History

For many travelers, the first word that comes to mind when thinking of Peruvian history is Inca. Indeed the
Inca civilization, the best-known and most-studied of South Americas pre-Columbian cultures, is the one
youre most likely to encounter on the road. Yet the mighty Incas are merely the tip of the archaeological
iceberg. Peru had a bounty of pre-Columbian cultures, some preceding the Incas by millennia.
Peru is unequaled in South America for its archaeological wealth, and many archaeologists find Perus
ancient sites and cultures as endlessly fascinating as those of Mexico, Egypt or the Mediterranean.
Learning about and visiting these centuries-old ruins is the highlight of many travelers journeys as well,
and even those travelers with limited interest in archaeology will find seeing some of the main sites
rewarding.
What we know of Perus pre-Columbian civilizations has been gleaned almost entirely from archaeological
excavation. With no written records available, archaeologists have had to derive historical information from
the realistic and expressive decoration found on ancient ceramics, textiles and other artifacts. These relics
are worth examining wherever they are on display in Perus many archaeological museums.
Contents
Preceramic period
Initial period
Early horizon
Early intermediate period
Middle horizon
Late intermediate period
Inca empire
Spanish invasion
Colonial Peru
Independence
Disorder at the borders
Dictatorships & revolutionaries
Fujishock
Twenty-first century
Preceramic period
Humans are relatively recent arrivals in the New World, probably spreading throughout the Americas after
migrating across the Bering Strait about 20,000 years ago. Perus first inhabitants were nomadic hunters
and gatherers who roamed the country in loose-knit bands, living in caves and hunting fearsome (and now
extinct) animals such as giant sloths, saber-toothed tigers and mastodons. Hunting scenes were recorded
in cave paintings made by Perus early inhabitants at Lauricocha near Hunuco and Toquepala
near Tacna.
Domestication of the llama, alpaca and guinea pig began by about 4000 BC, though some sources claim
that it may have begun as early as 7000 BC. Around the same time, people began planting seeds and
learning how to improve crops by simple horticultural methods such as weeding.
The coastal strip of Peru was wetter than todays desert, and a number of small settlements were
established, thus changing the way of life of people living there from nomadic hunters and gatherers to
settled agriculturists and fisherfolk. The inhabitants fished with nets or bone hooks, sometimes using rafts,
and collected food such as shellfish, sea urchins, seabird eggs and even sea lions. Various forms of the
Andean staple, the potato, began to be grown as a crop around 3000 BC, along with beans, quinoa,
cotton, squashes and corn. Cotton was used to make clothing, mainly by using simple twining techniques
and, later, by weaving.
Manioc (also called cassava) and sweet potatoes appeared on the coast early on, indicating trade links
with the Amazon basin. Trade occurring between the Andean and Amazon regions was evidenced also by
the use of the coca leaf for ritual purposes and the introduction of exotic rainforest bird feathers. Ceramics
and metalwork were still unknown during this period in either area, although jewelry made of bone and
shell has been found.
The coastal people lived in simple one-room dwellings, lined with stone or made from branches and reeds.
These early Peruvians also built many structures for ceremonial or ritual purposes. Some of the oldest
raised temple platforms facing the ocean and containing human burials date from the third millennium
BC, indicating a prosperity based on the rich marine life of the coast. Some of these platforms were

decorated with painted mud friezes. The more complex coastal ruins of Caral are unique: dating from as
early as 3000 BC, they are evidence of the oldest civilization in South America, contemporaneous with
more-famous ancient civilizations in Egypt, India and China. More recently the ruins of the oldest
astronomical observatory in the Western Hemisphere were discovered on the coast just north of Lima.
Roughly contemporary with coastal settlements of the later Preceramic Period, the enigmatic site of the
Temple of Kotosh near Hunuco is one of the earliest ruins in highland Peru. Little is known about the
people who lived there, but their buildings rated among the most developed for that period, and pottery
fragments found here predate those found in other parts of Peru by several hundred years.
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Initial period
This period, so named for the initiation of ceramics production, extended from approximately 2000 to 1000
BC. What is known about it today has been gleaned from remains found in the Vir valley and Guaape
area, just south of Trujillo on Perus north coast. More recently, large ceremonial temples from this period
have been discovered in the Rmac valley above Lima and other coastal sites. Funerary offerings were
made at many of them. During this time, ceramics developed from basic undecorated pots to sculpted,
incised and simply colored pots of high quality. Weaving, fishing and horticulture also improved, the latter
particularly through the development of irrigation. Toward the end of this time, agricultural terraces were
first constructed in the highlands.
