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96-607: Callao ( Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈʎao] ) is a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area . Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport . Callao municipality consists of the whole Callao Region , which is also coterminous with the Province of Callao . Founded in 1537 by the Spaniards ,

192-412: A coup d'état to be executed on 27 July 1990, the day prior to Fujimori's inauguration. The magazine noted that in one of the scenarios, titled "Negotiation and agreement with Fujimori. Bases of negotiation: concept of directed Democracy and Market Economy", Fujimori was to be directed on accepting the military's plan at least 24 hours before his inauguration. Fernando Rospigliosi states "an understanding

288-869: A dark horse candidate under the banner of Cambio 90 ("cambio" means "change") defeating Vargas Llosa in a surprising upset. He capitalized on profound disenchantment with outgoing president Alan García and the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance party (APRA). During the campaign, Fujimori was nicknamed el chino , which translates to "the Chinese guy" or "the Chinaman "; it is common for people of any East Asian descent to be called chino in Peru, as elsewhere in Spanish-speaking Latin America, both derogatorily and affectionately. Although he

384-517: A Chamber of Deputies and a Senate—hampering the enactment of economic reform. Fujimori also had difficulty combatting the Maoist Shining Path (Spanish: Sendero Luminoso ) guerrilla organization due largely to what he perceived as intransigence and obstructionism in Congress. By March 1992, the Congress met with the approval of only 17% of the electorate, according to one poll; in the same poll,

480-486: A Democratic Constituent Congress (CCD), which would draft a new constitution to be ratified by a national referendum. Despite a lack of consensus among political forces in Peru regarding this proposal, an ad hoc OAS meeting of ministers nevertheless endorsed this scenario in mid-May. Elections for the Democratic Constituent Congress were held on 22 November 1992 . Various states individually condemned

576-492: A council, elected for a four-year term; additionally, there is a coordination council integrated by provincial mayors and representatives of the civil society . The Regional President is the head of government ; his functions include proposing and enforcing the budget, appointing government officials, issuing decrees and resolutions, executing regional plans and programs, and administering regional properties and rents. The Regional Council debates and votes upon bills proposed by

672-613: A daughter, Keiko , and a son, Kenji , who followed him into politics and were both elected to Congress . In recognition of his academic achievements, the sciences faculty of the National Agrarian University offered Fujimori the deanship and in 1984 appointed him to the rectorship of the university, which he held until 1989. In 1987, Fujimori also became president of the National Assembly of University Rectors  [ es ] ( Asamblea Nacional de Rectores ),

768-452: A formal region. The first referendum of this kind was carried out on October 30, 2005, with the following proposals being put to the ballot: These proposals were rejected by the electorate of all departments involved except for Arequipa. Thus, no merger was carried out. New elections for regional governments were held on November 19, 2006; most regions went to local political movements rather than to national parties. The APRA, which had won

864-643: A justice of the peace due to Shining Path intimidation. Labor union leaders and military officials were also assassinated throughout the 1980s. By the early 1990s, some parts of the country were under the control of the insurgents, in territories known as "zonas liberadas" ("liberated zones"), where inhabitants lived under the rule of these groups and paid them taxes. When the Shining Path arrived in Lima, it organized "paros armados" ("armed strikes"), which were enforced by killings and other forms of violence. The leadership of

960-521: A majority of the seats in this body and drafted a new constitution in 1993. In a referendum , the coup and the Constitution of 1993 were approved by a margin of less than five percent. On 13 November 1992, General Jaime Salinas Sedó  [ es ] led a failed military coup . Salinas asserted that his intentions were to turn Fujimori over to be tried for violating the constitution. In 1994, Fujimori separated from his wife Susana Higuchi in

1056-633: A military base), El Frontón (a former high security prison), the Cavinzas Islands , and the Palomino Islands , where numerous sea lions and sea birds live in a virtually untouched ecosystem . There are proposed plans to build a huge naval, terrestrial, and air port on San Lorenzo Island . This project is called the San Lorenzo Megaport Project . Local government affairs are divided into two levels. Regional matters are handled by

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1152-500: A noisy, public divorce. He formally stripped her of the title First Lady in August 1994, appointing their eldest daughter Keiko as first lady in her stead. Higuchi publicly denounced Fujimori as a "tyrant" and claimed that his administration was corrupt. They formally divorced in 1995. In Fujimori's first term of office, over 3,000 Peruvians were killed in politically motivated murders. The 1993 Constitution allowed Fujimori to run for

