Conservatism in Peru

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Conservatism in Peru
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Conservatism in Peru (Spanish: Conservadurismo) is a broad system of conservative political beliefs in Peru, characterized by support for Catholic values, social stability and social order. Peruvian conservatism has encompassed a wide range of theories and ideologies in the last two hundred years. In contrast with nearly nations like Colombia or Chile, Peru has not developed a concrete conservative political tradition.[1]

Peru is considered to be one of the most conservative nations in Latin America,

authoritarian beliefs.[5] Historian Antonio Zapata describes Peru as a "right-wing country"; the only left-wing government in contemporary history until the election of Pedro Castillo in 2021 was that of Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968–1975), author of an agrarian reform and the nationalization of strategic sectors.[6] Social conservatism is also very present on the political left.[7]

History

Beginnings of the Republic

Bartolomé Herrera, one of Peru's most influential conservative thinkers

The weakness of political parties in Peruvian politics has been recognized throughout the nation's history, with competing leaders fighting for power following the collapse of the

feudalist haciendas.[10]

Bartolomé Herrera is considered the most influential conservative thinker of 19th-century Peru.

social contract theory, Herrera stated that the idea was "the seed of revolution, crimes and inevitable slave".[11] Herrera's thoughts would evolve in to believing he was a direct representative of God, stating "Obey the constituted authorities. Let tremble those who do not obey me".[11] The Peruvian press would describe Herrera's ideas as supporting despotism and that they belonged to the Dark Ages.[11]

Responding to criticism in the press, Herrera would write:[11]

"[T]he people, that is, the sum total of individuals of every age and condition, DO NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY NOR THE RIGHT TO MAKE LAWS"

Thus, Herrera believed that humans could not even interpret natural law, let alone make laws themselves.[11] He would also supported the caudillo Ramón Castilla, who ruled Peru through the 1800s, believing that his authority helped stabilize Peru.[11] Herrera temporarily resigned from public life in 1853 after the Congress of Peru blocked a concordat he drafted for Pope Pius IX.[11] He reappeared in 1860 to become a member and president of Congress, creating a draft of the 1860 Constitution of Peru that supported an undemocratic, elitist agenda that included excluding citizenship for a large percentage of Peruvians, a president chosen through indirect election, a thirty-member senate that was overseen by businessmen who held judicial power and a chamber of deputies who dealt with legislature.[11] After his proposal was rejected, he angrily resigned from office and stayed out of public life.[11]

During the time of the Chincha Islands War, guano extraction in Peru led to the rise of an even wealthier aristocracy that established a plutocracy.[10] A wealthy oligarchy was then created that used candidate-based political parties to control economic interests; a practice that continues to the present day.[10] This oligarchy was supported by the Catholic Church, which would ignore inequalities in Peru and instead assist governments with appeasing the impoverished majority.[10] The education system in Peru was also created by the authoritarian governments of conservatives to segregate against indigenous Peruvians, instilling the belief of a hierarchal society and training indigenous groups to live their lives as peasants or soldiers.[12] Combatting ideologies of indigenismo of the majority and the elite holding Europhile values would arise at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.[10]

Generation of 1900

fascist, José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma

The Generation of 1900 (Spanish: Generación del 1900) was an influential group of writers, historians and philosophers who created modern Peruvian

Spanish nationalist movements that emerged after their countries' defeat in Sedan and in Cavite, respectively.[13]

The writings of Manuel González Prada provided much of the inspiration for nationalist reform in Peru following the War of the Pacific, though he would embrace anarchism instead of liberalism, believing the latter prevented the necessary reform for Peru.[14] Intellectuals in Peru would seek to create their own nationalist movement, though initially they had complications with deciding its direction since the bases of Peruvian society relied on an authoritarian religious system that accepted natural law, which had been imposed since Spanish colonial period, resulting with intellectuals avoiding secularism altogether.[14] The group then became limited, fixating on the past while other nations focused on more progressive concerns.[14]

Members of the Generation of 1900 were primarily influenced by the aristocratic

Aristocratic Republic in 1919 and the growing activism of the middle class during the presidency of Augusto B. Leguía.[14]

