1. From Oligarchy to Neoliberalism: The role of Violence in the Construction of Peru’s Constitutional Order
Max Cameron
Poli 332
March 1, 2016

2. Structural Conditions
Spanish colonial domination: Peru was an important Vice Royalty in the colonial period: It had the mines and labor to support a massive aristocracy.
Economic dependency on major capitalist powers: Mancera divides Peruvian history before/after 1500 as “autonomy” and “dependency”. Economic base extractivist. Large landholdings (latifundios) and enclave economy
Ethnic heterogeneity very high: Peru has a large indigenous population.  Long tradition of “indigenismo”: “which saw in the regeneration of exploited Indians a bright future for Peru” (Mayer 1991, p. 475).

3. Political Processes Long period of anarchy following independence
Oligarchy consolidated in late 19th century
Pressures for change in 1920s and 1930s
Oligarchic state collapses in 1970s under military rule
Rise of the Shining Path, autogolpe 1992
Neoliberalism in 1980s
No left turn

4. Oligarchic Domination
The “clique of Creoles and foreigners who inhabit the strip of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes do not form the real Peru; the nation is made up by the Indian masses spread across the Eastern slopes of the mountains. The Indian has dragged along at the bottom level of civilization for three hundred years, as a hybrid with the vices of the barbarian without the virtues if the European. Teach him only to read and write, and you will see whether or not in a quarter of a century he will rise to the dignity of a man.” Manuel Gonzales Prada ( )

5. Populism
Republican, democratic ideas were inappropriate in a heterogeneous society divided along racial and class lines. Indians could not read or write because there was no policy of educating them for citizenship, and, as a result, Peru had democracy “in name only.” Constitutional government was a “façade that masked cruel and despotic rule.” -- Victor Raul Haya de la Torre

6. Socialism
Peru a “country in which Indians and foreign conquerors live side by side but do not mingle with or even understand one another. The republic feels and declares its loyalty to the viceroyalty and, like the viceroyalty, it belongs more to the colonizers than to the rulers. The feelings and interests of four-fifths of the population play almost no role in the formation of the national identity and institutions.”
-- Jose Carlos Mariategui

7. Breakdown of Oligarchic Domination (1950s-1960s)
Oligarchy persisted until 1960s
“Structural dualism”
Haciendas and peasant communities
Gamonales, gamonalismo
Peasant mobilization in s
Guerrilla movement

8. Military Regime, 1968-80 A corporatist, nationalist regime
Land reform, peasant co-ops
Industrial communities
Unionization
Anti-imperialism
Unintended consequences:
Social mobilization
Rise of a “new left”

9. Transition to Democracy/ Democracy Under Stress
Constitution of 1979
Progressive features
Shining Path Maoists initiate “Prolonged Peoples’ War”

10. José Matos Mar’s Desborde Popular
Argued that the “Creole republic” (i.e. the state institutions of “Official Peru”), had lost the ability to exclude and marginalize the Andean majority (the “Marginal Peru”). 
Legislative and judicial institutions—not to mention parties, large firms, unions, the church, the armed forces, and the bureaucracy—formed part of “Official Peru,” and they were monopolized by literate Creoles. 
“Marginal Peru” was made up of smaller scale neighborhood associations, peasant self-defense groups, or “rondas,” the informal and subsistence economies, and indigenous cultural organizations generally composed of bilingual, often illiterate, sometimes unilingual Quechua or Aymara speakers.

11. Sendero Luminoso Emerged from the breakdown of oligarchic domination
Story of Lino Quintanilla
Armed propaganda: “terrifying act that breaks the rules of civil society.”
-- D.S. Palmer.
“el pueblo clama y nosotros respondemos
a ese clamor, a esa exigencia, sentimos lo
que sienten y queremos lo que quieren, quieren que sus manos hablen el lenguaje preciso y contundente de los hechos armados.” -- Guzman

12. The Caudillo Messiah
Use of Biblical and messianic language: evoke world of violence as a form of purification.
Example of militarization of language: “Contra la fascistizacion del gobierno de Apra” – Bandera Roja graffiti in Comas.
Cult of the leader: absolute authority of “Dr.”
Disdain for dialogue: preference for violence.
“Marxism-Leninism-Maoism-Guzman thought”

13. Violence and Hyperinflation

14. Rise of Fujimori Elected 1990 as “outsider” Autogolpe in 1992
Close congress
Suspend constitution
Purge courts
Rule by degree
Call for referendum
Result:1993 constitution with wider executive powers, more neoliberal features

15. State Response The role of intelligence (Montesinos & Colina group)
Selective executions and disappearances
Military courts
The Ronda Campesina
Repentance law
Will to win

16. The Capture!

17. Collapse of a Hybrid System

18. Next Class Neoliberal governance in Peru
Why Peru missed Latin America’s left turns