on collective property of the land, and much of society was based around mythical thought.
The Spanish landed in Peru in 1531 in search of the fabled Incan wealth. Francisco Pizarro arrived just as the Incans had finishing fighting a debilitating civil war, and easily captured the capital of Cuzco by 1533. By 1542, the Spanish controlled the entirety of the Incan Empire, as well as its reserves of gold and silver.
Pizarro founded Lima in 1535 as a viceroyalty. Initially, Lima had jurisdiction over all of the Spanish colonies in South America. By the time of the wars of independence (1820-24), Lima had become one of the most distinguished and aristocratic colonial capitals and the chief Spanish stronghold in the Americas.
José de San Martín of Argentina and Simón Bolivar of Venezuela came to lead Peru’s fight for independence, first on July 28, 1821, when San Martín declared Peru’s independence, and then in December 1824, when Venezuelan General Antonio José de Sucre defeated the Spanish troops at Ayacucho. Subsequently, Spain made several futile attempts to regain its former colonies. But by 1879, it recognized Peru’s independence and ended its military occupation.
Peru had a hard time defending its newfound independence and disputes with its neighbors over territory gave rise to Chile’s victory over Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879-83). As a result, Peru ceded Tarapaca and the provinces of Tacna and Arica to Chile.
In 1929, Chile returned Tacna to Peru. Following a clash between Peru and Ecuador in 1941, the Rio Protocol, of which the United States is one of four guarantors (along with Argentina, Brazil and Chile), sought to establish the boundary between the two countries. A period of reconstruction followed until 1948.
From 1948 to 1979, a series of dictatorial military governments ruled Peru, beginning with General Manuel A. Odría, who came to power through a military coup on October 29, 1948. Corruption became rampant under his regime, and several challengers arose, including Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, who won the presidency in 1962.
Throughout Latin America in the 1960s, communist movements inspired by the Cuban revolution sought to win power through guerrilla warfare. The Revolutionary Left Movement (Peru), or MIR, launched an insurrection that was crushed by 1965, but Peru’s internal strife only intensified until the 1990s.
Coups continued to interrupt civilian constitutional government in Peru, with the most recent period of military rule (1968–1980) beginning when General Juan Velasco Alvarado overthrew elected President Fernando Belaúnde Terry of the Popular Action Party (AP). As part of what has been called the “first phase” of the military government’s nationalist program, Velasco undertook an extensive agrarian reform program and nationalized the fish meal industry, some petroleum companies, and several banks and mining firms.
General Francisco Morales Bermúdez replaced Velasco in 1975, citing Velasco’s economic mismanagement and deteriorating health. Morales Bermúdez moved the revolution into a more conservative “second phase,” which was more tempered than the radical first phase. The second phase attempted to restore the country’s economy, which had been devastated. A Constitutional Assembly was created in 1979, led by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, and Morales Bermúdez helped usher in a return to civilian government, as a result of the country’s new constitution.
In the May 1980 elections, President Belaúnde Terry was returned to office. Nagging economic problems left over from the military government persisted, worsened by an occurrence of the “El Niño” weather phenomenon in 1982-83, which caused widespread flooding in some parts of the country, severe droughts in others, and decimated the fishing industry. Peru’s economic collapse, along with a marked decrease in living conditions for much of the country’s population, made it a breeding ground for discontent.
The emergence of the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) in rural areas in 1980, followed shortly thereafter by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) in Lima, sent the country further into chaos. These groups were financed in part from narcotraffickers, who had established a stronghold in the Peruvian Andes. During this time, Peru and Bolivia became the largest coca producers in the world, accounting for roughly four-fifths of the production in South America.
In 1985, the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) won the presidential election, bringing Alan García Pérez to office. The transfer of the presidency from Belaúnde to García on July 28, 1985, was Peru’s first transfer of power from one democratically elected leader to another in 40 years.
But from 1988 to 1990, hyperinflation, as well as mismanagement by the García administration, led to Peruvian voters choosing Alberto Fujimori, a relatively unknown mathematician-turned-politician, as president. Fujimori implemented drastic economic reforms to tackle inflation (which dropped from 7,650% in 1990 to 139% in 1991), but found opposition when it came to dealing with the growing insurgency.
On April 4, 1992, Fujimori dissolved the Congress in the “auto-coup,” revised the constitution, and called new congressional elections. Large segments of the judiciary, the military and the media were co-opted by Fujimori’s security advisor, Vladimiro Montesinos. The government began to respond to the insurgency with numerous human rights abuses, and the crackdown eventually helped defeat the Shining Path and MRTA. Fujimori also privatized state-owned companies, removed investment barriers and significantly improved public finances.