According to historian Fernán Altuve, this generation of intellectuals, who would put an end to the liberal-positivist consensus on the interpretation of Peruvian political thought in Peru, were the first generation to give importance to conservative thinking in Peruvian history, rescuing important conservative figures like Bartolomé Herrera or Blas Ostoloza.[15]

Odría and Belaúnde era

President Manuel A. Odría

Through the early twentieth century, the Peruvian Armed Forces held political power in Peru.[16] Manuel A. Odría led a coup against José Luis Bustamante y Rivero in 1948, leading a far-right government until 1956.[17] His regime would adopt a populist, nationalist and pragmatic character. In the same year, Fernando Belaúnde founded the center-right Acción Popular party. He would later become president in 1963 and held a doctrine called "The Conquest of Peru by Peruvians", which promoted the exploitation of resources in the Amazon rainforest and other outlying areas of Peru through conquest,[18] stating "only by turning our vision to the interior, and conquering our wilderness as the United States once did, will South America finally achieve true development".[16] In 1964 in an incident called the Matsé genocide [es], the Belaúnde administration targeted the Matsés after two loggers were killed, with the Peruvian armed forces and American fighter planes dropping napalm on the indigenous groups armed with bows and arrows, killing hundreds.[18][19] Belaúnde was removed from office by a military coup led by general Juan Velasco Alvarado in 1968.

Post-Velasco era

Following the

neoliberal economy controlled by a military junta in Peru.[23][24][25] Peruvians shifted their support for authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori, who was supported by the military and made a figurehead leader of Peru following his win in the 1990 Peruvian general election.[8][21][26]

21st century

Former

social democrat Alan García grew more conservative during his second tenure and took implementation of the Lima Consensus even further, adopting policies similar to Augusto Pinochet and combatting with indigenous groups opposed to mining in their communities, events culminating with the 2009 Peruvian political crisis that saw civilians against an oil development in the Amazon rainforest massacred.[27][28]

During the presidencies of Ollanta Humala, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Martín Vizcarra, Congress was dominated by the opposition Popular Force, the party created by the daughter of the former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, Keiko Fujimori, and opposed many of the actions performed by the presidents.[29][30][31] During the government of Pedro Castillo, conservative groups in Peru used social media to spread fake news and for the incitement of violence, especially on TikTok.[32]

Themes

Hispanismo

Peruvian conservative philosopher

fascist philosopher José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma, considered the colonial past essential for the development of Peruvian history.[34]

Anti-leftism

Madrid Charter

Main article:
Madrid Charter

The far-right Spanish political party,

Go on Country of Hernando de Soto, Popular Force of Keiko Fujimori, and Popular Renewal of Rafael López Aliaga signing the document.[37][38][39] Peruvian business executives, including the owner of Willax Televisión, also participated in discussions and signed the charter.[40][41]

Terruqueo

Main article: Terruqueo

In the 1990s, president

reign of terror of the Shining Path and other groups.[42][43][44] Ultimately, a culture of fear was created by Fujimori according to Jo-Marie Burt, with individuals fearing that they would be described as a terrorist.[45] Using the terruqueo, according to Velásquez Villalba, Fujimori made himself a "permanent hero" and made left-wing ideologies an eternal enemy.[46] Using the terruqueo to frighten conservative individuals with a status quo bias, leftist and progressive groups, along with human rights groups, have been targeted with the tactic.[47]

Environment

Environmental degradation occurred in Peru since businesses take advantage of deregulation to attain more growth.[27][48] The conservative Congress of Peru refused to ratify the Escazú Agreement regarding environmental rights, arguing that it would violate the sovereignty of Peru and interfere with the economy.[27]

Neoliberalism

See also: Lima Consensus

Hernando de Soto, the founder of one of the first neoliberal organizations in Latin America, Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD), began to receive assistance from Ronald Reagan's administration, with the National Endowment for Democracy's Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) providing his ILD with funding and education for advertising campaigns.[49][50][51] Between 1988 and 1995, de Soto and the ILD were mainly responsible for some four hundred initiatives, laws, and regulations that led to significant changes in Peru's economic system.[52][53]