1248-569: A poll by the Peruvian Research and Marketing Company conducted in 1997, 40.6% of Lima residents considered President Fujimori an authoritarian. In addition to the fate of democracy under Fujimori, Peruvians were becoming increasingly interested in the myriad allegations of criminality that involved Fujimori and his chief of the National Intelligence Service (SIN), Vladimiro Montesinos . Using SIN, Fujimori gained control of

1344-407: A position that he held twice. He also hosted a TV show called Concertando from 1988 to 1989, on Peru's state-owned network, Canal 7 . During the first presidency of Alan García , the economy had entered a period of hyperinflation and the political system was in crisis due to the country's internal conflict, leaving Peru in "economic and political chaos". The armed forces grew frustrated with

1440-470: A public cart road between Callao and Lima, further coalescing a Lima metropolitan area . By 1949, Callao was known as one of the biggest centers of coca -based products and cocaine traffic in the world. Callao is built on and around a peninsula , the district of La Punta , a wealthy residential neighborhood. A historical fortress, the Castillo de Real Felipe (site of " Rodil 's Last Stand"), stands on

1536-460: A second term, and in April 1995, at the height of his popularity, Fujimori easily won reelection with almost two-thirds of the vote. His main opponent, former UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar , won only 21 percent of the vote. Fujimori's supporters won comfortable majority in the new unicameral Congress . One of the first acts of the new congress was to declare an amnesty for all members of

1632-424: A third term. The electoral authorities, which were politically sympathetic to Fujimori, accepted his argument that the two-term restriction did not apply to him, as it was enacted while he was already in office. Exit polls showed Fujimori fell short of the 50% required to avoid an electoral runoff, but the first official results showed him with 49.6% of the vote, just short of outright victory. Eventually, Fujimori

1728-513: A visit to Brunei to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. On 16 November, Valentín Paniagua took over as president of Congress after the pro-Fujimori leadership lost a vote of confidence. On 17 November, Fujimori traveled from Brunei to Tokyo , where he submitted his presidential resignation via fax . Congress refused to accept his resignation, instead voting on 22 November 62–9 to remove Fujimori from office on

1824-481: A wide array of responsibilities within their jurisdiction. Under the 2002 Organic Law of Regional Governments ( Spanish : Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales ), there is an ongoing process of transfer of functions from the central government to the regions. A 2005 referendum for the merger of several departments failed to get the necessary electoral support. Departments are subdivided into provinces and districts . After declaring its independence in 1821, Peru

1920-691: Is certain that it was known by that name since 1550. Other sources point to the similarity with the Portuguese word calhau [pebble], having a similar sound. It soon became the main port for Spanish commerce in the Pacific . At the height of the Viceroyalty , virtually all goods produced in Peru, Bolivia , and Argentina were carried over the Andes by mule to Callao, to be shipped to Panama , carried overland, and then transported on to Spain via Cuba . The port of Callao

2016-438: Is divided into seven districts , ( Spanish : distritos ; singular: distrito ), each of which is headed by a mayor ( alcalde ). The rest of Callao Region is composed of the islands of San Lorenzo , El Frontón , Cavinzas and Palomino , which all together have an area of 17.63 square kilometres (6.81 sq mi). Callao is one of the most dangerous areas in Peru and experiences the most crime. The main port city in Peru

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2112-401: Is given to one decimal place in persons per square kilometer. UBIGEO numbers are codes used by INEI to identify national administrative subdivisions. Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000. Of Japanese descent , Fujimori

2208-635: Is known as one of the largest exit points of cocaine and is rife with organized crime that results with violence. In December 2015, the government declared Callao in a state of emergency that extended until April 2016, with more than 30 people being killed at the time. In 2016, the murder rate in Callao was double the national average; from 10.2 per 100,000 in 2011 to 15.2 in 2015, compared to Lima which saw 4.8 per 100,000 in 2011 and 5.0 per 100,000 in 2015. Despite government and cultural initiatives, crime has continued to increase in Callao, with some public events in

2304-441: The 1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis , Fujimori called an election for a Constitutional Assembly which drafted the 1993 Constitution . This new text included provisions for the creation of regions with autonomous, elected governments, but they were not carried out. A framework law on decentralization ( Spanish : Ley Marco de Descentralización ) issued on January 30, 1998, confirmed the permanence of transitory councils, now under