Fujimori’s decision to seek a third term, and subsequent tainted electoral victory in June 2000, brought political and economic turmoil. A bribery scandal that broke just weeks after he began his third term in July forced Fujimori to call new elections. He then fled to Japan and resigned from office in November 2000. Valentin Paniagua presided over new presidential and congressional elections in April 2001, and the new elected government, led by President Alejandro Toledo, took office July 28, 2001.
Toledo succeeded in returning Peru to democracy, and maintained a strong commitment to freedom of the press. The government undertook initiatives to implement the recommendations made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which had been charged with studying the circumstances surrounding the human rights abuses and violations committed between 1980 and 2000. Criminal charges for corruption and human rights violations were brought against former President Fujimori, who was detained in Chile in November 2005, and was extradited to face criminal charges in Peru in September 2007. On December 11, 2007, Fujimori was convicted of ordering an illegal search and seizure of documents, and was sentenced to six years in prison. On April 7, 2009, the Peruvian Supreme Court sentenced the former president to 25 years in prison on charges of extrajudicial killings and disappearnaces. The sentence marked the first time in the history of Latin America that a democratically elected president had been convicted in his own country on charges of human rights abuses.
Under President Toledo, Peru signed a Trade Promotion Agreement with the US. Toledo also helped to construct a road that will connect Brazil and Peru’s isolated interior to the Pacific coast. Under his leadership, Peru has enjoyed economic recovery, but has failed to reduce poverty. In 2005, the government implemented “Juntos,” a program to double the income of people living in extreme poverty.
On June 4, 2006, APRA candidate Alan García Pérez was elected to the presidency. APRA also won 36 Congressional seats, giving it the largest voting bloc. During his term, García has seen strong economic growth and declining poverty levels. However, inflation has caused prices to go up for basic consumer goods, which has led to much of the public withdrawing its support from his administration. Internationally, García has sought to improve relations with Peru’s South American neighbors and with the United States, and to present Peru’s democratic and pro-free trade path as a model for the region. García helped convince the US Congress to pass the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, signed deals with Canada and Singapore, and begun trade negotiations with China, the European Union, and others.
A Country Study: Peru (Library of Congress)
History of Peru (Wikipedia)
History of U.S. Relations with Peru
In 1810, the US designated three resident agents for trade and navigation for Argentina, Chile and Peru. The US officially recognized Peru in 1826, and its first ambassador arrived in Peru in 1827.
During the first half of the 19th century, US policy towards Peru was carried out mainly by consuls, Chargé d’Affaires and naval officers trying to broaden the relationship and increase the commercial exchange between both countries.
In 1851, the US and Peru signed the first Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, which included a clause of most favored nation. In September 1870, the two countries replaced the treaty with one that differed from the previous one in several aspects. In August 1887, a new Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, was signed, and later ratified in October of 1888.
One controversy that erupted between the US and Peru came in 1858 on the Amazon river, where Peruvian authorities confiscated US boats carrying guano. Diplomatic relations were temporarily interrupted as a result of this episode, and reestablished in 1861. A year later an Agreement of Claims was signed as well as two additional agreements (in 1863 and 1868) that ended the controversy.
The administration of President Odría was one of the first governments in the Western Hemisphere to sign a Treaty of Assistance and Mutual Defense with the United States in 1952. With this agreement, Peru tightened it cooperation with the United States in military affairs, which included the sponsorship of visits of Peruvian officers to US military installations. Another characteristic of the relations of Peru and the United States during the Odría years was the significant increase of the mineral export to the US market.
The military coup d'etat in 1962 that overthrew President Prado caused the US to break off diplomatic relations with Peru and denounced the overthrow as a step backwards for the Alliance for Progress.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the fight against illegal drug traffic emerged as a matter of high priority in the bilateral relations between both countries. During the Fujimori administration, Washington became frustrated over Peru’s reluctance to sign an accord that would increase United States and Peruvian military efforts in eradicating coca fields. Although Fujimori eventually signed the accord in May 1991 in order to get desperately needed aid, the disagreements did little to enhance bilateral relations. The Peruvians saw drugs as primarily a United States problem, and the least of their concerns, given the economic crisis and an outbreak of cholera. However, in 2008, due to the signing of the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, the Peruvian congress extended the legislation called the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act which the US set as a main condition for the trade preferences for trade agreement.
