Presidential victory
130-417: [REDACTED] Government [REDACTED] Armed Forces The 1992 Peruvian self-coup , sometimes known as the Fujimorazo , was performed in Peru in 1992 after President Alberto Fujimori dissolved the Congress as well as the judiciary and assumed full legislative and judicial powers. With the collaboration of the military, the Fujimori government subsequently began to implement objectives of
260-439: A constitutional monarchy , a proposal that was turned down. De la Serna abandoned the city, and on 12 July 1821, San Martín occupied Lima and declared Peruvian independence on 28 July 1821. He created the first Peruvian flag. Upper Peru (present-day Bolivia) remained as a Spanish stronghold until the army of Simón Bolívar liberated it three years later. José de San Martín was declared Protector of Peru. Peruvian national identity
390-555: A coup d'état was included in the plan, though this was opposed by Anthony C. E. Quainton , the United States Ambassador to Peru . Military planners also decided against the coup as they expected a neoliberal candidate to be elected in the 1990 Peruvian general election . Rendón writes that the United States supported Fujimori because of his relationship with Vladimiro Montesinos , a former Peruvian intelligence officer who
520-500: A $ 900 million deficit. The economic turbulence of the time acerbated social tensions in Peru and partly contributed to the rise of violent rebel rural insurgent movements, like Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and MRTA , which caused great havoc throughout the country. The Peruvian armed forces, frustrated with the inability of the García administration to handle the nation's crises, drafted
650-721: A collapse before you can implement fundamental changes in the political system". De Soto convinced Fujimori to travel to New York City in a meeting organized by the Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar , secretary general of the United Nations, where they met with the heads of the International Monetary Fund , the World Bank , and the Inter-American Development Bank , who convinced Fujimori to follow
780-755: A consensus candidate. A suitable candidate, Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt, was agreed upon in November 1991 , and Pérez de Cuéllar's second term as secretary-general concluded, as scheduled, on 31 December 1991. Pérez de Cuéllar ran unsuccessfully against Alberto Fujimori for president of Peru in 1995 ; following Fujimori's resignation over corruption charges, he served as prime minister and foreign minister from November 2000 until July 2001. After Alejandro Toledo 's election as president in 2001 , he went to Paris as Peru's ambassador to France, retiring in 2004. In 1997, Pérez de Cuéllar published his memoir Pilgrimage for Peace in which he recounted his years at
910-618: A high biodiversity with 21,462 species of plants and animals reported as of 2003, 5,855 of them endemic , and is one of the megadiverse countries. Peru has over 1,800 species of birds (120 endemic ), over 500 species of mammals , over 300 species of reptiles, and over 1,000 species of freshwater fishes . The hundreds of mammals include rare species like the puma , jaguar and spectacled bear . The Birds of Peru produce large amounts of guano , an economically important export. The Pacific holds large quantities of sea bass , flounder , anchovies , tuna , crustaceans , and shellfish , and
1040-524: A large diversity of climates. Elevations above sea level in the country range from −37 to 6,778 m (−121 to 22,238 ft) and precipitation ranges from less than 20 mm (0.79 in) annually in desert areas to more than 8,000 mm (310 in) in tropical rainforest areas. Due to its geography, Peru can be divide into three main climates. The unbroken and relatively slim coastal region has moderate temperatures, low precipitation, and high humidity, except for its warmer, wetter northern reaches. In
1170-449: A lasting imprint on the country's governance that continues to present day. The 2000s marked economic expansion and poverty reduction, but the subsequent decade revealed long-existing sociopolitical vulnerabilities , exacerbated by a political crisis instigated by Congress and the COVID-19 pandemic , precipitating the period of unrest beginning in 2022 . The sovereign state of Peru
1300-455: A majority in this new congress, which later drafted the 1993 Constitution. Fujimori also set about curtailing the independence of the judiciary and constitutional rights with a declaration of a state of emergency and curfews, as well as enacting controversial "severe emergency laws" to deal with terrorism. The Prime Minister , Alfonso de Los Heros, and the Minister of Agriculture resigned while
1430-772: A media offensive against the Shining Path rural guerrilla movement. On March 12, 1992, Undersecretary of State for Latin American Affairs Bernard Aronson told the US Congress : "The international community and respected human rights organizations must focus the spotlight of world attention on the threat which Sendero poses... Latin America has seen violence and terror, but none like Sendero's... and make no mistake, if Sendero were to take power, we would see... genocide." Given Washington's concerns, long-term repercussions of
SECTION 10
#17331153659511560-569: A mix of cultures and ethnicities that did not exist before the Spanish conquered the Peruvian territory. Even though many of the Inca traditions were lost or diluted, new customs, traditions and knowledge were added, creating a rich mixed Peruvian culture. Two of the most important Indigenous rebellions against the Spanish were that of Juan Santos Atahualpa in 1742, and Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II in 1780 around
1690-499: A powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in the pre-Columbian Americas with their capital in Cusco . The Incas of Cusco originally represented one of the small and relatively minor ethnic groups, the Quechuas . Gradually, as early as the thirteenth century, they began to expand and incorporate their neighbors. Inca expansion was slow until about the middle of
1820-525: A rentier family of Spanish descent with ancestry from Cuéllar . His father, whose ancestors had migrated from Spain in the 16th century, died when he was 4. He attended Colegio San Agustín , learned French from a governess and earned a law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in 1943. Pérez de Cuéllar joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1940 first as an intern,
1950-566: A result of these and other changes, the Spaniards and their creole successors came to monopolize control over the land, seizing many of the best lands abandoned by the massive native depopulation. However, the Spanish did not resist the Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian. The Treaty of Tordesillas was rendered meaningless between 1580 and 1640 while Spain controlled Portugal . The need to ease communication and trade with Spain led to
2080-399: A self-imposed exile, initially avoiding prosecution for human rights violations and corruption charges by the new Peruvian authorities. Peru tried to fight corruption while sustaining economic growth at the start of the 21st century, though Fujimorism held power over much of Peruvian society through maintaining control of institutions and legislation created in the 1993 constitution, which