2400-450: The Andes , cutting off some of Peru's largest copper mines from coastal ports." Fujimori earned credit for ending the Shining Path insurgency. As part of his anti-insurgency efforts, Fujimori granted the military broad powers to arrest suspected insurgents and try them in secret military courts with few legal rights. This measure has often been criticized for compromising the fundamental democratic and human right to an open trial wherein

2496-473: The Constitution of Peru requires the president to have been born in Peru, this would have made Fujimori ineligible to be president. The magazine, which had been sued for libel by Vladimiro Montesinos seven years earlier, reported that Fujimori's birth and baptismal certificates might have been altered. Caretas also alleged that Fujimori's mother declared having two children when she entered Peru; Fujimori

2592-517: The FIM (Independent Moralizing Front); many other similar videos were released in the following weeks. Fujimori's support virtually collapsed, and a few days later he announced in a nationwide address that he would shut down the SIN and call new elections, in which he would not be a candidate. On 10 November, Fujimori won approval from Congress to hold elections on 8 April 2001. On 13 November, Fujimori left Peru for

2688-614: The Ministry of the Economy and Finance were allowed to use state money for public works tenders, as in the cases of AeroPerú , JJC Contratistas Generales (of the Camet Dickmann family), and the Banco de Crédito . Although in 1999 the opposition made a public denunciation that ended in the resignation of five ministers, this network was later revealed in 2000, just before the president resigned, when

2784-703: The Regional Government of Callao ( Gobierno Regional del Callao ), which is located in front of the Jorge Chávez International Airport . Affairs such as city cleaning, promoting of sports and basic services are handled by the Provincial Municipality of Callao, which is headquartered in the Callao District . Also, each of the six districts has its own Municipality which handles matters in their respective jurisdictional areas. Callao

2880-570: The Shining Path . With FREDEMO dissolved and APRA leader Alan García exiled to Colombia, Fujimori sought to legitimize his position. He called elections for a Democratic Constitutional Congress , to serve as a legislature and as a constituent assembly . The APRA and Popular Action attempted a boycott of this election, but the Christian People's Party (PPC) and many left-leaning parties participated in this election. Fujimori supporters won

2976-515: The Shining Path insurgency . He was re-elected in 1995 and controversially again in 2000 amid allegations of electoral fraud. In 2000, facing mounting allegations of widespread corruption, crimes against humanity , and human rights abuses in his government, Fujimori fled to Japan. He was later arrested in Chile in 2005 and extradited to Peru, where he was tried and convicted on multiple charges, including human rights violations and embezzlement . He

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3072-691: The Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in 1957, graduating first in his class in 1961 with a degree in agricultural engineering . He briefly lectured in mathematics at the university before continuing his studies in physics at the University of Strasbourg in France. In 1969, he earned a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee through a Ford Foundation scholarship. In 1974, he married Susana Higuchi , also Japanese Peruvian. They had four children, including

3168-475: The military and police accused or convicted of human rights abuses between 1980 and 1995. During his second term, Fujimori and Ecuadorian President Sixto Durán Ballén signed a peace agreement over a border dispute that had simmered for more than a century. The treaty allowed the two countries to obtain international funds for developing the border region. Fujimori also settled some issues with Chile, Peru's southern neighbor, which had been unresolved since

3264-479: The minimum wage was immediately quadrupled, and the government established a US$ 400 million poverty relief fund. The latter seemed to anticipate the economic agony to come: the price of electricity quintupled, water prices rose eightfold, and gasoline prices 3,000%. During Fujimori's first term in office, APRA and Vargas Llosa's party, the FREDEMO , remained in control of both chambers of Congress —then composed of

3360-580: The second siege of Callao . On 20 August 1836, during the Peru–Bolivian Confederation , President Andrés de Santa Cruz mandated the creation of the Callao Littoral Province ( Provincia Litoral del Callao ), which had political autonomy in its internal affairs. During the government of President Ramón Castilla , Callao was given the name of Constitutional Province ( Provincia Constitucional ), on 22 April 1857; before that, Callao had

3456-503: The "informal president" for Fujimori. De Soto proved to be influential to Fujimori, who began to repeat de Soto's advocacy for deregulating the Peruvian economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was content with Peru's measures, and guaranteed loan funding for Peru. Inflation rapidly began to fall and foreign investment capital flooded in. Nonetheless, the Fujishock restored Peru to

3552-577: The 1929 Treaty of Lima . The 1995 election was the turning point in Fujimori's career. Peruvians began to be more concerned about freedom of speech and the press. Before he was sworn in for a second term, he stripped two universities of their autonomy and reshuffled the national electoral board. This led his opponents to call him "Chinochet", a reference to his previous nickname and to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet . Modeling his rule after Pinochet, Fujimori reportedly enjoyed this nickname. According to