Bilateral Relations–History (Embassy of Peru)
US-Peruvian Relations (Latin American Studies.org)
Getting US-Peru Relations Back on the Right Track (by Stephen Johnson, Heritage Foundation)
Current U.S. Relations with Peru
Noted Peruvian-Americans
Benjamin Bratt is best-known for his role as Rey Curtis in the TV series “Law & Order,” and for his appearances in movies such as Traffic and Blood in Blood Out. He was born in San Francisco, California, the son of nurse Eldy (née Banda) a Peruvian Indigenous activist who moved to the U.S. at age 14, and a sheet metal worker father. As a child, Bratt, along with his mother and siblings, participated in the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz. Today Bratt is an active supporter of such Native American causes as the American Indian College Fund.
Q’orianka Kilcher was born in Schweigmatt, Germany, and at the age of two, she and her mother moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. Her father is a Peruvian artist of Quechua/Huachipaeri descent. Her mother, Saskia Kilcher, a human-rights activist of Swiss descent, was born in Alaska and raised in Switzerland. In 1999 her mother moved the family to California. At the age of 14, Q'orianka Kilcher emerged into the front ranks of young actors with her portrayal of Pocahontas opposite Colin Farrell and Christian Bale in director Terrence Malick’s motion picture, The New World (2005).
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is best-known for his role as Desmond Hume in the television series “Lost”, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Born Henry Ian Cusick Chávez in Trujillo, Peru, to a Peruvian mother and a Scottish father. Cusick, his wife Annie and their three sons, Elias, Lucas, and Esau, live in Oahu, Hawaii.
Carlos Noriega is a Peruvian-born NASA employee, a former NASA astronaut and a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. Noriega was born on October 8, 1959, in Lima, Peru. He is married to the former astronaut Wendy L. Thatcher. They live in Santa Clara, California
Yma Sumak a noted Peruvian soprano, was born Zoila Chávarri on September 13, 1922, in Ichocán, Cajamarca, Peru. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music and became an international success, based on the merits of her extreme vocal range, which was said to be “well over four octaves” and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak. Chávarri adopted the stage name of Imma Sumacbefore she left South America to go to the U.S. The stage name was based on her mother's name, which was derived from Ima Shumaq, Quechua for “how beautiful!” Sumac died on November 1, 2008, aged 86, at an assisted-living home in Los Angeles.
During the presidency of Alberto Fujimori, relations with the US were strained. But when an interim government took office in November 2000, and Alejandro Toledo was named president in July 2001, relations improved.
The United States and Peru currently cooperate on efforts to interdict the flow of narcotics, particularly cocaine, to the United States. Bilateral programs are now in effect to reduce the flow of drugs through Peru’s port systems, and establish an alternative development program for coca farmers in key areas. This effort is funded by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
In March 2002, President George W. Bush visited Peru. This helped lay the groundwork for an eventual trade agreement—the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA)—that was signed on April 12, 2006 by US Trade Representative, Rob Portman, and Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Alfredo, Ferrero Diez. According to official announcements by both countries’ governments the PTPA will eliminate tariffs and other barriers in goods and services trade between the United States and Peru. According to the congressional report of US congress: In June 2008, Peru and the United States signed a two-year, $35.6 million Millennium Challenge
Threshold program that supports Peru’s efforts to reduce corruption in public administration and
improve immunization coverage. USAID is implementing the program. In October 2008, Peru
and the United States signed a debt-for-nature swap that reduces Peru’s debt to the United States
by more than $25 million over the next seven years. In exchange, Peru promised to use those
funds to support grants to protect its tropical forests.
About 16,000 Americans reside in Peru, and more than 400 US companies are represented in the country.
The 1990 census counted 162,000 Peruvians in the US, though estimates including undocumented immigrants put the number closer to 300,000 at the time. In the 2000 US census, 233,926 people identified themselves as Peruvian. The largest Peruvian community in the US is in the New York City metropolitan area. Other large communities exist in Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, and Washington, DC.
In 2006, 297,317 Americans visited Peru. More Americans have been visiting Peru every year since 2002, when 190,234 Americans traveled to the South American nation.
In 2006, 133,398 Peruvians visited the US The number of visitors has been declining steadily since 2002, when 164,482 Peruvians came to America.
Peru–United States Relations (Wikipedia)
Where Does the Money Flow
US investment and tourism in Peru have grown substantially in recent years. The US is Peru’s number one trade partner, and economic and commercial ties are expected to increase with the implementation of the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA).
