Articles

  • Electoral reforms neutered

    7 October 2017

    The Constitutional Commission led by FP Congresswoman Ursula Letona last week presented a bill to reform the current electoral law, concerning gifts to be made to voters during electoral campaigns. Such a bill appears likely to further skewer those proposals put forward by Transparencia and others to remedy the workings of the electoral system in advance of regional and municipal polls in a year’s time.

  • No smoke without fire: corruption perceptions on an upwards curve

    1 October 2017

    Perceptions of corruption, as measured by organisations like Transparency International (TI), provide only a proxy for the problem itself, but they show how significant an issue it has become. Proética, the Peruvian branch of TI and the NGO most proactively involved in revealing the scale of corruption, has just published its tenth report since 2002 into such perceptions.

  • The Fujimori saga: would-be pardons, party splits and Keiko under investigation

    1 October 2017

    The Fujimori saga continues. All conversation in Lima last week was dominated by the possible imminent pardon of jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori. Ever since the vote of no-confidence in the cabinet last month, this issue has topped the agenda. Significantly, the new prime minister, Mercedes Aráoz, has noted that she would not oppose it. The families of victims of human rights crimes perpetrated under the Fujimori government have a rather different view.

  • Propuesta Ciudadana and Oxfam argue for ending mining tax concessions

    1 October 2017

    New research published by Grupo Propuesta Ciuadana (GPC) highlights the difficulties faced by Peru’s government “to protect the tax base over the life of a mining project”. The study focuses on the Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde in Arequipa, one of the many companies that for years have benefited from tax stabilisation agreements designed to attract foreign investment.

  • SNI criticises FTA with India

    1 October 2017

    The National Industries Association (SNI) has alerted the Kuczynski administration to the dangers of failing to stand up for national interests in the negotiations, currently under way, for a free trade agreement with India. The SNI points to sectors of the Peruvian economy which it says are highly vulnerable to unfair competition from India.

  • EGM to propose PSG becomes a charity

    28 September 2017

    There will be an Extraordinary General Meeting of the PSG when a proposal will be made that the PSG apply to become a charity with a new constitution.

  • New cabinet welcomed by Fujimoristas

    24 September 2017

    The new cabinet appears to have improved relations between the executive and the majority Fuerza Popular (FP). Although most of the previous cabinet members were ratified in post and none of Keiko’s immediate circle was offered a cabinet seat, the new appointments have been welcomed both by leading members of FP and APRA.The cabinet will now need to pass a vote of confidence in Congress on 10 October.

  • Investment, investment, investment...

    24 September 2017

    Investment has become the familiar mantra of Peru’s technocratic economic team, and the new minister of economy and finance, Claudia Cooper, is no different from her predecessors in proclaiming the new dawn for Peruvian mining.

  • APRA: how the mighty are fallen

    24 September 2017

    APRA, the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance, last week celebrated the 87 anniversary of its founding as a political party. But today’s party is but a pale reflection of what the party used to stand for. Far from being ‘popular’ and ‘revolutionary’, or even ‘American’, it has become a narrow, conservative clique with scant support in society.

  • Executive and Fujimoristas in shoot-out

    16 September 2017

    In the early hours of 15 September, Peru’s Congress passed a vote of no-confidence in the cabinet of Fernando Zavala. This brings to a head a power struggle that has been building up since the day President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski took office and which now pits the executive against the legislature in open conflict.

  • 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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