2210-664: A son, Francisco, and a daughter, Águeda Cristina. He was a member of the Peruvian delegation to the first session of the United Nations General Assembly , which convened in London in 1946, and of the delegations to the 25th through 30th sessions of the Assembly. In 1971, he was appointed permanent representative of Peru to the UN and led his country's delegation in the Assembly until 1975. In 1973 and 1974, he represented Peru in
2340-589: A wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art , cuisine , literature , and music . The name of the country may be derived from Birú , the name of a local ruler who lived near the Bay of San Miguel , Panama City, in the early 16th century. Spanish conquistadors , who arrived in 1522, believed this was the southernmost part of the New World . When Francisco Pizarro invaded the regions farther south, they came to be designated Birú or Perú . An alternative history
2470-550: Is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions . Its main economic activities include mining , manufacturing , agriculture and fishing, along with other growing sectors such as telecommunications and biotechnology . The country forms part of The Pacific Pumas , a political and economic grouping of countries along Latin America's Pacific coast that share common trends of positive growth, stable macroeconomic foundations, improved governance and an openness to global integration. Peru ranks high in social freedom ; it
2600-792: Is an active member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation , the Pacific Alliance , the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the World Trade Organization ; and is considered as a middle power . Peru's population includes Mestizos , Amerindians , Europeans , Africans and Asians . The main spoken language is Spanish , although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechuan languages , Aymara , or other Indigenous languages . This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in
2730-510: Is home to many sharks, sperm whales , and whales. The invertebrate fauna is far less inventoried; at least beetles (Coleoptera) have been surveyed in the "Beetles of Peru" project, led by Caroline S. Chaboo, University of Nebraska, USA and this revealved more 12,000 documented and many new species for Peru. Peru also has an equally diverse flora . The coastal deserts produce little more than cacti , apart from hilly fog oases and river valleys that contain unique plant life. The Highlands above
SECTION 20
#17331153659512860-422: Is provided by the contemporary writer Inca Garcilaso de la Vega , son of an Inca princess and a conquistador. He said the name Birú was that of a common Amerindian who was happened upon by the crew of a ship on an exploratory mission for governor Pedro Arias Dávila and went on to relate more instances of misunderstandings due to the lack of a common language. The Spanish crown gave the name legal status with
2990-579: Is the selva (jungle), a wide expanse of flat terrain covered by the Amazon rainforest that extends east. Almost 60 percent of the country's area is located within this region. The country has fifty-four hydrographic basins, fifty-two of which are small coastal basins that discharge their waters into the Pacific Ocean. The final two are the endorheic basin of Lake Titicaca , and the Amazon basin, which empties into
3120-466: The auto-golpe ("self-coup") of 5 April 1992. He then revised the constitution, called new congressional elections, and implemented substantial economic reform, including privatization of numerous state-owned companies, creation of an investment-friendly climate, and sound management of the economy. Nonetheless, these policies did not benefit the poorest much, and inequality persisted despite Fujimori's economic achievements. Fujimori's administration
3250-464: The 2006 elections . In 2006, Alberto Fujimori's daughter, Keiko Fujimori , entered Peru's political arena to continue her father's legacy and espouse Fujimorism. In May 2008, Peru became a member of the Union of South American Nations . In April 2009, former president Alberto Fujimori was convicted of human rights violations and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in killings and kidnappings by
3380-510: The Ayacucho massacre and Juliaca massacre occurring at this time, resulting with the most violence experienced in the nation in over two decades. The strong response by the political elite in Lima raised concerns that they sought to establish an authoritarian or civilian-military government . Peru is located on the central western coast of South America facing the Pacific Ocean. It lies wholly in
3510-472: The Green Plan following the coup. Under the military government of Juan Velasco Alvarado , Peru's debt increased greatly due to excessive borrowing and the 1970s energy crisis . The economic policy of President Alan García distanced Peru from international markets further, resulting in lower foreign investment in the country. Under García, Peru experienced hyperinflation and increased confrontations with
3640-467: The Grupo Colina death squad during his government's battle against leftist guerrillas in the 1990s. During the presidencies of Ollanta Humala , Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Martín Vizcarra , the right-wing Congress led by Keiko Fujimori obstructed much of the actions performed by the presidents. On 5 June 2011, Ollanta Humala was elected president, with his cabinet being successfully censured by
3770-523: The Huaca Prieta settlement. Andean societies were based on agriculture, using techniques such as irrigation and terracing ; camelid husbandry and fishing were also important. Organization relied on reciprocity and redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money. The oldest known complex society in Peru, the Caral/Norte Chico civilization , flourished along the coast of
3900-781: The Inca Empire , the largest known state in the pre-Columbian Americas. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and Charles V established a viceroyalty with the official name of the Kingdom of Peru that encompassed most of its South American territories, with its capital in Lima . Higher education started in the Americas with the official establishment of the National University of San Marcos in Lima in 1551. Peru formally proclaimed independence from Spain in 1821, and following
4030-638: The International Petroleum Corporation (IPC), the North American company that exploited Peruvian oil, and then launched a reform of the state apparatus, an agrarian reform. It was the biggest agrarian reform ever undertaken in Latin America: it abolished the latifunda system and modernized agriculture through a more equitable redistribution of land (90% of the peasants formed cooperatives or agricultural societies of social interest). Land
1992 Peruvian self-coup - Misplaced Pages Continue
4160-572: The Organization of American States . The coup appeared to threaten the economic recovery strategy of reinsertion, and complicated the process of clearing arrears with the International Monetary Fund. Even before the coup, relations with the United States had been strained because of Fujimori's reluctance to sign an accord that would increase U.S. and Peruvian military efforts in eradicating coca fields . Although Fujimori eventually signed