From 2003 to 2008, US imports from Peru were led by copper, which increased from $427 million to $852 million. Other leading imports included vegetables and preparations, which increased from $129 million to $381 million; other precious metals, moving up from $89 million to $619.5 million; apparel and household goods (cotton), up from $487 million to $724 million; apparel and household goods (other textiles), rising from $8 million to $59.8 million; green coffee, up from $61 million to $168.8 million; other petroleum products, which increased from $60 million to $605.8 million.
The most significant decline among American imports from Peru was non-monetary gold, falling from $1.4 billion to $294.3 million.
From 2003 to 2008, top US exports to Peru included fuel oil, which increased from $61 million to $1 billion; plastic materials, moving up from $96 million to $451.1 million; excavating machinery, rising from $89 million to $359.4 million; and wheat, up from $18.6 million to $127.4 million.
The US is no longer running a trade deficit with Peru ($3 billion in imports vs. $3.5 billion in exports).
In 2007, Peru received $136.2 million in aid from the US. The largest recipient programs were the Andean Counterdrug Program ($103.2 million), Child Survival and Health ($12.7 million), Humanitarian Assistance: Protection, Assistance and Solutions ($5.9 million), and Economic Growth: Environment ($5.1 million).
The 2008 budget estimate decreased aid to $90.3 million. Although the Andean Counterdrug Program’s funding dropped to $36.5 million due to budget restructuring, Counter-Narcotics still received $60.1 million.
The budget request for 2010 will increase aid from 2009 levels up to $118.9 million. The largest programs receiving funding will be Counter-Narcotics ($74.7 million), Child Survival and Health ($10.7 million), Economic Growth: Environment ($6.5 million), and Trade and Investment ($5.4 million).
US And Peru Ink Free Trade Deal (CBS News)
Trade in Goods (Imports, Exports and Trade Balance) with Peru (US Census Bureau)
United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (Office of the United States Trade Representative)
U.S.-Peru Economic Relations and the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (by M. Angeles Villarreal, Congressional Research Service) (pdf)
U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (by M. Angeles Villarreal, Congressional Research Service)
Controversies
Hoekstra Accuses CIA of Cover-Up in Peru
In November 2008, Republican Congressman Pete Hoekstra accused the CIA of blocking investigations into the downing of a missionary plane in Peru that killed two Americans in 2001. He has called for a new hearing, and said that “rogue” CIA agents have withheld information after a report detailing “routine disregard” of safety procedures was declassified. The Cessna aircraft was brought down in a hail of machine gun fire, killing a woman and her 7-moth old child.
US Marines Raise Controversy in Peru
In June 2008, controversy arose in the Peruvian Congress when it came to approving the admission of more than 1,000 US Marines into the south-central region of Ayacucho to take part in a humanitarian effort. Leaders of opposition parties disapproved of allowing the US soldiers onto Peru’s soil, saying Peruvian engineers and construction workers are capable of doing the same jobs.
Peru: Opposition Creates Controversy over US troops in Ayacucho (by Israel J. Ruiz, Living In Peru)
Natural Gas Pipeline Stirs Controversy in Peru
In August 2003, a $2 billion natural gas project came under fire when environmentalists charged that the Apurimac Reserve and Manu National Park, two of Peru’s most biologically diverse regions, would be adversely affected by the Camisea pipelines. In the United States, critics were irate at the Bush administration for pushing for loans to finish the pipelines, claiming the projects would destroy jungles and indigenous cultures while enriching two Texas energy companies. The Kirineri, and indigenous tribe of over 7,000 tribal members, was also expected to be affected. Some feared a repeat of a tragic incident in the early 1980s when nearly half of the Nahua tribe died from exposure to whooping cough introduced by Shell Oil prospectors. Ray Hunt, Hunt Oil’s chief executive officer, and major stakeholder on the Camisea pipelines, reportedly raised more than $100,000 for Bush’s 2000 presidential race.
Peru Natural Gas Pipelines, Plant Ignite Controversy (by Lucien O. Chauvin, San Francisco Chronicle)
United Nations Complicit in Peru Sterilizations
In December 2002, Fox News found that the United Nations had collaborated in the forced sterilization of poor, rural women in Peru from 1995 to 1997. Peru’s National Program for Family Planning received funding from the United Nations Population Fund and the US Agency for International Development. The program included a campaign entitled “Voluntary Surgical Contraception,” where an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 people, mostly women, were sterilized. Some Peruvian health workers reportedly received bonuses ranging variously from $4 to $12 for each woman they “persuaded” to have a tubal ligation.
U.N. Complicit in Forced Sterilizations (by Wendy McElroy, Fox News)
Human Rights
The State Department reported for 2008 that societal violence outside Lima remained a serious problem, often as a result of a lack of police presence.