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Early horizon
Lasting roughly from 1000 to 300 BC, this period has also been called the Chavn Horizon, after the site of
Chavn de Huntar, east of Huaraz. Its termed a horizon because artistic and religious phenomena
appeared, perhaps independently, within several cultures in different places at about the same time,
indicating some kind of interchange of ideas and increasing cultural complexity. This horizon extended
throughout much of the highlands and the coast.
The salient feature of the Chavn influence is the repeated representation of a stylized feline (jaguar or
puma) face with prominently religious overtones, perhaps symbolizing spiritual transformations
experienced under the influence of hallucinogenic plants. Other animal faces, some mythical, and human
faces are also found. Most importantly, this period represents the greatest early development in weaving,
pottery, agriculture, religion and architecture in a word, culture.
During this time, methods of working with gold, silver and copper also developed on the north coast.
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Early intermediate period
Around 300 BC, the Chavn culture inexplicably lost its unifying influence. Over the next thousand or so
years, several cultures became locally important, of which the best known is the unusually named Paracas
Necropolis (named after the burial site discovered south of Lima), which produced cotton and wool textiles
considered to be the finest pre-Columbian textiles of the Americas with up to 398 threads per linear inch!
From about AD 100 to 700 pottery, metalwork and weaving reached a pinnacle of technological
development in several regions. Two distinct cultures are particularly noted for their exceptional pottery:
the Moche from the Trujillo area produced pottery from press molds, and the Nazca from the south coast
introduced polychrome techniques. Both of these cultures recorded their life in intricate detail on their
ceramics, leaving archaeologists with plentiful clues about this period.
These cultures also left behind impressive sites that are worth visiting today. The Moche built massive
platform mounds (popularly called pyramids) such as the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna (Temples of the
Sun and Moon), which are located near Trujillo. Sipn, another Moche site situated near Chiclayo,
contains a series of tombs that have been under excavation since 1987 and may be the most important
archaeological discovery inSouth America since Machu Picchu. The Temple of the Moon is currently under
excavation, and amazing friezes have been uncovered. Most recently, the elaborately tattooed mummy of
a female Moche leader was discovered in 2006 at another coastal site.
The Nazca made enigmatic giant designs in the desert, known as the Nazca Lines. At the turn of the 20th
century, it was Peruvian archaeologist Max Uhle who first realized that the drifting desert sands hid
remnants of a culture distinct from other coastal peoples. Soon huaqueros (grave robbers) came to
plunder many of the most fascinating sites and sold their finds to individuals and museums. But you can
view Nazca mummies at the Chauchilla Cemetery, and also visit the pyramids of Cahuachi, which are still
undergoing excavations.

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Middle horizon
Most of the latter half of the 6th century was marked by a catastrophic drought along the coast,
contributing to the otherwise mysterious demise of the Moche.
From AD 600 to about 1100, the Wari (or Huari) emerged as the first expansionist peoples known in the
Andes. Unlike the earlier Chavn, expansion was not limited to the diffusion of artistic and religious
influence. Based in the Ayacucho region of the central highlands, the Wari were vigorous military
conquerors who built and maintained important outposts throughout much of Peru. The sprawling ruins of
their ancient capital can still be visited outside Ayacucho.
The Wari attempted to subdue the cultures they conquered by emphasizing their own values and
suppressing local oral traditions and regional self-expression. Thus from about AD 700 to 1100, Wari
influence is noted in the art, technology and architecture of most areas in Peru. More significantly, from an
archaeologists point of view, any local oral traditions that may have existed were discouraged by these
conquerors and slowly forgotten. With no written language to study either, archaeologists must rely entirely
on the examination of excavated artifacts to gain an idea of what life during this period was like.
The Wari too, in their turn, were replaced by other cultures.
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Late intermediate period
Because of their cultural dominance and oppressive rule, it is not surprising that the Wari were generally
not welcomed by other cultures, despite the improvements they made in urban development and
organization. By about AD 1000, their governance had been replaced by individual groups in local areas.
These separate regional states thrived for the next 400 years. The best-known is the Chimu kingdom in
the Trujillo area. Its capital was Chan Chan, famed as the largest adobe city in the world.