4290-567: The Plan Verde , which involved the genocide of impoverished and indigenous Peruvians, the control or censorship of the media in Peru , and the establishment of a neoliberal economy controlled by a military junta . Alberto Fujimori assumed the presidency in 1990 and, according to the head of the National Intelligence Service (SIN) Rospigliosi, an understanding was established between Fujimori, Vladimiro Montesinos , and some of
4420-570: The Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America . It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia , in the east by Brazil , in the southeast by Bolivia , in the south by Chile , and in the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is a megadiverse country , with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west, to the peaks of the Andes mountains extending from
4550-540: The Sapa Inca , to be the " child of the sun ." Atahualpa (or Atahuallpa), the last Sapa Inca , became emperor when he defeated and executed his older half-brother Huáscar in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac. In December 1532, a party of conquistadors (supported by the Chankas , Huancas , Cañaris and Chachapoyas as Indian auxiliaries ) led by Francisco Pizarro defeated and captured
4680-473: The Southern Hemisphere , its northernmost extreme reaching to 1.8 minutes of latitude or about 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) south of the equator , covers 1,285,216 km (496,225 sq mi) of western South America. It borders Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the southeast, Chile to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The Andes mountains run parallel to
4810-740: The UN Security Council , serving as its president at the time of the Cypriot coup d'état in July 1974. On 18 September 1975, he was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus ;– a post he held until December 1977, when he rejoined Peru's foreign service. Also in 1975, Pérez de Cuéllar divorced his first wife and married Marcela Temple Seminario (1933–2013), with whom he had no children. On 27 February 1979, he
4940-498: The War of the Pacific , which lasted until 1884. Bolivia invoked its alliance with Peru against Chile. The Peruvian Government tried to mediate the dispute by sending a diplomatic team to negotiate with the Chilean government, but the committee concluded that war was inevitable. Peruvian historiography is unanimous in maintaining that the deep cause of this war was Chile's ambition to take over
5070-753: The conflict in Western Sahara , the war between Croatian forces seeking independence and the Yugoslav People's Army (as well as the local Serb forces), and the Cyprus issue . In 1986 he presided over an international arbitration committee that ruled on the Rainbow Warrior incident between New Zealand and France. In 1983, he initiated the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) to unite countries to pursue sustainable development . During
5200-502: The de facto president. Following the coup, Peruvian newspapers, radio and television stations were occupied by the military beginning at 10:30 pm on 5 April and remained for forty hours until 7 April, limiting initial response from domestic media. During the period, only the Fujimori government was granted to communicate with the public and all newspapers were printed under military observation and contained similar content; every publication
5330-523: The human rights violations committed in the last years of violence. His Programa Nacional de Población also resulted with the forced sterilization of at least 300,000 poor and indigenous women. In early 1995, once again Peru and Ecuador clashed in the Cenepa War , but in 1998 the governments of both nations signed a peace treaty that clearly demarcated the international boundary between them. In November 2000, Fujimori resigned from office and went into
1992 Peruvian self-coup - Misplaced Pages Continue
5460-686: The war of independence in North America , and Native uprisings all contributed to a favorable climate to the development of emancipation ideas among the C riollo population in South America. However, the Criollo oligarchy in Peru enjoyed privileges and remained loyal to the Spanish Crown. The liberation movement started in Argentina where autonomous juntas were created as a result of the loss of authority of
5590-642: The 1529 Capitulación de Toledo , which designated the newly encountered Inca Empire as the province of Peru. In 1561, the rebel Lope de Aguirre declared himself the "Prince" of an independent Peru, which was cut short by his arrest and execution. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination Viceroyalty of Peru , which became the Peruvian Republic from its independence until 1979 , when it adopted its current name of Republic of Peru . The earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 12,500 BCE in
5720-474: The 1860s Peru enjoyed a period of stability under the presidency of Ramón Castilla , through increased state revenues from guano exports. In 1864, a Spanish expedition occupied the Chincha Islands (guano producers) and unleashed an international incident with great consequences in Peruvian internal politics, which led to a coup d'état against President Juan Antonio Pezet , Mariano's government. Peru, with
5850-422: The 20th century, Peru grappled with political and social instability, including the internal conflict between the state and guerrilla groups, interspersed with periods of economic growth. Implementation of Plan Verde shifted Peru towards neoliberal economics under the authoritarian rule of Alberto Fujimori and Vladimiro Montesinos in the 1990s, with the former's political ideology of Fujimorism leaving
5980-560: The Amazon. The largest lake in Peru , Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia high in the Andes, is also the largest of South America. The largest reservoirs , all in the coastal region of Peru, are the Poechos , Tinajones, San Lorenzo, and El Fraile reservoirs. Although Peru is located entirely in the tropics , the combination of tropical latitude, mountain ranges, topography variations, and two ocean currents ( Humboldt and El Niño ) gives Peru
6110-526: The Atlantic Ocean. Both are delimited by the Andes mountain range. The Amazon basin is particularly noteworthy as it is the source of the Amazon River, which at 6872 km, is the longest river in the world, and covers 75% of Peruvian territory. Peru contains 4% of the planet's freshwater. Most Peruvian rivers originate in the peaks of the Andes and drain into one of three basins . Those that drain toward
6240-605: The Chimu flourished from about 1140 to 1450. Their capital was at Chan Chan outside of modern-day Trujillo . In the highlands, both the Tiahuanaco culture, near Lake Titicaca in both Peru and Bolivia, and the Wari culture, near the present-day city of Ayacucho , developed large urban settlements and wide-ranging state systems between 500 and 1000 CE. In the 15th century, the Incas emerged as
6370-645: The Congress, gave the Executive Branch all legislative powers, suspended much of the Constitution , and gave the president the power to enact various reforms, such as the "application of drastic punishments" towards "terrorists". Fujimori called for elections of a new congress that was later named the Democratic Constitutional Congress ( Congreso Constituyente Democrático ); Fujimori later received