3648-531: The Central Government. Area and population information on the following list has been retrieved from official data by the Peruvian National Institute of Statistics and Informatics ( Spanish : Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática , INEI). Areas are rounded to the nearest whole unit. Demographic data is based on the 2023 Census carried out from 2022 to 2023. Population density

3744-559: The ILD were mainly responsible for some four hundred initiatives, laws, and regulations that led to significant changes in Peru's economic system . Under Fujimori, de Soto served as "the President's personal representative", with The New York Times describing de Soto as an "overseas salesman" for Fujimori in 1990, writing that he had represented the government when meeting with creditors and United States representatives. Others dubbed de Soto as

3840-681: The Japanese consulate in Lima". The Japanese government determined that he was also a Japanese citizen because of his parents' registration in the koseki . Fujimori obtained his early education at the Colegio Nuestra Señora de la Merced and La Rectora School. Fujimori's parents were Buddhists , but he was baptized and raised Catholic . Aside from Spanish, he also spoke Japanese, the primary language in his childhood home. In 1956, Fujimori graduated from La Gran Unidad Escolar Alfonso Ugarte in Lima. Fujimori pursued undergraduate studies at

3936-517: The Peruvian military for the CIA. During the second round of elections, Fujimori originally received support from left-wing groups and those close to the García government, exploiting the popular distrust of the existing Peruvian political establishment and the uncertainty about the proposed neoliberal economic reforms of his opponent, novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. Fujimori won the 1990 presidential election as

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4032-529: The Shining Path largely consisted of university students and teachers. Two previous governments, those of Fernando Belaúnde Terry and Alan García , at first neglected the threat posed by the Shining Path, then launched an unsuccessful military campaign to eradicate it, undermining public faith in the state and precipitating an exodus of elites. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission , Shining Path guerrilla attacks claimed an estimated 12,500 lives during

4128-580: The Swiss embassy in Peru informed the Minister of Justice Alberto Bustamante and the attorney general José Ugaz of more than US$ 40 million coming from Montesinos, in which he was denounced for "illicit enrichment to the detriment of the Peruvian state". Ugaz was in charge of the investigation until 2002. According to Transparency International in 2004, Fujimori was listed as the seventh most corrupt former leader in history. When Fujimori came to power, much of Peru

4224-448: The accused faces the accuser. Fujimori contended that these measures were both justified and also necessary. Members of the judiciary were too afraid to charge the alleged insurgents, and judges and prosecutors had very legitimate fears of reprisals against them or their families. At the same time, Fujimori's government armed rural Peruvians, organizing them into groups known as rondas campesinas ("peasant patrols"). Insurgent activity

4320-601: The airport handled 8,288,506 passengers and 98,733 aircraft movements. For many years it was the hub for now defunct Aeroperú and Compañía de Aviación Faucett , one of the oldest airlines in Latin America. Now it serves as a hub for many aviation companies such as Avianca Perú , Viva Air Perú , and LATAM Perú . The port is served by the 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge Ferrocarril Central Andino . Regions of Peru After several unsuccessful regionalization attempts,

4416-554: The area ending in gunfire. Jorge Chávez International Airport (IATA: LIM, ICAO: SPJC), known as Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez in Spanish, is Peru's main international and domestic airport. It is located in Callao district , 12 km (7.5 mi) northwest from the Historic Centre of Lima . Callao is the port city now fully integrated with Lima , the nation's capital. In 2008,

4512-551: The capital, was excluded from the process; thus, it is not part of any region. In the 2002 elections, most regional governments went to parties in opposition, with twelve going to the APRA of Alan García and only one each to Possible Peru , the party of president Alejandro Toledo and ally Independent Moralizing Front of Fernando Olivera . The combination of a strong opposition and a weak government led to concerns about an impending political crisis. However, this did not turn out to be

4608-472: The case as the new regional governments were absorbed by local problems and showed little initiative in national politics. As the territorial circumscriptions that regional governments inherited from the former departments are considered too small, the Decentralization Bases Law provides for mergers between departments after a majority of the populations involved express their approval up to become