Several other cultures existed around roughly the same time as the Chimu. The cloud-forestdwelling Chachapoyas warrior culture erected Kulap, one of the most intriguing and significant of the
highland ruins, and reasonably accessible to travelers. Back on the coast, the Sicn were descendants of
the Moche culture. They were also excellent metalsmiths who actively traded with other tribes in the
regions of present-day Ecuador,Chile and Colombia. Also contemporary with the Chimu were the Chancay
people just north of Lima. The best collection of Chancay artifacts is at the Fundacion Museo Amano
in Lima. Further south were the Ica and Chincha cultures, whose artifacts can be seen in the Museo
Regional de Ica. At this time there were also several small altiplano (Andean plateau) kingdoms situated
near Lake Titicaca that frequently warred with one another. They left impressive chullpas (funerary towers)
dotting the bleak landscape the best remaining examples are at Sillustani and Cutimbo. Last but not
least, the formation of chiefdoms and social development in the Amazon jungle had already begun by the
end of this period.
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Inca empire
For all its glory, the Inca empire really only existed for barely a century. The reign of the first
eight incas (kings) spanned the period from the 12th century to the early 15th century. But prior to 1438,
the Incas, a small tribe who believed themselves to have descended from the ancestral sun god Inti, ruled
over only the valley of Cuzco.
It was the ninth inca, Pachacutec, that gave the empire its first bloody taste of conquest. A growing thirst
for expansion had led the neighboring highland tribe, the Chankas, to Cuzcos doorstep around 1438, and
Viracocha Inca fled in the belief that his small empire was lost. However, his son Pachacutec rallied the
Inca army and, in a desperate battle, he famously routed the Chanka. This marked the beginning of a
remarkably rapid military expansion.
Buoyed by his victory in Cuzco, Pachacutec promptly bagged much of the central Andes over the next 25
years. The Inca empire, known as Tahuantinsuyo (Land of Four Quarters), conquered most of the cultures
in the area stretching from southern Colombia to central Chile, including also the Andean regions
of Bolivia and northern Argentina. It was also during this time that scores of fabulous mountaintop citadels
were built, including famous Machu Picchu.
Like the Wari before them, the Incas imposed their way of life on the peoples they conquered. Thus when
the Spanish arrived, most of the Andean area had been politically unified by Inca rule. This unification did
not extend to many of the everyday facets of life for the conquered, and many of them felt some

resentment toward the Inca leaders. This was a significant factor in the success of the Spaniards during
their invasion of the New World.
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Spanish invasion
When Europeans discovered the New World, epidemics, including smallpox, swept down from Central
America and the Caribbean. In 1527, the 11th inca Huayna Capac died of such an epidemic. Before
expiring, he divided his empire between his two sons, Atahualpa, possibly born of a quitea (inhabitant
of Quito) mother, who took the north, and the pure-blooded native cuzqueo (inhabitant of Cuzco)
Huascar, who took Cuzcoand the south. Civil war promptly ensued, and the slow downfall of the Inca
empire began.
After Columbus first landfall, the Spanish rapidly invaded and conquered the Caribbean islands and the
Aztec and Mayan cultures of Mexico and Central America. By the 1520s, the conquistadors were ready to
turn their attentions to the South American continent. In 1522 Pascual de Andagoya sailed as far as
the Ro San Juan in Ecuador. Two years later, Francisco Pizarro headed south but was unable to reach
even the San Juan. In November 1526, Pizarro again headed south, this time with more success. By 1528
he had discovered the rich coastal settlements of the Inca empire.
After returning to Spain to court money and men for the impending conquest, he returned. Pizarros third
expedition left Panama late in 1530. He landed on the Ecuadorian coast and began to march overland
toward Peru. In September 1532, Pizarro founded the first Spanish town in Peru, naming it San Miguel
de Piura. He then marched inland into the heart of the Inca empire. Pizarro succeeded in
reaching Cajamarca in 1532, by which time Atahualpa had defeated his half-brother Huascar.
This meeting between Incas and Spaniards was to radically change the course of South American history.
Atahualpa was ambushed by a few dozen armed conquistadors, who succeeded in capturing him, killing
thousands of unarmed indigenous tribespeople. In an attempt to regain his freedom, the Inca offered a
ransom of gold and silver from Cuzco, including that stripped from the walls of Qorikancha, the most
glorious temple in the Inca empire.
But after holding Atahualpa prisoner for a number of months and teasing the Incas with ransom requests,
Pizarro murdered the Inca leader anyway, and quickly marched on Cuzco. Mounted on horseback,
protected by armor and swinging steel swords, the Spanish cavalry was virtually unstoppable. Despite
sporadic rebellions, the Inca empire was forced to retreat into the mountains and jungle, and never
recovered its glorious prestige or extent.
