Articles

  • The papal visit: a moral agenda

    22 January 2018

    Pope Francis’s visit to Peru provided welcome political relief to President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski with the media switching attention from the crisis surrounding former president Fujimori’s pardon to covering every aspect of the pontiff’s three-day visit. However, the visit also served to highlight some uncomfortable truths, especially those concerned with the protection of the environment and indigenous peoples at the mercy of extractive-led development. And the Pope did not shy away from the issue of corruption.

  • Date proffered for Barata to give evidence

    22 January 2018

    It seems probable that 27-28 February will be the dates on which Jorge Barata, Odebrecht’s man in Lima and the person responsible for distributing his company’s largesse in return for contracts, will provide more precise information on who was paid how much, when and in what circumstances.

  • New cabinet? Not much that's new

    13 January 2018

    It took President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski two weeks from announcing a cabinet reshuffle to naming the people who would fill the various posts. Labelled somewhat euphemistically ‘a cabinet of reconciliation’, it ended up being ‘more of the same’. Indeed, the new cabinet is probably of an even narrower base than its predecessor, effectively divorced from civil society and the rest of the political class.

  • The meaning of reconciliation

    13 January 2018

    When President Kuczynski announced, two weeks ago, that the new cabinet would be a cabinet of ‘reconciliation’, it invited the question of reconciliation with what or whom. For many observers it meant the reconciliation between his government and the Fujimorista opposition. But the cabinet, as announced, gives no hint of any reconciliation here.

  • Declaration of state of emergency causes alarm

    13 January 2018

    The 11 January issue of El Peruano, the official gazette, contained the alarming news that a state of emergency had been declared for the 500km mining corridor that runs through Apurímac, Cuzco and Arequipa regions and contains key mining concerns.

  • Fujimori pardon creates political havoc

    30 December 2017

    President Kuczynski’s highly controversial decision to release former president Alberto Fujimori from jail and to offer him a full pardon has continued to rock Peruvian politics over the week since Christmas. There have been huge demonstrations on the streets of Lima while, internationally, both the United Nations and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have condemned the move.

  • PPKrisis: president hangs by a thread

    18 December 2017

    Last week the Odebrecht revelations reached the president, making his situation increasingly precarious. Congress has voted to proceed with impeachment procedures. Kuczynski will meet his accusers face to face in Congress on 21 December.

  • Social conflict on the wane? Report suggests not

    18 December 2017

    The latest six-monthly report from the Observatorio de Conflictos Mineros has just been published. It draws on the regular data produced by the Defensoría del Pueblo and embeds it in a structural analysis of 60 pages. Conflicts have levelled off in the last few months, but the report argues that this is principally due to the fall off in concessions, now once again rising as commodity prices recover.

  • 'Political control' and the art of browbeating the judiciary

    10 December 2017

    'Political control' has become the new catchphrase as the Fujimorista opposition seeks, through its control of the legislature, to enforce its influence over both the judiciary and the executive.

  • Senior businessmen jailed, Fuerza Popular offices raided

    10 December 2017

    Late on Sunday 3 December Public Prosecutor Richard Concepción Carhuancho sent to jail five of Peru’s most prominent businessmen because of bribes made by the main Peruvian construction companies to cover their part of the bribes paid by Brazilian-led consortia to win government contracts.

  • PSG Aims

    The Peru Support Group exists to promote social inclusion, sustainable development and the observance of human rights in Peru. To that end the PSG highlights shortcomings in observance of established norms, whether international or local in nature, in its research, advocacy and publications. In so doing, it underscores the relationships that exist within the political system, how institutions work, and the effectiveness of policies that aim to reduce poverty and inequality within the context of sustainable development.

  • Historical Overview

    Over the past century Peru has suffered a series of autocratic governments and a civil war in which nearly 70,000 people died. Many of the country's ongoing political and social problems are a legacy of its somewhat turbulent past. 

  • Human Rights

    Human rights violations were widespread during the twenty years after the initiation of armed conflict in 1980. Efforts to convict perpetrators since the war's end have made only limited progress. Today, concerns remain over the treatment of those engaged in social protest, particularly against strategically important investment projects.

  • Why join the PSG?

    • Keep up to date with latest news and developments in Peru
    • Learn about key issues of poverty, development and human rights in Peru
    • Support the work of the Peru Support Group

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