4704-581: The city has a long naval history as one of the main ports in Latin America and the Pacific, as it was one of vital Spanish towns during the colonial era . Central Callao is about 15 km (9.3 mi) west of the Historic Centre of Lima . El Callao was founded by Spanish colonists in 1537, just two years after Lima (1535). The origin of its name is unknown; both Amerindian (particularly Yunga , or Coastal Peruvian) and Spanish sources are credited, but it

4800-551: The council was abolished and replaced by the Decentralization Secretariat ( Spanish : Secretaría de Descentralización ), a dependency of the Prime Minister office . Two months later, the regional presidents gathered in the city of Huánuco established a National Assembly of Regional Governments ( Spanish : Asamblea Nacional de Gobiernos Regionales ) as an alternative coordinating institution, independent from

4896-420: The country, saying that the process would be neither free nor fair. In the runoff, Fujimori won with 51.1% of the total votes. While votes for Toledo declined from 37.0% of the total votes cast in the first round to 17.7% of the votes in the second round, invalid votes jumped from 8.1% of the total votes cast in the first round to 31.1% of total votes in the second round. The large percentage of invalid votes in

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4992-505: The coup represented a "popular uprising". Foreign ministers of OAS member states reiterated this condemnation of the autogolpe . They proposed an urgent effort to promote the reestablishment of "the democratic institutional order" in Peru. Negotiations between the OAS, the government, and opposition groups initially led Fujimori to propose a referendum to ratify the auto-coup, but the OAS rejected this. Fujimori then proposed scheduling elections for

5088-429: The coup was necessary to break with the deeply entrenched special interests that were hindering him from rescuing Peru from the chaotic state in which García had left it. Fujimori's coup was immediately met with near-unanimous condemnation from the international community. The Organization of American States (OAS) denounced the coup and demanded a return to " representative democracy ", despite Fujimori's claim that

5184-896: The coup. Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations, and Argentina withdrew its ambassador. Chile joined Argentina in requesting Peru's suspension from the Organization of American States . International lenders delayed planned or projected loans, and the United States, Germany, and Spain suspended all non-humanitarian aid to Peru. Fujimori, in turn, later received most of the participants of the November 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt as political asylees , who had fled to Peru after its failure. Peru–United States relations earlier in Fujimori's presidency had been dominated by questions of coca eradication and Fujimori's initial reluctance to sign an accord to increase his military's eradication efforts in

5280-416: The creation of autonomous regions, but they were not implemented. During the later years of the 1985–1990 presidency of Alan García , the government faced the prospect of losing the 1990 presidential elections because of a widespread economic crisis and faltering public support. As a way of creating an alternative source of power, the regime established twelve autonomous regions on January 20, 1989, in

5376-430: The economic platform he promoted during his campaign, adopting more aggressive neoliberal policies than those espoused by Vargas Llosa, his opponent in the election. During his first term in office, Fujimori enacted wide-ranging neoliberal reforms, known as the Fujishock . It was Fujimori's stated objective to pacify the nation and restore economic balance. This program bore little resemblance to his campaign platform and

5472-444: The election annulled. At this point, a corruption scandal involving Vladimiro Montesinos broke out, and exploded into full force on the evening of 14 September 2000, when the cable television station Canal N broadcast footage of Montesinos apparently bribing opposition congressman Alberto Kouri to defect to Fujimori's Peru 2000 party. The video was originally presented at press conference by Fernando Olivera and Luis Iberico of

5568-590: The election suggests widespread dissatisfaction with the electoral process among voters. Although Fujimori won the runoff with only a bare majority (but 3/4 valid votes), rumors of irregularities led most of the international community to shun his third swearing-in on 28 July. For the next seven weeks, there were daily demonstrations in front of the presidential palace . As a conciliatory gesture, Fujimori appointed former opposition candidate Federico Salas as prime minister. Opposition parties in Congress refused to support this move, and Toledo campaigned vigorously to have

5664-594: The global economy, though not without immediate social cost; international business participated in crony capitalism with the government. The privatization campaign involved selling off of hundreds of state-owned enterprises , and replacing the country's troubled currency, the inti , with the nuevo sol . Fujimori's initiative relaxed private sector price controls , drastically reduced government subsidies and government employment, eliminated all exchange controls , and also reduced restrictions on investment, imports, and capital . Tariffs were radically simplified,

5760-453: The grounds that he was "permanently morally disabled". On 19 November, government ministers presented their resignations en bloc. Fujimori's first vice president, Francisco Tudela , had broken with Fujimori and resigned a few days earlier. This left second vice president Ricardo Márquez Flores as next in line for the presidency. Congress refused to recognize him, as he was an ardent Fujimori loyalist; Márquez resigned two days later. Paniagua