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Colonial Peru
The Inca capital of Cuzco was of little use to the Spaniards, who were a seafaring people and needed a
coastal capital to maintain communication with Spain. Accordingly, Pizarro founded Lima as the City of
Kings on the Feast of Epiphany, January 6, 1535, and this became the capital of the viceroyalty of Peru,
as the colony was named.
The next three decades were a period of great turmoil, with the Incas fighting against their conquerors, and
the conquistadors fighting among themselves for control of the rich colony. The conquistador Diego de
Almagro was assassinated in 1538 and Francisco Pizarro suffered the same fate three years later at the
hands of Almagros avenging son. Meanwhile, Manco Inca tried to regain control of the highlands and was
almost successful in 1536, but he was forced to retreat to Vilcabamba in the jungle, where he was killed in
1544. Succeeding Incas were less defiant until 1572 when the last ruling Inca, Tpac Amaru, organized a
rebellion in which he was defeated and eventually beheaded by the Spaniards in front of the cathedral
in Cuzcos main plaza.
Things were relatively peaceful, however, during the next 200 years. Lima became the main political,
social and commercial center of the Andean nations. Cuzco became a backwater, its main mark on the
colonial period being the development of the Cuzco school of art, the escuela cuzquea, which blended
Spanish and indigenous influences. Cuzco school canvases can be admired now in Limas museums and
in the many colonial churches that were built in the highlands during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The rulers of the colony were the Spanish-born viceroys appointed by the Spanish crown. Immigrants
from Spain held the most prestigious positions, while Spaniards born in the colony were generally less
important. This is how the Spanish crown was able to control its colonies. Mestizos were placed still further
down the social scale. Lowest of all were the indigenous peoples, who were exploited and treated

as peones (expendable laborers,) under the encomienda system. This feudal system granted Spanish
colonists land titles that included as property all of the indigenous people living within that area.
This finally boiled over into the 1780 indigenous uprising, led by Tpac Amaru II. Educated by Jesuits,
this cuzqueo of royal Inca descent served his Spanish colonial masters at first while working to improve
conditions for indigenous workers, especially in Perus mines. As his politics grew more radical, Tpac
Amaru II adopted his great-grandfathers Incan name and staged an all-out rebellion. When that struggle
was quashed by the Spanish, the indigenous leaders were cruelly executed in Cuzco. Tpac Amaru II
himself was drawn and quartered in Cuzcos main plaza, the same place that his great-grandfather had
been executed. No one knows whether any of the Inca royal line survived past this date.
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Independence
By the early 19th century, the inhabitants of Spains Latin American colonies were dissatisfied with their
lack of freedom and high taxation; South America was ripe for revolt and independence. In Perus case,
what paved the way toward independence was the discovery and exploitation of a variety of rich mineral
deposits, beginning with the seemingly inauspicious guano (seabird droppings) used for fertilizer.
The winds of change arrived in Peru from two directions. Jos de San Martn
liberated Argentina and Chile, and in 1821 he entered Lima and formally proclaimed independence.
Meanwhile, Simn Bolvar had freed Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador.
In 1822 San Martn and Bolvar met privately in Guayaquil, Ecuador. What transpired during that heart-toheart conversation is still a mystery, but afterward San Martn left Latin America altogether to live
in France, while Bolvar continued with the liberation of Peru.
The most decisive battles for Peruvian independence were fought at Junn on August 6, 1824
and Ayacucho on December 9. But it wasnt until 1826 that the Spanish finally surrendered.
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Disorder at the borders
Unfortunately, independence didnt spell the end of warfare for Peru. A brief war broke out with Spain in
1866, which Peru won, and was followed shortly by a longer war with Chile (187983), which Peru lost.
The latter was over the nitrate-rich areas of the northern Atacama Desert and resulted in Chile annexing a
large portion of coastal southern Peru. The area around Tacna wasnt returned until 1929.
Peru went to war with Ecuador over a border dispute in 1941. A treaty drawn up in Rio de Janeiro in 1942
gave Peru jurisdiction over the northern sections of the departments of Amazonas and Loreto,
but Ecuador disputed this border, and deadly skirmishes occurred between the two countries every few
years. Finally, in 1998, the border issue was resolved, with Peru granting Ecuador access to the Amazon
and leaving a tiny area inEcuadors control. Essentially, the 1942 border remains almost intact and the two
countries are now at peace, although much unexploded ordinance (UXO) is waiting to be cleaned up.