Observers noted that the Peruvian National Police was undermanned and suffered from a lack of training, professionalism. Corruption and impunity remained problems. There were also several reports of military corruption, impunity, and resistance to provide information on its personnel under investigation for human rights abuses committed during the country’s armed conflict.
On June 5, 2009, as Amazon Indigenous were peacefully blockading a road in the upper Amazon region of Peru to protest certain land and resource policies, the Peruvian police intervened, killing 10 and injuring more than 200 others.
Allegations of abuse most often arose immediately following an arrest, when families were prohibited from visiting suspects and when attorneys had limited access to detainees. In some cases, police and security forces allegedly threatened or harassed victims, their relatives, and witnesses to prevent them from filing charges of human rights violations.
Peru’s Public Defender’s Office continued its investigations into approximately 1,000 disappearance cases from 1980 to 2000, some of which were considered politically motivated.
Prison conditions were harsh. Prisoners with money had access to cell phones, illicit drugs, and meals prepared outside the prison. But conditions were poor to extremely harsh in all facilities for prisoners lacking funds. Overcrowding, poor sanitation, and inadequate nutrition and health care were serious problems. Inmates had intermittent access to running water; bathing facilities were inadequate; kitchen facilities were unhygienic; and prisoners slept in hallways and common areas for lack of cell space. Illegal drugs were available in many prisons, and tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS were reportedly at near epidemic levels.
Prison guards and fellow inmates routinely abused prisoners. There were deaths of inmates in prisons, most attributed to fellow inmates but some due to negligence by guards. Guards received little or no training or supervision. Corruption was a serious problem, and some guards cooperated with criminal bosses, who oversaw the smuggling of guns and drugs into prison facilities.
Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected this provision in practice. Nonetheless, significant problems affected this branch, which was a frequent target of reform efforts.
Trade unionists Pedro Condori Laurente and Claudio Boza Huanhayo have been in prison since September 9 and 23, 2009, respectively, on charges of murder. Amnesty International believes that the charges are unfounded and that they are in prison “solely because they are defending human rights.”
There was widespread harassment of the press by provincial authorities, the police, and private groups such as coca growers (cocaleros). Harassment took the form of attacks on journalists, illegal arrests, and threats.
The World Bank’s worldwide governance indicators reflect that government corruption was a serious problem.
Violence against women and girls, including rape, spousal abuse, and sexual, physical, and mental abuse was a problem. Abuses were aggravated by insensitivity on the part of law enforcement and judicial authorities toward female victims.
Violence against children and the sexual abuse of children were serious problems. Trafficking of children and child labor were problems.
The Peruvian Congress has proposed decriminalizing abortion in cases where women and girls become pregnant as a result of rape or incest.
Most indigenous persons and those with indigenous features faced pervasive societal discrimination and prejudice.
The geographic isolation of highland and Amazon jungle communities also disadvantaged indigenous persons. The UN Children’s Fund reported that indigenous persons in rural areas often did not have access to public services, particularly health care and education. Ninety percent lived in poverty, and only 39% had completed primary school. Child mortality rates were higher in indigenous areas, and only 20% of births took place in public health center.
Homosexuals and persons with HIV/AIDS faced extensive discrimination.
According to Human Rights Watch, on April 7, 2009, Fujimori was convicted of the killings of 25 people in two separate massacres, in 1991 and 1992, and the kidnappings of Gustavo Gorriti, a journalist, and Samuel Dyer, a businessman, in 1992. The ruling came after a lengthy televised trial, which Human Rights Watch said was respectful of due process guarantees and consistent with international standards on fair trial.
Still, justice for past abuses continues to be a leading human rights concern in Peru.
Peru: Fujimori Verdict a Rights Victory (Human Rights Watch)
Peru: Justice without discrimination for the victims of Amazon violence (Amnesty International)
Peru: Trade unionists unfairly imprisoned (Amnesty International)
Peru one step closer to legalising abortion (Amnesty International)
Past Ambassadors
John B. Prevost
Note: Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.
James Cooley
Appointment: May 2, 1826
Presentation of Credentials: May 21, 1827
Termination of Mission: Died at post Feb 24, 1828
Samuel Larned
Appointment: Dec 29, 1828
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 30, 1829
Termination of Mission: Recommissioned in 1830; served without interruption under the two commissions
Emanuel J. West
Appointment: Oct 22, 1829
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned on Mar 12, 1830, but died en route to post before his second commission was issued.