5856-691: The hope of winning some elections at this level. However, due to the haste of their creation, these regional governments were not provided with fiscal resources of their own, so they depended on the goodwill of the central government for funding. The 1990 presidential elections were marked by the discredit of political parties as evidenced in the election of Alberto Fujimori , an independent candidate. Fujimori withheld financial transfers to regional governments and then, on December 29, 1992, replaced them with government-designated Transitory Councils of Regional Administration ( Spanish : Consejos Transitorios de Administración Regional ). Having dissolved Congress in

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5952-608: The inability of the García administration to handle the nation's crises and began to draft Plan Verde as a plan to overthrow his government. According to Rospigliosi, lawyer and friend of Fujimori, Vladimiro Montesinos was not initially involved with the Plan Verde , but his ability to resolve issues for the military resulted with the armed forces tasking Montesinos with implementing the plan with Fujimori, while Schulte-Bockholt would say that both General Nicolás de Bari Hermoza  [ es ] and Montesinos were responsible for

6048-536: The lowlands. Fujimori's autogolpe became a major obstacle to relations, as the United States immediately suspended all military and economic aid, with exceptions for counter-narcotic and humanitarian funds. Two weeks after the self-coup, the George H. W. Bush administration changed its position and officially recognized Fujimori as the legitimate leader of Peru, partly because he was willing to implement economic austerity measures, but also because of his adamant opposition to

6144-539: The majority of the armed forces, with the Financial Times stating that "[i]n no other country in Latin America did a president have so much control over the armed forces". A 2002 report by Health Minister Fernando Carbone later suggested that Fujimori was involved in the forced sterilizations of up to 300,000 indigenous women between 1996 and 2000, as part of a population control program. A 2004 World Bank publication said that in this period Montesinos's abuse of

6240-708: The military high school. The city also has a university, the National University of Callao . The main Naval Hospital, Centro Medico Naval is located on Avenida Venezuela in Bellavista. It contains the U.S. Navy command Naval Medical Research Unit Six . Residents of Callao are known as chalacos after the Quechua word Chala meaning coast. Callao's professional football teams are Sport Boys and Atlético Chalaco . Callao has several islands: San Lorenzo (currently

6336-400: The military, and the Peruvian upper class. His administration soon became known for its authoritarian practices. In 1992, he carried out a self-coup , dissolving Congress and assuming extraordinary powers. After the coup, it was revealed that his government applied the directives of the military's Plan Verde . His government was linked to forced sterilizations and the violent suppression of

6432-493: The military. With multimillion-dollar annual expenditures in 1992 (five billion dollars in public spending plus another five billion in state enterprises), part of the funds were diverted to political and military institutions. According to the National Anti-Corruption Initiative (INA) in 2001, they corresponded to 30–35% of the average budget expenditure in each year, and 4% of the average annual GDP during

6528-546: The name of Littoral Province. All of the other Peruvian provinces had been given their names by law, while Callao was given it by constitutional mandate. Callao was never part of the Lima Department nor of any other departments. The province's first mayor was Col. Manuel Cipriano Dulanto. In 1921, the Bureau of Public Works granted a concession to M.I.T. engineer John Tinker Glidden for paving, administering, and inaugurating

6624-595: The national government decided to temporarily provide the departments (including the Constitutional Province of Callao ) with regional governments until the conformation of regions according to the Organic Law of Regional Governments which says that two or more departments should merge to conform a region. This situation turned the departments into de facto regional government circumscriptions. The first regional governments were elected on November 20, 2002. Under

6720-555: The new administrative subdivisions in the Decentralization Bases Law ( Spanish : Ley de Bases de la Descentralización ), issued on July 17, 2002, and the Organic Law of Regional Governments ( Spanish : Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales ) issued on November 19, 2002. New regional governments were elected on November 20, 2002, one in each of the former departments and the former Constitutional Province ( Spanish : Provincia Constitucional ) of Callao. The province of Lima , containing

6816-554: The new arrangement, the 24 departments plus the Callao Province are regional government circumscriptions each with a Regional Government . Lima Province , which has been excluded from this process and is not part of a regional government circumscription, has its government institution: the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima . Unlike the previous system, the regional circumscriptions have an elected government and have