6500-615: The Devil, who was working "through them to frustrate" their foundations. It only took a generation to convert the population. They built churches in every city and replaced some of the Inca temples with churches, such as the Coricancha in the city of Cusco. The church employed the Inquisition , making use of torture to ensure that newly converted Catholics did not stray to other religions or beliefs, and monastery schools, educating girls, especially of
6630-572: The Fujimorist Congress. Beginning with Pedro Pablo Kuczynski , Congress used broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the 1993 Constitution of Peru that allowed impeachment of the president without cause to place pressure on the president, forcing him to resign in 2018 amid various controversies surrounding his administration. Vice president Martín Vizcarra then assumed office in March 2018 with generally favorable approval ratings as he led
SECTION 50
#17331153659516760-404: The God of the Sun who ruled from a magnificently rebuilt Cusco. From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, from southern Colombia to northern Chile, between the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Amazon rainforest in the east. The official language of
6890-442: The Inca Emperor Atahualpa in the Battle of Cajamarca . After years of preliminary exploration and military conflicts, it was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting but ended in Spanish victory and colonization of the region known as the Viceroyalty of Peru with its capital at Lima , which was then known as "La Ciudad de los Reyes" (The City of Kings). The conquest of Peru led to spin-off campaigns throughout
7020-416: The Inca nobility and upper class, "until they were old enough either to profess [to become a nun] or to leave the monastery and assume the role ('estado') in the Christian society that their fathers planned to erect" in Peru. Peruvian Catholicism follows the syncretism found in many Latin American countries, in which religious native rituals have been integrated with Christian celebrations. In this endeavor,
7150-414: The International Monetary Fund and World Bank, especially austerity measures. In response, Fujimori mounted a self-coup ( Spanish : autogolpe , sometimes Fuji-coup or fujigolpe ) on Sunday, April 5, 1992. On the night of Sunday April, 5, 1992, Fujimori appeared on television and announced that he was "temporarily dissolving" the Congress of the Republic and "reorganizing" the Judicial Branch of
7280-400: The National Library ( in favor of knowledge), the approval of the National Anthem, and the abolition of the mita (in favor of the indigenous people). On December 27, 1821, San Martín created three ministries: Ministry of State and Foreign Affairs, committing Juan García del Río; Ministry of War and Navy , to Bernardo de Monteagudo; and Ministry of Finance, to Hipólito Unanue. From the 1840s to
7410-403: The Pacific Ocean are steep and short, flowing only intermittently. Tributaries of the Amazon River have a much larger flow, and are longer and less steep once they exit the sierra . Rivers that drain into Lake Titicaca are generally short and have a large flow. Peru's longest rivers are the Ucayali , the Marañón , the Putumayo , the Yavarí , the Huallaga , the Urubamba , the Mantaro , and
7540-404: The Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BCE. These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal and Andean regions throughout Peru. The Cupisnique culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BCE along what is now Peru's Pacific coast was an example of early pre- Inca culture . The Chavín culture that developed from 1500 to 300 BCE
7670-423: The Pacific Ocean; they define the three regions traditionally used to describe the country geographically. The costa (coast), to the west, is a narrow, largely arid plain except for valleys created by seasonal rivers. The sierra (highlands) is the region of the Andes; it includes the Altiplano plateau as well as the highest peak of the country, the 6,768 m (22,205 ft) Huascarán . The third region
7800-406: The Pacific War. The casus belli was the confrontation between Bolivia and Chile over a tax problem in which Peru was compromised by the Treaty of Defensive Alliance signed with Bolivia in 1873. However, Peruvian historiography is unanimous in maintaining that the deep cause of This war was Chile's ambition to take over the nitrate and guano territories of southern Peru.92 In the first stage of the war,
7930-460: The Philippines. The commercial and population exchanges between Latin America and Asia undergone via the Manila Galleons transiting through Acapulco, had Callao at Peru as the furthest endpoint of the trade route in the Americas. In relation to this, Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera , governor of Panama was also responsible for settling Zamboanga City in the Philippines by employing Peruvian soldiers and colonists. African slaves were added to
SECTION 60
#17331153659518060-422: The Spanish government over its colonies. After fighting for the independence of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata, José de San Martín created the Army of the Andes and crossed the Andes in 21 days. Once in Chile, he joined forces with Chilean army General Bernardo O'Higgins and liberated the country in the battles of Chacabuco and Maipú in 1818. On 7 September 1820, a fleet of eight warships arrived in
8190-420: The Treaty, and neither of the countries could determine the statutory framework. The War of the Pacific was the bloodiest war Peru has fought in. After the War of the Pacific, an extraordinary effort of rebuilding began. The government started to initiate a number of social and economic reforms to recover from the damage of the war. Political stability was achieved only in the early 1900s. Internal struggles after
8320-445: The UN. He served as Permanent Delegate of Peru to UNESCO until 2004. Pérez de Cuéllar celebrated his 100th birthday in January 2020 and received congratulations from the United Nations on his 100 years of life. He was the first UN secretary-general to become a centenarian. Pérez de Cuéllar died at his home in Lima on 4 March 2020 two months after he turned 100. He received several honorary degrees from universities, such as
8450-408: The United Nations ; he was unanimously re-elected for a second term in October 1986. During his two terms as secretary-general, he led mediations between the United Kingdom and Argentina in the aftermath of the Falklands War and promoted the efforts of the Contadora group to bring peace and stability to Central America. He also interceded in the negotiations for the independence of Namibia ,
8580-417: The Viceroyalty of Peru. Eventually, the viceroyalty would dissolve, as with much of the Spanish empire, when challenged by national independence movements at the beginning of the nineteenth century. These movements led to the formation of the majority of modern-day countries of South America in the territories that at one point or another had constituted the Viceroyalty of Peru. The conquest and colony brought