Samuel Larned
Presentation of Credentials: [see note below]
Termination of Mission: Left post Mar 6, 1837
Note: Not reaccredited under his new commission.
James B. Thornton
Appointment: Jun 15, 1836
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 16, 1837
Termination of Mission: Left Peru Dec 10, 1837
Note: Officially recognized on Mar 16, 1837. Commissioned to Peru but received by the Government of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation. Returned to Peru but died at Callao, Jan 25, 1838, without resuming charge of the Legation.
J.C. Pickett
Appointment: Jun 9, 1838
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 30, 1840
Termination of Mission: Superseded, Apr 28, 1845
Note: Commissioned to the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, but received by the Government of Peru.
John A. Bryan
Appointment: Aug 15, 1844
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 28, 1845
Termination of Mission: Superseded, Aug 4, 1845
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate.
Albert G. Jewett
Appointment: Mar 13, 1845
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 4, 1845
Termination of Mission: Recall requested by the Government of Peru Apr 11, 1846 (request received, Jun 2, 1846); left post Jul 21, 1847
John R. Clay
Appointment: Mar 3, 1847
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 15, 1847
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
John R. Clay
Appointment: Mar 16, 1853
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 22, 1853
Termination of Mission: Notified the Government of Peru Oct 19, 1860, that relations were suspended; left post on or after Oct 27, 1860
Christopher Robinson
Appointment: Jun 8, 1861
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 11, 1862
Termination of Mission: Normal relations interrupted Nov 26, 1865; new Government of Peru still unrecognized by US when Robinson left Peru Dec 21, 1865.
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jul 15, 1861.
Alvin P. Hovey
Appointment: Aug 12, 1865
Presentation of Credentials: May 22, 1866
Termination of Mission: Left post Sep 22, 1870
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 22, 1866.
Thomas Settle
Appointment: Feb 18, 1871
Presentation of Credentials: May 13, 1871
Termination of Mission: Left post Nov 22, 1871
Francis Thomas
Appointment: May 25, 1872
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 10, 1872
Termination of Mission: Presented recall on or shortly before Jul 5, 1875
Richard Gibbs
Appointment: Apr 9, 1875
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 10, 1875
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Apr 15, 1879
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 14, 1875.
Isaac P. Christiancy
Appointment: Feb 11, 1879
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 19, 1879
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Aug 2, 1881
Stephen A. Hurlbut
Appointment: May 19, 1881
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 2, 1881
Termination of Mission: Normal relations interrupted Sep 28, 1881; Chilean occupation forces still in control of Lima when Hurlbut died at post Mar 27, 1882.
James R. Partridge
Appointment: Apr 12, 1882
Note: Took oath of office and proceeded to post but did not present credentials; left Peru Mar 24, 1883.
Seth Ledyard Phelps
Appointment: Jun 18, 1883
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 24, 1884
Termination of Mission: Died at post Jun 24, 1885
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 12, 1883.
Charles W. Buck
Appointment: Apr 2, 1885
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 3, 1885
Termination of Mission: Left post Mar 13, 1889
John Hicks
Appointment: Mar 30, 1889
Presentation of Credentials: May 31, 1889
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Jun 24, 1893
James A. McKenzie
Appointment: Apr 4, 1893
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 24, 1893
Termination of Mission: Left Peru Apr 13, 1897
Irving B. Dudley
Appointment: Jun 28, 1897
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 20, 1897
Termination of Mission: Left post Feb 14, 1907
Leslie Combs
Appointment: Dec 19, 1906
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 10, 1907
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Feb 23, 1911
H. Clay Howard
Appointment: Jan 18, 1911
Presentation of Credentials: May 1, 1911
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Sep 9, 1913
Benton McMillin
Appointment: Jul 2, 1913
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 9, 1913
Termination of Mission: Left post Sep 5, 1919
William E. Gonzales
Appointment: Sep 10, 1919
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 24, 1920
Termination of Mission: Left Peru Oct 11, 1921
Miles Poindexter
Appointment: Feb 19, 1923
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 20, 1923
Termination of Mission: Left Peru Mar 21, 1928
Alexander P. Moore
Appointment: Mar 29, 1928
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 11, 1928
Termination of Mission: Left Peru Jul 10, 1929
Fred Morris Dearing
Appointment: Jan 31, 1930
Presentation of Credentials: May 23, 1930
Termination of Mission: Left Peru Jun 3, 1937
Laurence A. Steinhardt
Appointment: Apr 22, 1937
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 13, 1937
Termination of Mission: Left Peru Apr 10, 1939
R. Henry Norweb
Appointment: Jan 12, 1940
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 10, 1940
Termination of Mission: Left post Sep 30, 1943
John Campbell White
Appointment: Jan 29, 1944
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 4, 1944
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 17, 1945
William D. Pawley
Appointment: Jun 14, 1945
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 20, 1945
Termination of Mission: Left post Apr 27, 1946
Prentice Cooper
Appointment: May 2, 1946
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 1, 1946
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 29, 1948
Harold H. Tittmann, Jr.