6912-587: The organization's active phase. On 16 July 1992, the Tarata bombing , in which several car bombs exploded in Miraflores , Lima's wealthiest district, killed over 40 people; the bombings were characterized by one commentator as an "offensive to challenge President Alberto Fujimori". The bombing at Tarata was followed up with a "weeklong wave of car bombings ... Bombs hit banks, hotels, schools, restaurants, police stations, and shops ... [G]uerrillas bombed two rail bridges from

7008-577: The power Fujimori granted him "led to a steady and systematic undermining of the rule of law ". By the arrival of the new millennium, Alberto Fujimori became increasingly authoritarian, strengthening collaboration with Vladimiro Montesinos and the National Intelligence Service . Shortly after Fujimori began his second term, his supporters in Congress passed a law of "authentic interpretation" which effectively allowed him to run for another term in 2000. A 1998 effort to repeal this law by referendum failed. In late 1999, Fujimori announced that he would run for

7104-406: The president's approval stood at 42%. Fujimori and his military handlers had planned for a coup during his preceding two years in office. In response to the political deadlock, Fujimori, with the support of the military, carried out a self-coup on 5 April 1992, also known as the autogolpe (auto-coup) or Fujigolpe (Fuji-coup) in Peru. Congress was shut down by the military, the constitution

7200-414: The presidential elections held on June 4, 2006, only won in two regions, all other national parties achieved even less. According to the Organic Law of Regional Governments, the responsibilities of regional governments include planning regional development, executing public investment projects, promoting economic activities, and managing public property. Regional governments are composed of a president and

7296-525: The promontory overlooking the harbor. A large naval base is sited in Callao. Its prison held Abimael Guzmán , the leader of the Shining Path Communist Party of Peru, and holds Vladimiro Montesinos , the ex-director of internal security during the Fujimori regime. Jorge Chávez International Airport is located in Callao. On a bluff overlooking the harbor sits Colegio Militar Leoncio Prado,

7392-540: The public as evidenced by favorable public opinion in several independent polls; in fact, public approval of the Fujimori administration jumped significantly in the wake of the coup. Fujimori often cited this public support in defending the coup, which he characterized as "not a negation of real democracy, but on the contrary... a search for an authentic transformation to assure a legitimate and effective democracy". Fujimori believed that Peruvian democracy had been nothing more than "a deceptive formality—a façade". He claimed

7488-404: The regional president, it also oversees all regional officials and can remove the president, its vice president, and any council member from office. The Regional Coordination Council has a consultancy role in planning and budget issues, and it has no executive or legislative powers. The Organic Law of Regional Governments stipulates the gradual transfer of functions from the central government to

7584-409: The regions, provided they are certified as capable of undertaking these tasks. To oversee this process, the Decentralization Bases Law created a National Council of Decentralization ( Spanish : Consejo Nacional de Descentralización ). However, this institution was criticized for being bureaucratic and ineffective by the government of Alan García , former president of Peru. Thus, on January 24, 2007,

7680-585: The relationship between the armed forces and Fujimori. Mario Vargas Llosa , Fujimori's final opponent in the election, later reported that United States Ambassador to Peru , Anthony C. E. Quainton , personally told him that allegedly leaked documents of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) purportedly being supportive of Fujimori's candidacy were authentic. Rendón writes that the United States supported Fujimori because of his relationship with Montesinos, who had previously been charged with spying on

7776-410: The same period. One of those responsible for maintaining an image of apparent honesty and government approval was Vladimiro Montesinos , head of the National Intelligence Service (SIN), who systematically bribed politicians, judges, and the media. That criminal network also involved authorities of his government; furthermore, due to privatisation and the arrival of foreign capital, companies close to

7872-574: The supervision of the Ministry of the Presidency. Fujimori was forced to resign in November 2000 under accusations of authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights violations. After an interim government led by Valentín Paniagua , Alejandro Toledo was elected president for the 2001-2006 period on a platform that included creating regional governments. The new administration laid out the legal framework for

7968-602: Was also a node in the Manila galleon route connecting Latin-America and Asia through Acapulco, Mexico and Manila, Philippines . As a result, Callao also became a permanent target for pirate and corsair attacks, such as the one carried out by Francis Drake in 1579 and the blockade established by Jacques l'Hermite in 1624. After the Battle of Ayacucho , 9 December 1824, that sealed the independence of Peru and South America, Spain made futile attempts to retain its former colonies, such as at

8064-520: Was an agronomist and university rector before entering politics. Generally recognized as a civilian-military dictatorship , his government was characterized by its use of propaganda , widespread political corruption, and human rights violations. Fujimori's tenure began with his unexpected victory in the 1990 general election . He quickly implemented neoliberal economic reforms to address hyperinflation and economic instability, which won him initial support from international financial institutions ,