The Lima Consensus as established during the Fujimori administration focused on

technocrats that existed in Fujimori's government would go on to promote the Consensus and dominate politics in Peru.[55] As the Washington Consensus lost popularity in the 2000s, a more defined Lima Consensus began to emerge in Peru simultaneously as the economy improved during the 2000s commodities boom.[28] The economic boom Peru experienced did not develop a stronger government however, with deregulation and privatization becoming more established due to the Consensus following the fall of the Fujimori government while elites supporting the Consensus gained veto power in the government.[27][28][55]

Consensus policies are supported by the economic elite and some of the middle class, with supporters advocating for deregulation, privatization and the removal of

social programs.[48] This lack of state intervention as promoted by the Consensus has resulted with a weak government with poor performance, with many Peruvians experiencing insufficient basic services such as education, justice and security.[55][27]

Media

Main article:
Media in Peru

Peru's media organizations control the

politically conservative.[59]

El Comercio Group is the largest media conglomerate in Peru and one of the largest in South America, owning 80% of newspapers, receiving 65% of online readers and generating 57% of revenue among Peru's largest media organizations.[60][61][62][63] Although they initially opposed the Fujimori clan in other instances, especially against Alberto Fujimori,[64][65] El Comercio Group has typically supported right-wing political candidates, including President Alan García and Keiko Fujimori.[58][66]