Appointment: Jun 18, 1948
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 27, 1948
Termination of Mission: Left post Mar 30, 1955
Ellis O. Briggs
Appointment: Mar 24, 1955
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 27, 1955
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 5, 1956
Theodore C. Achilles
Appointment: May 29, 1956
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 24, 1956
Termination of Mission: Relinquished charge, Jan 27, 1960
Selden Chapin
Appointment: Mar 18, 1960
Presentation of Credentials: May 7, 1960
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 7, 1960
James Loeb
Appointment: Apr 18, 1961
Presentation of Credentials: May 23, 1961
Termination of Mission: Normal relations interrupted Jul 18, 1962; new Government of Peru still unrecognized by US when Loeb left post Jul 26, 1962
J. Wesley Jones
Appointment: Nov 29, 1962
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 6, 1963
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 2, 1969
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Feb 27, 1963.
Taylor G. Belcher
Appointment: Aug 19, 1969
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 29, 1969
Termination of Mission: Left post Apr 4, 1974
Robert W. Dean
Appointment: Mar 14, 1974
Presentation of Credentials: May 2, 1974
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 17, 1977
Harry W. Shlaudeman
Appointment: May 26, 1977
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 28, 1977
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 20, 1980
Edwin Gharst Corr
Appointment: Oct 2, 1980
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 6, 1980
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 11, 1981
Frank V. Ortiz, Jr.
Appointment: Oct 1, 1981
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 10, 1981
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 27, 1983
David C. Jordan
Appointment: Mar 1, 1984
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 20, 1984
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 17, 1986
Alexander Fletcher Watson
Appointment: Oct 16, 1986
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 27, 1986
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 9, 1989
Anthony Cecil Eden Quainton
Appointment: Nov 21, 1989
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 11, 1989
Termination of Mission: Left post Sept 16, 1992
Note: Charles H. Brayshaw served as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Sep 1992–Dec 1993.
Alvin P. Adams, Jr.
Appointment: Nov 11, 1993
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 15, 1993
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 16, 1996
Dennis C. Jett
Appointment: Jul 2, 1996
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 16, 1996
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 3, 1999
John R. Hamilton
Appointment: Jul 7, 1999
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 6, 1999
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 10, 2002
John R. Dawson
Appointment: Nov 20, 2002
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 2, 2002
Termination of Mission: Died in New York City Aug 1, 2003
Note: Left post June 10, 2003
James Curtis Struble
Appointment: Dec 12, 2003
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 4, 2004
Termination of Mission: Left post, Apr 21, 2007
Peter Michael McKinley
Appointment: Jul 2, 2007
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 23, 2007
Termination of Mission: 2010
Peru's Ambassador to the U.S.
Forsyth, Harold
Harold W. Forsyth assumed the role of Peru’s ambassador to Washington on August 3, 2011. A senior diplomat, he is also a published author and television personality.
The son of Willy Forsyth and Lucciola Mejia de Forsyth, he was born May 27, 1951, in Lima, Peru. Forsyth completed his secondary education at Champagnat School in Lima and earned an undergraduate degree in Journalism from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, also in Lima. He obtained a Certificate in International Relations Diplomacy from the Diplomatic Academy of Peru, which is run by Peru’s Foreign Ministry, and a Master’s in Political Science at the Simón Bolívar University in Caracas, Venezuela.
Forsyth’s first assignment as a member of the Diplomatic Service of Peru was to serve as Third Secretary of Peru’s Embassy in Santiago, Chile, from 1977 to 1978, followed by service as Second Secretary and Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at Peru’s embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 1978 to 1979. Forsyth spent the next four years in Caracas, first as Second Secretary at the Peruvian Embassy there from 1980 to 1982, and from 1982 to 1984 as Chief of Cabinet of the Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System, or SELA (Sistema Económico Latinoamericano y del Caribe), an organization founded in 1975 to promote economic development between Latin American and Caribbean countries. Called back to Foreign Ministry Headquarters in Lima, Forsyth served as First Secretary, Chief of Evaluation and Control at the Diplomatic Academy of Peru from 1984 to 1985, and as Under Director of Latin American Cooperation in 1986. Sent overseas again, Forsyth served as Counselor at the Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, from 1987 to 1989, and as Minister-Counselor at the Embassy in Bonn, Germany, from 1990 to 1992.
