When the Spanish landed in 1531, Peru's territory was the nucleus of the highly developed Incan civilization. Centered at Cusco, the Inca Empire extended over a vast region from northern Ecuador to central Chile. In search of Incan wealth, the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro arrived in the territory after the Incas had fought a debilitating civil war, and he easily conquered the weakened people. By 1533, the Incan capital at Cusco had fallen, and by 1542, the Spanish had consolidated control. Gold and silver from the Andes enriched the conquerors, and Peru became the principal source of Spanish wealth and power in South America.

Pizarro founded Lima in 1535. The viceroyalty established at Lima in 1542 had jurisdiction over Panama and all Spanish territory in South America except Venezuela for almost 250 years. By the time of the wars of independence (1820-24), Lima had become the most distinguished and aristocratic colonial capital and the chief Spanish stronghold in America.

Peru's independence movement was led by Jose de San Martin of Argentina and Simon Bolivar of Venezuela. San Martin proclaimed Peruvian independence from Spain on July 28, 1821. Emancipation was completed in December 1824, when Gen. Antonio Jose de Sucre defeated the Spanish troops at Ayacucho, ending Spanish rule in South America. Spain made futile attempts to regain its former colonies, but in 1879 it finally recognized Peru's independence.

Since independence, Peru and its neighbors have engaged in intermittent territorial disputes. Chile's victory over Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879-83) resulted in a territorial settlement the effects of which still create controversy. Following a clash between Peru and Ecuador in 1941, the Rio Protocol (of which the United States is one of four guarantors) sought to establish the boundary between the two countries. Continuing disagreement led most recently to a brief armed conflict in early 1981.

The military has been prominent in Peruvian history. Coups have repeatedly interrupted civilian constitutional government. The most recent period of military rule (1968-80) began when Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado overthrew elected President Fernando Belaunde 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 fishmeal industry, some petroleum companies, and several banks and mining firms.

As a result of Velasco's economic mismanagement and deteriorating health, Gen. Francisco Morales Bermudez Cerruti replaced Velasco in 1975. Morales Bermudez moved the revolution into a more pragmatic "second phase," tempering the authoritarian abuses of the first phase and beginning the task of restoring the country's economy. Morales Bermudez presided over the return to civilian government in accordance with a new constitution drawn up in 1979. In the May 1980 elections, President Belaunde Terry was returned to office by an impressive plurality.

Nagging economic problems left over from the military government persisted, worsened by a period of unusual weather in 1982-83, which caused widespread flooding in some parts of the country, severe droughts in others and decimated the schools of ocean fish that are one of Peru's major resources. After a promising beginning, Belaunde's popularity eroded under the stress of inflation, economic hardship, and terrorism. The 1983 municipal elections were won largely by opposition party candidates. In 1985, the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), founded in 1928 by Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, won the presidential election, bringing Alan Garcia Perez to office. The transfer of the presidency from Belaunde to Garcia on July 28, 1985, was Peru's first exchange of power from one democratically elected leader to another in 40 years.

Current Political Conditions

After a 57-year wait, the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), Peru's oldest mass-based political party, came to power in 1985 with the inauguration of President Alan Garcia Perez. At 36, Garcia became one of the world's youngest leaders.

A dynamic orator now famous for his hours-long balcony speeches, Garcia mixes populism, pragmatism, and the basic tenets of APRA ideology (anti-imperialism and Latin American integration) and occupies a unique position in the noncommunist left. In the 1985 election, the center-right Popular Action (AP) of President Fernando Belaunde Terry suffered a disastrous defeat (receiving only 6% of the vote), leaving the United Left (IU) as Garcia's primary opposition.

In dealing with the Marxist left, Garcia frequently tries to usurp its positions, especially in his appeals to the poorest sectors of the society and his anti-imperialist rhetoric. His strategy appears to have been successful and led APRA to an upset victory in the 1986 municipal elections when APRA candidate Jorge Del Castillo defeated incumbent Lima Mayor and IU President Alfonso Barrantes. Barrantes' defeat has threatened the stability of IU's six-party coalition as the more radical IU members push for grater confrontation with APRA. Barrantes resigned as IU President in May 1987.

Peru's political situation is complicated by two Marxist terrorist organizations--Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path) and the MRTA-MIR (Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement-Movement of the Revolutionary Left). The Maoist Sendero Luminoso began its terrorist violence in 1980 and has concentrated its subversion in seven mountain departments. In the past 3 years Sendero has become increasingly bold, expanding into the capital, where it commits frequent bombings and assassinations of military and police officers and political leaders. The MRTA-MIR, a more traditional insurgent group, is concentrated in Lima and generally limits it attacks to property.

The Popular Action Party (AP) and the Popular Christian Party (PPC) make up the center-right and right of the Peruvian political spectrum. President Belaunde heads AP (despite the problems of his last administration, he remains personally powerful). The PPC is led by is founder, former Lima Mayor Luis Bedoya Reyes. His party remains strong among Lima's upper- and middle-class residents but has made few inroads among the urban poor or outside the capital. Bedoya ran for president in 1985 and mayor of Lima in 1986, but both cases placing third behind the APRA and IU candidates.

Following its successes in the 1985 and 1986 elections, APRA controls both houses of the Peruvian Congress as well as municipal governments in a majority of Peru's important cities, including Cusco, Huancayo, Trujillo, Piura, Iquitos, Huaraz, and Cajamarca. With control of the Congress, Garcia has been able to fight off legislative attacks by the opposition and push his own agenda, which includes decentralization of the Peruvian bureaucracy and reorganization of several government branches.

The next municipal elections will occur in 1989, but the real test of APRA's performance comes in the 1990 presidential elections. Just as the responsibility for an abysmal economy was laid at the feet of Popular Action in 1985, APRA will most likely be judged by the voters on its economic performance.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, December 1987.