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Peru
Almost as large as Quebec, Peru is a country with dazzling geographical, biological and cultural diversity. The Andes mountains are home to millions of highland Indians who still speak the ancient tongue of Quechua and maintain a traditional way of life. Yet over half of Peru is located in the Amazon tropical rainforest, with its amazing diversity of plants and animals. About 70 languages are spoken by people who live in the rainforest regions. Then there is the much drier coastal region, with its farmland and fishing villages, and the largely Spanish-speaking capital of Lima. Peru's ethnic structure is primarily made up of Indians, people of Spanish descent, and mestizos, who have mixed heritage. Some Peruvians also are of African descent, and Lima and other coastal cities have Chinese and Japanese communities. Brief History of Peru For an excellent listing of on line histories and cultural sites see Culture of the Andes. Although Peru was the site of many remarkable cultures, dating back thousands of years, the most spectacular was the Inca civilization, which had its capital in Cuzco. Like Quebec City, Cuzco is a UNESCO world heritage site. The Incas conquered neighboring peoples, and their empire stretched into present-day Columbia, Chile, and Argentina. The Incas developed a brilliant society that was based on geographical organization and an elaborate social network. They built irrigation canals, created cities, and had detailed knowledge of botany and astronomy. When the Spanish set foot on Peruvian soil in the 1530s, the Inca empire was plagued by internal disputes within the ruling family. This disunity, combined with the superior weapons of the Spanish, brought the empire to its knees in only a year. However, resistance against the invader continued until 1572, at which time Tupac Amaru, the last Inca, was captured and ordered decapitated by Toledo, the Spanish viceroy of the colony. The Spanish would then rule Peru for almost 300 years. The Conquistadors, as the Spanish conquerors were known, claimed the best agricultural land and settled down as powerful land owners, introducing laws that kept the indigenous people in a state of dependency. They worked a piece of land for their own survival and could own a few animals, but they could not do business outside the property and their children could not go to school. At a trial, a Spaniard's testimony was worth that of two male aboriginals or three female aboriginals. Lima become a major economic centre, but the exploitation of native people led to an uprising in 1780 under the self-styled Inca Tupac Amaru II. The rebellion failed, and its leaders were executed. In 1819, Simon Bolivar liberated Venezuela from Spanish rule, and saw to the retreat of the Spaniards from Columbia and Ecuador. The ãliberator'sä unfulfilled dream was to create a large South American federation. Peru gained its independence in 1821, but it's trade and economic activity continued to be largely controlled by foreigners - first from Great Britain and later from the United States. Since then, Peru has had a variety of military and civilian governments. The exploitative agricultural system began to be reformed in the 1960s, but the gap between rich and poor led to national strikes and the formation of guerilla movements which called for a socialist revolution along the lines of Cuba and China. A violent insurgency by the Maoist Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) caused political instability in the 1980s. The Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) also gained in strength during this time. The 1990 presidential election victory of Alberto Fujimori over Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa ushered in a period of effective military action against the guerrillas by the army. However, civil liberties were reduced and non-governmental organizations complained of human rights abuses. In the last 20 years, some 30,000 people have been killed during the conflict. Fujimori was re-elected in April 1995, beating former UN secretary general Javier Perez de Cuellar. December 17, 1996, a group of armed rebels from the MRTA took over 500 people hostage at the Japanese embassy in Lima, including foreign diplomats, several senior government officials, and supreme court justices. Canadian ambassador to Peru, Anthony Vincent, was one of the first hostages to be released and participated in negotiations to end the stand off. For 126 days the Tupac Amaru held the building. The crisis ended with a seige by Peruvian troops in which all 14 Tupac Amaru were killed and 71 of the 72 remaining hostages freed safely. Find out more in the NEWSROOM. For a look at human rights abuses taking place in Peru by both the government and revolutionary groups visit Amnesty International's web site and search for Peru or Tupac Amaru. For the other side of the hostage taking story see a website supporting the Tupac Amaru. Although the economy has picked up, the standard of living of the middle- or lower-class Peruvian have not improved significantly in recent years. In order to reduce inflation and its budget deficit, the government reduced spending on health care, education, housing and transportation. As rural peasants escape to the cities, two-thirds of the population now lives in cities although the urban infrastructure cannot support such an influx of people. More than half the population battles poverty without a safety net of health care and unemployment insurance that we take for granted in Canada and other countries. Non-governmental organizations try to help. The story of one such organization is told in The Filomena Phenomenon. Culture
For a taste of Peruvian music listen to songs in Quecha Narcotics
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