In the wake of the April 1992 “Presidential Coup,” in which Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori shut down Congress, suspended the constitution, and purged the judiciary, Forsyth was among the protesting diplomats whom Fujimori forced out of the diplomatic service. In 1993, Forsyth co-founded the Democratic Forum, an organization designed to combat authoritarianism, and in 1994 co-founded the Civil Transparency Association, which engages in parallel civilian verification of election results. He served as an International Observer of elections of Colombia (May 1994), Mexico (August 1994), Guatemala (November 1995), Nicaragua (October 1996) and Colombia again (1998).
Elected to Peru’s Congress for the period July 1995 to July 2000, Forsyth served five years on the Committee of Defense, Internal Control and Intelligence and on the Committee of Foreign Affairs. He also worked as a Consultant for the General Secretariat of the Andean Community of Nations in 2000 and 2001.
After Fujimori’s fall from power in November 2000, Forsyth returned to the diplomatic service and was promoted to Ambassador rank, serving as Ambassador to Colombia from November 2001 to November 2004. From November 2004 to March 2006, he served as Ambassador to Italy, and concurrently as Ambassador to San Marino and Turkey, as well as Permanent Representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Program, which have their headquarters in Rome. Returning to Peru, Forsyth was Deputy Foreign Minister from March to July 2006, and Advisor of the Ministry until June 2009, when he was appointed to one of Peru’s most senior diplomatic posts, as Ambassador to China, where he served until August 2011.
An author and journalist, Forsyth published the book Conversations with Javier Pérez de Cuéllar in 2001, and was editor of the Peruvian edition of the publication, Le Monde Diplomatique, from 2007 to 2009. He has directed two television shows, “Electoral Pulse” (2001) and “Vox Pópuli” (2008-2009), and the radio program “Convocatoria” (1996 and 2000).
Forsyth is married to María Verónica Sommer Mayer, and the couple has three children: Desirée, Harold and George.
New Vice Foreign Minister Lobbies Ambassador for Humala (Wikileaks cable)
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U.S. Ambassador to Peru
Nichols, Brian
The next U.S. ambassador to the South American nation of Peru will be a Latin America specialist who has served in Lima before. Brian A. Nichols, who has been principal deputy assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs since May 2011, was tapped for the post by President Barack Obama on June 21, 2013. If confirmed by the Senate, Nichols would succeed Rose M. Likins, who has served in Lima since September 2010.
Born circa 1965, Nichols earned a B.S. at Tufts University in 1987 and joined the Foreign Service in 1989.
The first assignment Nichols received was to serve as a consular officer at the embassy in Lima, Peru, followed by service as a political officer at the embassy in San Salvador, El Salvador; as first secretary and deputy political counselor in Mexico City, Mexico, from 1998 to 2001; and as political counselor at the embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 2001 to 2004.
Back in Washington, Nichols served as director of the Office of Caribbean Affairs in the Department of State Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2004 to 2007.
From August 2007 to July 2010, he served as deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.
Starting in August 2010, Nichols served in the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), first as INL’s deputy assistant secretary and then, beginning May 25, 2011, as principal deputy assistant secretary.
Nichols is married to fellow Foreign Service Officer Geraldine Kam. They have two daughters.
-Matt Bewig
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morePrevious U.S. Ambassador to Peru
McKinley, P. Michael
Peter Michael McKinley served as the United States Ambassador to Peru from June 28, 2007, until 2010. On August 5, 2010, he took over as ambassador to Colombia.
McKinley was born in Venezuela and grew up in Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. He earned his bachelor's degree from Southampton University in England and a master's and doctorate from Oxford University. He joined the Foreign Service in 1982 and has had assignments in Bolivia (1983-1985), three tours in Washington (1985-1990), and in the US Embassy London (1990-1994).
From 1994 and 2001, he was Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’ Affaires at US embassies in Mozambique, Uganda, and Belgium. From 2001-2004, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. He then served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’ Affaires at the US Mission to the European Union in Brussels from 2004 to 2007.
McKinley is the author of Pre-Revolutionary Caracas: Politics, Economy, and Society 1777-1811(2002).
McKinley and his wife, Fatima Salces Arces, have three children. McKinley speaks Spanish, Portuguese and French.
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