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Dictatorships & revolutionaries
For much of the 20th century, especially during the 1960s and 70s, the governing of Peru was marked by
a series of military dictatorships and coups.
Civilian rule returned in 1980 with President Fernando Belande Terry, who had been ousted by a military
coup in 1968. His earlier administration had been mired in disputes with a US-owned oil company when
the military stepped in and took control of some of Perus most lucrative oil fields. After being exiled
to Argentina for more than a decade, Belande was allowed by the military to come back to Peru and run
for office again. Although Belande was admired for his staunch commitment to the democratic process,
his second presidential term was marred by radical inflation, domestic terrorism and human-rights
violations by the Peruvian armed forces.
The Maoist group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) waged a terrorist campaign against the central
government from 1980 until the early 1990s, and the struggle led to between 40,000 and 60,000 deaths
and disappearances. The guerrilla group was linked to drug cartels and active mainly in Perus central
highlands, but the effects of its activities were often felt in Lima. A smaller, unrelated guerrilla group, the
Marxist-Leninist Movimiento Revolucionario Tpac Amaru (MRTA) also waged a war against the
government, but this conflict was largely localized within the department of San Martn.
In 1985 Perus presidential elections were won by Alan Garca Prez. Alan Garca, as hes better known,
was Perus youngest president ever and delighted the passionately proud populace with his
weekly balconazos, oratory-filled appearances on the balcony of the Presidential Palace. He further

pleased Peruvians by cutting taxes and freezing prices. For a while he was Perus shining star, but the
economy could not support Garcas largesse, and the currency was massively devalued.
The last years of the Garca presidency were grim no more balconazos, hyperinflation (at one point, it
reached 10,000%!), Sendero Luminoso guerrillas heightening their activities, and a national state of
emergency with a 1am to 5am curfew in Lima. Demonstrations and protests were an almost daily
occurrence. By the end of Garcas five-year term, the country was in economic and political chaos. Garca
went into exile after being accused of embezzling millions of dollars, and thereafter lived in luxurious
apartments in Colombia, France and Germany. Amazingly, after the statute of limitations had run out, he
returned to Peru to run for president again twice!
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Fujishock
With the country in a state of chaos, the 1990 presidential elections took on more importance than ever.
The contest was between famed novelist Mario Vargas Llosa and Alberto Fujimori, an agronomist of
Japanese descent. During the campaign, Vargas Llosa promoted an economic shock treatment program
that many feared would send more Peruvians into poverty, while Fujimori positioned himself as an
alternative to the Peruvian status quo. Fujimori won handily. But as soon as he got into office, he
implemented an even more austere economic plan that, among other things, drove up the price of gasoline
by 3000%. The measures, known as Fujishock, ultimately succeeded in reducing inflation and stabilizing
the economy but not without costing the average Peruvian dearly.
Fujimori followed this, in April of 1992, with an autogolpe (coup from within). He dissolved the legislature
and generated an entirely new congress, one stocked with his allies. Peruvians, not unused to caudillos,
tolerated the power grab, hoping that Fujimori might help stabilize the economic and political situation
which he did. The economy grew. And by the end of the year, leaders of both Sendero Luminoso and
MRTA had been apprehended (though, sadly, not before Sendero Luminoso had brutally assassinated
beloved community activist Mara Elena Moyano and detonated lethal truck bombs in
the Lima neighborhood of Miraflores).
Despite the arrests, the Internal Conflict wasnt over. In December of 1996, during Fujimoris second term
as president, 14 members of MRTA stormed the Japanese ambassadors residence and hundreds of
prominent people were taken hostage. The guerrillas demanded, among other things, the release of
imprisoned MRTA members, a rollback of the governments free-market reforms and improvements in
prison conditions. Most of the hostages were released, although 72 men were held until the following April,
when Peruvian commandos stormed the embassy, killing the captors and releasing all of the hostages
except one, who died along with two soldiers. This action later came under intense criticism as it was
claimed that members of MRTA were repeatedly shot despite attempts to surrender.