8710-420: 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 U.S. problem and the least of their concerns, given the economic crisis, Shining Path ( Sendero Luminoso , or S.L.) guerrillas, and an outbreak of cholera, which further isolated Peru because of a resulting ban on food imports. However, two weeks after
8840-423: The ancient and medieval periods, and has one of the longest histories of civilization of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 10th millennium BCE. Notable pre-colonial cultures and civilizations include the Caral–Supe civilization (the earliest civilization in the Americas and considered one of the cradles of civilization ), the Nazca culture , the Wari and Tiwanaku empires, the Kingdom of Cusco , and
8970-461: The anti-corruption constitutional referendum movement. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted with Peru experiencing the highest death rate from COVID-19 in the world, exposing much of the inequality that persisted since the Fujimori administration and triggering an economic crisis that led to Vizcara's removal from the presidency by Congress . Widely seen as a coup by Congress, its head, the newly seated President Manuel Merino , faced protests across
9100-434: The assistance and funding of the Atlas Network created the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD), one of the first neoliberal organizations in Latin America – served informally as Fujimori's "personal representative" for the first three years of his government and recommended a "shock" to Peru's economy, stating "This society is collapsing, without a doubt, ... But the problems here are so entrenched that you have to have
9230-535: The authorities – to a status equivalent to that of Spanish and established equal rights for natural children. Peru wished to free itself from any dependence and carried out a third-world foreign policy. The United States responded with commercial, economic and diplomatic pressure. In 1973 Peru seemed to triumph over the financial blockade imposed by Washington by negotiating a loan from the International Development Bank to finance its agricultural and mining development policy. The relations with Chile became very tense after
9360-502: The bombings of Tarata and Frecuencia Latina by Sendero Luminoso. Fujimori would also broaden the definition of terrorism in an effort to criminalize as many actions possible to persecute left-wing political opponents. Using the terruqueo , a fearmongering tactic that was used to accuse opponents of terrorism, Fujimori established a cult of personality by portraying himself as a hero and made left-wing ideologies an eternal enemy in Peru. Those incidents subsequently came to symbolize
9490-496: The boundary between those two countries. In a military coup on 29 October 1948, General Manuel A. Odría became president. Odría's presidency was known as the Ochenio . He came down hard on APRA, momentarily pleasing the oligarchy and all others on the right, but followed a populist course that won him great favor with the poor and lower classes. A thriving economy allowed him to indulge in expensive but crowd-pleasing social policies. At
9620-612: The build-up to the Gulf War , he convinced US president George H. W. Bush to send his secretary of state James Baker to negotiate with Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz in Geneva. Shortly before the end of his second term, he rejected an unofficial request by members of the Security Council to reconsider his earlier decision not to run for a third term, shortened to two years, as a search for his successor had not, as of then, yielded
9750-697: The church came to play an important role in the acculturation of the Natives, drawing them into the cultural orbit of the Spanish settlers. By the 18th century, declining silver production and economic diversification greatly diminished royal income. In response, the Crown enacted the Bourbon Reforms , a series of edicts that increased taxes and partitioned the Viceroyalty . The new laws provoked Túpac Amaru II's rebellion and other revolts, all of which were suppressed. As
9880-448: The command of Gregorio Escobedo. Because Peru was the stronghold of the Spanish government in South America, San Martín's strategy to liberate Peru was to use diplomacy. He sent representatives to Lima urging the Viceroy that Peru be granted independence, however, all negotiations proved unsuccessful. The Viceroy of Peru, Joaquín de la Pazuela named José de la Serna commander-in-chief of
10010-448: The country in the 1570s with gold and silver mining as its main economic activity and Amerindian forced labor as its primary workforce. With the discovery of the great silver and gold lodes at Potosí (present-day Bolivia) and Huancavelica , the viceroyalty flourished as an important provider of mineral resources. Peruvian bullion provided revenue for the Spanish Crown and fueled a complex trade network that extended as far as Europe and
10140-528: The country, and after five days, Merino resigned from the presidency. Merino was replaced by President Francisco Sagasti , who led a provisional, centrist government, and enforced many of Vizcarra's former policies. Elections were held on 11 April 2021, and Pedro Castillo of the Free Peru party won the first round, followed closely by Keiko Fujimori, with right-wing parties allied with Fujimori maintaining positions in Congress. On 28 July 2021, Pedro Castillo
10270-409: The country. After the country experienced chronic inflation , the Peruvian sol was replaced by the inti in mid-1985, which itself was replaced by the nuevo sol in July 1991 (the new sol had a cumulative value of one billion old soles). At the end of the 1980s, the per capita annual income of Peruvians fell to $ 720 (below the level of 1960) and Peru's GDP dropped 20%, with national reserves running
10400-773: The coup d'état of the general Pinochet . General Edgardo Mercado Jarrin (Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Army) and Admiral Guillermo Faura Gaig (Minister of the Navy) both escaped assassination attempts within weeks of each other. In 1975 General Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti seized power and broke with the policies of his predecessor. His regime occasionally participated in Operation Condor in collaboration with other American military dictatorships. President Alan García 's economic policies distanced Peru from international markets further, resulting in lower foreign investment in
10530-584: The diplomatic service itself in 1944, serving after that as a 3rd Secretary at Peru's embassy in France, where he met and married his first wife, Yvette Roberts-Darricau (1922–2013), in 1947. He also held posts in Britain, Bolivia and Brazil, and later served as ambassador to Switzerland from 1964 to 1966, the Soviet Union and Poland from 1969 to 1971, and Venezuela from 1977 to 1979. From his first marriage, he had
10660-458: The economic platform he promoted during his electoral campaign, adopting more aggressive neoliberal policies than those espoused by his competitor in the election. Fujimori would go on to adopt many of the policies outlined in Plan Verde. With the compliance of Fujimori, plans for a coup as designed in Plan Verde were prepared over a two-year period prior to April 1992. Hernando de Soto – who with