8160-456: Was born in 1938, in Miraflores , a district of Lima . His father was Naoichi Fujimori ( né Minami), who was adopted by a childless relative. His mother was Mutsue Inomoto. Both were natives of Kumamoto , Japan, who migrated to Peru in 1934. In July 1997, the news magazine Caretas alleged that Fujimori was born in Japan, in his father's hometown of Kawachi , Kumamoto Prefecture . Because

8256-451: Was credited with 49.9%—20,000 votes short of avoiding a runoff. Despite reports of numerous irregularities, the international observers recognized an adjusted victory of Fujimori. His primary opponent, Alejandro Toledo , called for his supporters to spoil their ballots in the runoff by writing "No to fraud!" on them (voting is mandatory in Peru). The OAS electoral observation mission pulled out of

8352-424: Was divided into departments ( Spanish : departamentos ), which grew in number from four in 1821 to eleven in 1822 and to twenty-four in 1980: As political and economic power increasingly concentrated in Lima, the capital city, several administrations attempted to decentralize the country with little success. The 1979 Peruvian Constitution contained provisions for the decentralization of power through

8448-560: Was dominated by the Maoist insurgent group Sendero Luminoso (" Shining Path "), and the Marxist–Leninist group Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). In 1989, 25% of Peru's district and provincial councils opted not to hold elections, owing to a persistent campaign of assassination, over the course of which over 100 officials had been killed by the Shining Path in that year alone. That same year, more than one-third of Peru's courts lacked

8544-490: Was established between Fujimori, Montesinos and some of the military officers" involved in the Plan Verde prior to Fujimori's inauguration. Montesinos and SIN officials ultimately assumed the armed forces' position in the plan, placing SIN operatives into military leadership roles. Fujimori went on to adopt many of the policies outlined in the Plan Verde . Fujimori was sworn in as president on 28 July 1990, allegedly his 52nd birthday. After taking office, Fujimori abandoned

8640-449: Was in decline by the end of 1992, and Fujimori took credit for this abatement, claiming that his campaign had largely eliminated the insurgent threat. After the 1992 auto-coup, the intelligence work of the DINCOTE (National Counter-Terrorism Directorate) led to the capture of the leaders from↔ MRTA and the Shining Path, including notorious Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán . Guzmán's capture

8736-605: Was in fact more drastic than anything Vargas Llosa had proposed. Hernando de Soto , the founder of one of the first neoliberal organizations in Latin America, the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD), began to receive assistance from the U.S. government under Ronald Reagan , with the National Endowment for Democracy 's Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) providing his ILD with funding and education for advertising campaigns. Between 1988 and 1995, de Soto and

8832-403: Was next in line, and became interim president to oversee the April 2001 elections. Fujimori was accused of a series of offences, including embezzlement of public funds, abuse of power , and corruption during almost 10 years as president (1990–2000), especially when he gained greater control after the self-coup . The network operated as a kleptocracy in three spheres: business, politics, and

8928-430: Was of Japanese heritage, Fujimori suggested that he was always pleased by the nickname, which he perceived as a term of affection. With his election victory, he became the third person of East Asian descent to govern a South American state, after Arthur Chung of Guyana and Henk Chin A Sen of Suriname. According to news magazine Oiga , the armed forces finalized plans on 18 June 1990 involving multiple scenarios for

9024-529: Was sentenced to 25 years in prison but was released in December 2023 following a controversial court order. He died from cancer nine months later in September 2024. He remains a polarizing figure in Peruvian politics, with a visible legacy in his political movement called Fujimorism , and in his daughter, Keiko Fujimori , who has run three times for president. Former According to government records, Fujimori

9120-406: Was suspended and the judiciary was dissolved. Without political obstacles, the military was able to implement the objectives outlined in the Plan Verde while Fujimori served as president to project an image that Peru was supporting a liberal democracy . Vladimiro Montesinos would go on to adopt the actual function of Peru's government. According to numerous polls, the coup was welcomed by

9216-491: Was the second of four children. Caretas ' s contentions were hotly contested in the Peruvian media; the magazine Sí described the allegations as "pathetic" and "a dark page for [Peruvian] journalism". Latin American scholars Cynthia McClintock and Fabián Vallas note that the issue appeared to have died down among Peruvians after the Japanese government announced in 2000 that "Fujimori's parents had registered his birth in

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