By the end of his second term, Fujimoris administration was plagued by allegations of corruption. He ran
for a third term in 2000 (which is technically unconstitutional) and remained in power despite the fact that
he didnt have the simple majority necessary to claim the election. Within the year, however, he was forced
to flee the country after it was revealed that his security chief Vladimiro Montesinos had been embezzling
government funds and bribing elected officials and the media. (Many of these acts were caught on film: the
Vladivideos all 2700 of them riveted the nation when they first aired in 2001.) Fujimori formally
resigned the presidency from abroad, but the legislature rejected the gesture, voting him out of office and
declaring him morally unfit to govern.
Peru, however, hadnt heard the last of Fujimori. In 2005, he returned to South America, only to be
arrested in Chile on an extradition warrant to face long-standing charges of corruption, kidnapping and
human-rights violations. He was extradited to Peru in 2007 and, that same year, was convicted of ordering
an illegal search. Two years later, he was convicted of ordering extrajudicial killings, and three months after
that, was convicted of channeling millions of dollars in state funds to Montesinos. In 2009, he also pleaded
guilty to wiretapping and bribery. Altogether, he faces almost three decades in state prison. (Montesinos, in
the meantime, is serving a prison term of 20 years, for bribery and selling arms to Colombian rebels.)
Fujimori has shown little remorse for his actions. At his embezzlement trial, he simply said, The true
judgment for me is that of the people, who have long absolved me in their hearts.
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Twenty-first century
The new millennium, thus far, has been better to Peru than the previous two, and the country has been
enjoying a period of relative stability. In 2001, shoeshine-boy-turned-Stanford-economist

Alejandro Toledo became the first person of Quechua ethnicity to ever be elected to the presidency. (Until
then, Peru had had mestizo presidents, but never a full-blooded indgena.) However, along with his new
title Toledo inherited some very difficult economic and political situations: he lacked a majority in congress,
which hampered his effectiveness, and the country was in the midst of an economic recession. By 2003,
his popularity had reached an all-time low of less than 10%.
One of the most remarkable things to come out of Alejandro Toledos presidency was the establishment of
the countrys Comisin de la Verdad y Reconciliacin (Truth & Reconciliation Commission). Chaired by
Salomn Lerner, a philosopher at Limas Catholic University, the commission thoroughly examined the
innumerable acts of mass violence that plagued Peru throughout the Internal Conflict (19802000).
Though the panel wasnt endowed with prosecutorial powers, its public hearings nonetheless proved to be
an emotional and tremendously cathartic act. Men and women of all ages and races came forward to
testify to the massacres, rapes and disappearances that had occurred at the hands of the military and the
various guerrilla groups during those 20 years.
In August of 2003, the commission issued its final report, revealing that the death toll from that era was
more than twice what anyone had ever estimated: almost 70,000 people had been killed or disappeared.
Moreover, children had been left orphaned, villages had been abandoned and thousands of lives left in
tatters. Along with the final report, the commission also staged an extraordinarily moving exhibit of
photography called Yuyanapaq (to remember in Quechua) that is now housed at Limas Museo de la
Nacin. A permanent museum to house this archive to be called the Museo de la Memoria (Museum of
Memory), spearheaded by Mario Vargas Llosa was in the early planning stages in 2009. Learn more
about the commissions work (and download their final report) by visiting their website
at www.cverdad.org.pe.
Following the conclusion of Toledos term in 2006, the election turned into a three-way contest between
right-wing candidate Lourdes Flores, populist Ollanta Humala and of all people the APRAs Alan
Garca, the very man who had put Peru on a path to financial ruin during the late 1980s. After a run-off
election, voters eventually settled on Garca. His second term thus far has been relatively stable. The
economy has performed well, due to a strong market in mining and agricultural exports, and strong local
governance in Lima has left the capital renewed and its port facilities upgraded after decades of decay.
Garcas term, however, has not been without outrage. His entire cabinet was forced to resign in 2008,
after widespread allegations of bribery and corruption surfaced. And, that same year, he signed a law that
allowed foreign companies to exploit natural resources in the Amazon. The legislation caused a backlash
among various Amazon tribes, who blocked roads in the area in protest. In June of 2009, a confrontation
between police and natives outside of Bagua left 33 people dead (most of them officers) and hundreds of
civilians injured. The Peruvian congress revoked the law and, for now, the situation has cooled off. But the
president nonetheless faces untold challenges: the development (or not) of the Amazon; how to deal with
the resurgence of Sendero Luminoso around Ayacucho; and the continuing chasm that exists between rich
and poor, indigenous and white in Peru. For the meantime, however, the country is enjoying a rare
moment of prosperity and hope. One can only hope it will last.
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/peru/history#ixzz4BB66pjIt