10790-500: The empire was Quechua , although hundreds of local languages and dialects were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu which can be translated as "The Four Regions" or "The Four United Provinces." Many local forms of worship persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred Huacas , but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti , the sun god and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama . The Incas considered their King,
10920-558: The fifteenth century, when the pace of conquest began to accelerate, particularly under the rule of the emperor Pachacuti . Under his rule and that of his son, Topa Inca Yupanqui , the Incas came to control most of the Andean region, with a population of 9 to 16 million inhabitants under their rule. Pachacuti also promulgated a comprehensive code of laws to govern his far-flung empire, while consolidating his absolute temporal and spiritual authority as
11050-460: The first parliament was assembled. The newly founded Peruvian Congress named Bolívar dictator of Peru, giving him the power to organize the military. With the help of Antonio José de Sucre , they defeated the larger Spanish army in the Battle of Junín on 6 August 1824 and the decisive Battle of Ayacucho on 9 December of the same year, consolidating the independence of Peru and Upper Peru. Upper Peru
11180-653: The following three decades. A final peace treaty in 1929, signed between Peru and Chile called the Treaty of Lima , returned Tacna to Peru. Between 1932 and 1933, Peru was engulfed in a year-long war with Colombia over a territorial dispute involving the Amazonas Department and its capital Leticia . In 1941 Peru and Ecuador fought the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War , after which the Rio Protocol sought to formalize
11310-499: The fray and since then became Peru's greatest hero. Almost five years of war ended with the loss of the department of Tarapacá and the provinces of Tacna and Arica , in the Atacama region. Francisco Bolognesi and Miguel Grau are both renowned heros of the war. Originally Chile committed to a referendum for the cities of Arica and Tacna to be held years later, to self determine their national affiliation. However, Chile refused to apply
11440-493: The government. He then ordered the Peruvian Army to drive a tank to the steps of Congress to shut it down. When a group of senators attempted to hold session, tear gas was deployed against them. That same night, the military was sent to detain prominent members of the political opposition. Fujimori was convicted in 2009 for the kidnapping of journalist Gustavo Gorriti and businessman Samuel Dyer, both of whom were detained by
11570-431: The guerrilla group Shining Path , leading the country towards high levels of instability. In October 1989, Plan Verde, a clandestine military operation , was developed by the armed forces of Peru during the internal conflict in Peru ; it involved the genocide of impoverished and indigenous Peruvians, the control or censorship of media in the nation and the establishment of a neoliberal economy in Peru. Initially
11700-498: The guidelines for economic policy set by the international financial institutions. The policies included a 300 percent tax increase, unregulated prices and privatizing two-hundred and fifty state-owned entities. Through Fujimori's first two years in office, congress – which consisted mainly of opposition parties – granted Fujimori legislative power on fifteen separate occasions, which allowed him to enact 158 laws. However, congress resisted Fujimori's efforts to adopt policies advocated by
11830-520: The help of Bolivia , Chile and Ecuador , sent a declaration of war on Spain. After the battle of Callao on May 2, 1866, the Spanish Navy withdrew from Peru. The government of José Balta was lavish in infrastructure works (construction of the Central Railway ) although the first signs of excess government spending were already perceived. By the 1870s the guano resources had been depleted, the country
11960-479: The highlands near Cuzco. In the early 19th century, while most South American nations were swept by wars of independence , Peru remained a royalist stronghold. As the elite vacillated between emancipation and loyalty to the Spanish monarchy, independence was achieved only after the occupation by military campaigns of José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar . The economic crises, the loss of power of Spain in Europe,
12090-465: The labor population to expand the workforce. The expansion of a colonial administrative apparatus and bureaucracy paralleled the economic reorganization. With the conquest started the spread of Christianity in South America; most people were forcefully converted to Catholicism , with Spanish clerics believing like Puritan divines of English colonies later that the Native Peoples "had been corrupted by
12220-410: The loyalist army to protect Lima from the threatened invasion by San Martín. On 29 January, de la Serna organized a coup against de la Pazuela, which was recognized by Spain and he was named Viceroy of Peru. This internal power struggle contributed to the success of the liberating army. To avoid a military confrontation, San Martín met the newly appointed viceroy, José de la Serna, and proposed to create
12350-421: The military campaigns of Bernardo O'Higgins , José de San Martín , and Simón Bolívar , as well as the decisive battle of Ayacucho , it completed its independence in 1824 . In the ensuing years, the country first suffered from political instability until a period of relative economic and political stability began due to the exploitation of guano that ended with the War of the Pacific (1879–1884). Throughout
12480-473: The military officers involved in Plan Verde to abide by the military's demands prior to Fujimori's inauguration. Fujimori would go on to adopt many of the policies outlined in Plan Verde, which led to a precitious drop in infliation from 7,650% at the start of 1990 to 139% in 1991 and 57% in 1992. When Fujimori faced opposition to his reform efforts, he dissolved Congress, suspending the judiciary, arresting several opposition leaders and assuming full powers in
12610-550: The military on the night of the self coup. One of the most criticized moves that Fujimori took was the attempt to arrest former president Alan García, in order to have him face numerous trials. Also contributing to the coup was Fujimori's desire to remove García, who was serving as a Senator, as a political rival and potential future presidential candidate. However, García managed to escape arrest and sought political asylum in Colombia . Fujimori issued Decree Law 25418 , which dissolved
12740-488: The military planners, with Rospigliosi writing that businesses "probably provided the economic ideas which [the military] agreed with, the necessity of a liberal economic program as well as the installment of an authoritarian government which would impose order". Rospigliosi also states that "an understanding was established between Fujimori, Montesinos and some of the military officers" involved in Plan Verde prior to Fujimori's inauguration. After taking office, Fujimori abandoned
12870-626: The military's oversight of the media was only momentary due to international condemnation Fujimori received. Another group of military officers led by General Jaime Salinas Sedó attempted to overthrow Fujimori on 13 November. International reactions to the self-coup were different: International financial organizations delayed planned or projected loans, and the United States government suspended all aid to Peru other than humanitarian assistance, as did Germany and Spain. Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations, and Argentina withdrew its ambassador. Chile joined Argentina in requesting that Peru be suspended from
13000-420: The more outstanding Chimu and Moche . The Moche, who reached their apogee in the first millennium CE, were renowned for their irrigation system which fertilized their arid terrain, their sophisticated ceramic pottery, their lofty buildings, and clever metalwork. The Chimu were the great city builders of pre-Inca civilization; as a loose confederation of walled cities scattered along the coast of northern Peru,
13130-451: The mountain region, which covers almost a third of the country, rain is frequent in summer, and temperature and humidity diminish with altitude up to the frozen peaks of the Andes. The Peruvian Amazon , covering more than half of the total area of Peru, is characterized by heavy rainfall and high temperatures, except for its southernmost part, which has cold winters and seasonal rainfall. Because of its varied geography and climate, Peru has
13260-418: The naval campaign, the Peruvian navy repelled the Chilean attack until October 8, 1879, the day in which the naval combat of Angamos was fought, where the Chilean navy with its ships Cochrane, Blanco Encalada, Loa and Covadonga cornered the monitor Huáscar, the main ship of the Peruvian navy commanded by Admiral AP Miguel Grau, who died in the fray and since then became Peru's greatest hero. In 1879 Peru entered
13390-442: The nitrate and guano territories of southern Peru and Bolivia. In the first stage of the war, the naval campaign, the Peruvian navy repelled the Chilean attack until October 8, 1879, the day in which the naval combat of Angamos was fought, where the Chilean navy with its ships Cochrane, Blanco Encalada, Loa and Covadonga cornered the monitor Huáscar , the main ship of the Peruvian navy, commanded by Admiral AP Miguel Grau, who died in
13520-465: The north to the southeast of the country, to the tropical Amazon basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon River . Peru has a population of over 32 million, and its capital and largest city is Lima . At 1,285,216 km (496,225 sq mi), Peru is the 19th largest country in the world , and the third largest in South America . Peruvian territory was home to several cultures during
13650-466: The opposition-controlled legislature and create an "exceptional emergency government." In response, Congress quickly held an emergency session on the same day, during which it voted 101–6 (with 10 abstentions) to remove Castillo from office and replace him with Vice President Dina Boluarte . She became the country's first female president. Castillo was arrested after trying to flee to the Mexican embassy and
13780-536: The port of Paracas under the command of General José de San Martín and Thomas Cochrane , who was serving in the Chilean Navy. Immediately on 26 October, they took control of the town of Pisco . San Martín settled in Huacho on 12 November, where he established his headquarters while Cochrane sailed north and blockaded the port of Callao in Lima. At the same time in the north, Guayaquil was occupied by rebel forces under
13910-422: The rest of ministers supported the de facto government. Máximo San Román , then the first vice president of the republic, did not support the coup. He was not in the country at the time of the coup, and he was not informed about this move. The legislative branch responded by activating the constitutional clauses that allow the Congress to remove the president from office. Fujimori was removed and Máximo San Román
14040-635: The restructuring of the judiciary, with the government and media promptly promoting the results to the public. David Wood of the University of Sheffield described the poll as an example of "semantic shepherding" while Rendón wrote that "APOYO was dedicated to doing the surveys that the regime would use in its favor, to legitimize itself politically". In the years after releasing the poll, director of APOYO Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos would continue to defend Fujimori and would be involved with his government's programs. According to of Manuel D'Ornellas of Expreso in 1994,
14170-492: The same time, however, civil rights were severely restricted and corruption was rampant throughout his regime. Odría was succeeded by Manuel Prado Ugarteche . However, widespread allegations of fraud prompted the Peruvian military to depose Prado and install a military junta, via a coup d'état led by Ricardo Pérez Godoy . Godoy ran a short transitional government and held new elections in 1963, which were won by Fernando Belaúnde Terry who assumed presidency until 1968. Belaúnde
14300-809: The self-coup turned out to be modest. On November 26, 2007, ten former government officials were sentenced by the Supreme Court of Peru for their role in the coup. Fujimori's Minister of the Interior, Juan Briones Dávila, was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Former Fujimorist congressmen Jaime Yoshiyama , Carlos Boloña, Absalón Vásquez , Víctor Joy Way , Óscar de la Puente Raygada, Jaime Sobero, Alfredo Ross Antezana, Víctor Paredes Guerra, and Augusto Antoniolli Vásquez were all also sentenced for various crimes such as rebellion and kidnapping. Participants Timeline Key aspects Linked to Linked to Linked to Peru Peru , officially
14430-455: The self-coup, the Bush administration changed their position and officially recognized Fujimori as the legitimate leader of Peru. The Organization of American States and the U.S. agreed that Fujimori's coup may have been extreme, but they did not want to see Peru return to the deteriorating state that it had been in before. In fact, the coup came not long after the U.S. government and media had launched
14560-423: The split of the viceroyalty and the creation of new viceroyalties of New Granada and Rio de la Plata at the expense of the territories that formed the Viceroyalty of Peru ; this reduced the power, prominence and importance of Lima as the viceroyal capital and shifted the lucrative Andean trade to Buenos Aires and Bogotá , while the fall of the mining and textile production accelerated the progressive decay of
14690-453: The tree-line known as puna is home to bushes, cactus , drought-resistant plants such as ichu , and the largest species of bromeliad – the spectacular Puya raimondii . Javier P%C3%A9rez de Cu%C3%A9llar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra ( / ˈ p ɛr ɛ s d ə ˈ k w eɪ j ɑːr / PERR -ess də KWAY -yar , Spanish: [xaˈβjeɾ ˈpeɾes ðe ˈkweʝaɾ] ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020)
14820-620: The viceroyalty as well as expeditions towards the Amazon Basin as in the case of Spanish efforts to quell Amerindian resistance. The last Inca resistance was suppressed when the Spaniards annihilated the Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba in 1572. The Indigenous population dramatically collapsed overwhelmingly due to epidemic diseases introduced by the Spanish as well as exploitation and socio-economic change. Viceroy Francisco de Toledo reorganized
14950-565: The war were followed by a period of stability under the Civilista Party , which lasted until the onset of the authoritarian regime of Augusto B. Leguía . The Great Depression caused the downfall of Leguía, renewed political turmoil, and the emergence of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA). The rivalry between this organization and a coalition of the elite and the military defined Peruvian politics for
15080-510: Was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth secretary-general of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as prime minister of Peru from 2000 to 2001. Pérez de Cuéllar was a member of the Club of Madrid , a group of former heads of state and government, and the Inter-American Dialogue . Pérez de Cuéllar was born on 19 January 1920 in Lima , Peru , to
15210-545: Was appointed UN under-secretary-general for Special Political Affairs. From April 1981, he also acted as the Secretary-General's personal representative on the situation in Afghanistan ; he visited Pakistan and Afghanistan in April and August of that year to continue negotiations initiated by the Secretary-General some months earlier. In December 1981, Pérez de Cuéllar was selected to succeed Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General of
15340-602: Was charged with spying on the Peruvian military for the Central Intelligence Agency . Summarizing alleged support for Fujimori's candidacy from the United States, Rendón writes, "If Vargas Llosa with liberal democracy was very polarizing and a danger to American interests in the region, Fujimori with authoritarianism was very consensual and more in line with American interests in Peru and the region". According to Peruvian sociologist and political analyst Fernando Rospigliosi, Peru's business elites held relationships with
15470-423: Was charged with the crime of rebellion. The Boluarte government proved unpopular as she allied herself with the right-wing Congress and the military, betraying her constituents. This resentment led to the 2022–2023 Peruvian political protests , which sought the removal of Boluarte and Congress, immediate general elections and the writing of a new constitution. Authorities responded to the protests violently, with
15600-495: Was dogged by insurgent groups, most notably Shining Path, which carried out attacks across the country throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Fujimori cracked down on the insurgents and was successful in largely quelling them by the late 1990s, but the fight was marred by atrocities committed by both the Peruvian security forces and the insurgents: the Barrios Altos massacre and La Cantuta massacre by Government paramilitary groups, and
15730-663: Was forged during this period, as Bolivarian projects for a Latin American Confederation floundered and a union with Bolivia proved ephemeral. Simón Bolívar launched his campaign from the north, liberating the Viceroyalty of New Granada in the Battles of Carabobo in 1821 and Pichincha a year later. In July 1822, Bolívar and San Martín gathered in the Guayaquil Conference . Bolívar was left in charge of fully liberating Peru while San Martín retired from politics after
15860-476: Was formally sworn into the presidency. Prominent politicians supported this move: former President Fernando Belaúnde Terry and most of the Acción Popular Party supported San Román, while former FREDEMO presidential candidate Mario Vargas Llosa called for a civil insurgency to overthrow Fujimori. However, neither the military nor the big majority of the people ever supported San Román, and he never became
15990-543: Was heavily indebted, and political in-fighting was again on the rise. By 1859, some 41,000 Peruvians had died in the constant civil wars that shook the country since 1829. Thanks to the money from the sale of guano, Peru began to modernize with different public works such as railways; the civil and military bureaucracy grew; The indigenous people stopped paying tribute and the slaves achieved their freedom; The migration policy of Germans, Austrians, Irish and Italians began. On April 5, 1879, Chile declared war on Peru, unleashing
16120-519: Was later established as Bolivia. During the early years of the Republic, endemic struggles for power between military leaders caused political instability. Once independence was proclaimed, San Martín assumed military-political command of the free departments of Peru, under the title of Protector, according to a decree given on August 3, 1821. 74 The works of the Protectorate contributed to the creation of
16250-435: Was ordered to not include the word "coup". The only poll allowed to be published following the coup was presented by APOYO Opinión y Mercado, with Rendón writing that the Fujimori government "had the information monopoly and the company APOYO the monopoly of measuring the effects of this information monopoly on the citizenry". The APOYO poll stated that of respondents, 71% supported the dissolution of congress and 89% supported
16380-564: Was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, with their religious center in Chavín de Huantar . After the decline of the Chavin culture around the beginning of the 1st century CE, a series of localized and specialized cultures rose and fell, both on the coast and in the highlands, during the next thousand years. On the coast, these included the civilizations of the Paracas , Nazca , Wari , and
16510-479: Was recognized for his commitment to the democratic process. On 3 October 1968 another coup d'état led by a group of officers led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado brought the army to power with the aim of applying a doctrine of "social progress and integral development", nationalist and reformist, influenced by the CEPAL theses on dependence and underdevelopment. Six days after the golpe, Velasco proceeded to nationalize
16640-434: Was sworn in as the new president of Peru after a narrow win in a tightly contested run-off election. That same year, Peru celebrated the bicentenary of independence . Castillo faced multiple impeachment votes during his presidency from the right-wing controlled Congress and on 7 December 2022, just hours before Congress was set to begin a third impeachment effort , Castillo tried to prevent this by attempting to dissolve
16770-480: Was to be owned by those who cultivated it, and large landowners were expropriated. The only large properties allowed were cooperatives. Between 1969 and 1976, 325,000 families received land from the state with an average size of 73.6 acres (29.8 hectares). The "revolutionary government" also planned massive investments in education, elevated the Quechua language – spoken by nearly half the population but hitherto despised by
16900-580: Was written by Fujimori and his supporters without opposition participation. In spite of human rights progress since the time of insurgency, many problems are still visible and show the continued marginalization of those who suffered through the violence of the Peruvian conflict. A caretaker government presided over by Valentín Paniagua took on the responsibility of conducting new presidential and congressional elections. Afterwards Alejandro Toledo became president in 2001 to 2006. On 28 July 2006, former president Alan García became President of Peru after winning
#950049