References

  1. ^ Adrianzén, Alberto (26 November 2019). "Los conservadores". Quehacer (4).
  2. ^ "Insults and Support Greet Peru's First Openly Gay Congressman". NBC News. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  3. ^ Tegel, Simeon (25 June 2019). "Medical Marijuana Spreads Across South America". U.S. News & World Report.
  4. ^ "Peru Congress votes to host OAS summit after outrage over gender neutral bathrooms". Reuters. 2022-07-16. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  5. ^ "Peru's Precarious Politics — The Crisis Deepens". Inter-American Dialogue. 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2023-06-06. the right in Peru also has authoritarian tendencies, while the left consists of a mix between ideological and pragmatic elements
  6. ^ Chaparro, Amanda (June 2016). "Perú: la derecha o la derecha". Le Monde diplomatique.
  7. ^ "Quién es Pedro Castillo, el maestro de escuela y líder sindical de izquierda que competirá por la presidencia de Perú". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-07.
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  10. ^ a b c d e f Gorman, Stephen M. (September 1980). "The Economic and Social Foundations of Elite Power in Peru: A Review of the Literature". Social and Economic Studies. 29 (2/3). University of the West Indies: 292–319.
  11. ^
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    . In contrast to the liberals, conservatives were essentially reactionary authoritarians. ... Herrera emerged as the leading spokesman of Peruvian conservatism. As opposed to contemporary liberal thinkers, Herrera called for greater reliance on authority, opted for order over liberty, and argued for greater ecclesiastical influence in worldly affairs. Political authority derived from God, ... The Constitution of 1860 was a compromise between the 1856 charter, which many Peruvians found too radical, and the authoritarian proposal of Herrera.
  12. ISBN 978-1137338402
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  13. ^ Orrego, Juan L. "La República Aristocrática: la generación del 900". Blog PUCP (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-07.
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  17. ^ Neira, p. 444
  18. ^ a b Dourojeanni, Marc J. (12 June 2017). "Belaúnde en la Amazonía". Centro Amazónico de Antropología y Aplicación Práctica (CAAAP) (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  19. ^ LR, Redacción (9 June 2018). "Terrorista "José" amenaza con más ataques a las fuerzas del orden". La República (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Operation Condor | international campaign | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  21. ^ a b "Peru's Political Party System and the Promotion of the Pro-Poor Reform" (PDF). National Democratic Institute. March 2005.
  22. ^ "Commanding Heights : Peru Overview | on PBS". PBS. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  23. doi:10.1080/10714839.1998.11725657
    . the military's growing frustration over the limitations placed upon its counterinsurgency operations by democratic institutions, coupled with the growing inability of civilian politicians to deal with the spiraling economic crisis and the expansion of the Shining Path, prompted a group of military officers to devise a coup plan in the late 1980s. The plan called for the dissolution of Peru's civilian government, military control over the state, and total elimination of armed opposition groups. The plan, developed in a series of documents known as the "Plan Verde," outlined a strategy for carrying out a military coup in which the armed forces would govern for 15 to 20 years and radically restructure state-society relations along neoliberal lines.
  24. ISBN 978-0-7391-1358-5
    . important members of the officer corps, particularly within the army, had been contemplating a military coup and the establishment of an authoritarian regime, or a so-called directed democracy. The project was known as 'Plan Verde', the Green Plan. ... Fujimori essentially adopted the 'Plan Verde,' and the military became a partner in the regime. ... The autogolpe, or self-coup, of April 5, 1992, dissolved the Congress and the country's constitution and allowed for the implementation of the most important components of the 'Plan Verde.'
  25. ^ Rospigliosi, Fernando (1996). Las Fuerzas Armadas y el 5 de abril: la percepción de la amenaza subversiva como una motivación golpista. Lima, Peru: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos. pp. 46–47.
  26. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2023-03-24. The coup of April 5, 1992, carried out by high-ranking military felons who used the President of the Republic himself as their figurehead, had as one of its stated objectives a guaranteed free hand for the armed forces in the anti-subversion campaign, the same armed forces for whom the democratic system – a critical Congress, an independent judiciary, a free press – constituted an intolerable obstacle.
    • "Spymaster". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. August 2002. Retrieved 29 March 2023. Lester: Though few questioned it , Montesinos was a novel choice. Peru's army had banished him for selling secrets to America's CIA, but he'd prospered as a defence lawyer – for accused drug traffickers. ... Lester: Did Fujmori control Montesinos or did Montesinos control Fujimori? ... Shifter: As information comes out, it seems increasingly clear that Montesinos was the power in Peru.
    • Keller, Paul (26 October 2000). "Fujimori in OAS talks PERU CRISIS UNCERTAINTY DEEPENS AFTER RETURN OF EX-SPY CHIEF". Financial Times. Mr Montesinos ... and his military faction, ... for the moment, has chosen to keep Mr Fujimori as its civilian figurehead
    • "THE CRISIS OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN THE ANDES" (PDF). Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 2001. Retrieved 25 March 2023. Alberto Fujimori,... as later events would seem to confirm—merely the figurehead of a regime governed for all practical purposes by the Intelligence Service and the leadership of the armed forces
    • "Questions And Answers: Mario Vargas Llosa". Newsweek. 9 January 2001. Retrieved 25 March 2023. Fujimori became a kind of, well, a figurehead
  27. ^ a b c d e f Tegel, Simeon. "How Peru Laid the Groundwork for an Oil Spill Disaster". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  28. ^
    La Republica
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  29. ^ "Democracy Is on the Line in Peru". Human Rights Watch. 24 January 2023. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  30. ^ Flannery, Nathaniel Parish. "Political Risk Analysis: How Will Peru's Economy Perform In 2017?". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  31. ^ "The Political Limits of Presidential Impeachment: Lessons from Latin America". German Institute for Global and Area Studies. 2021. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  32. ^ Cuevas-Calderón, Elder; Dongo, Eduardo Yalán; Kanashiro, Lilian (October 2022). "Conservadores en TikTok: Polarización social en el Perú". Prisma Social (39): 156–182.
  33. ^ Montoya Iriarte, Urpi (1998). "Hispanismo e Indigenismo: o dualismo cultural no pensamento social peruano (1900–1930). Uma revisão necessária". Revista de Antropologia (in Portuguese). 41 (1). Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  34. ^ Martínez Riaza, Ascensión (1994). "El Perú y España Durante el Oncenio. El Hispanismo en el Discurso Oficial y en las Manifestaciones Simbólicas (1919–1930)". Historica (in Spanish). 18 (2). Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  35. ^ * Arroyo Menéndez 2020: "To the extent that VOX fits with the concepts and theoretical explanations about radical right-wing parties and authoritarian populists, we would have a prior set of variables and factors that could explain the vote for this party."
  36. ^ Carvajal, Álvaro (2020-12-27). "Vox abre otro frente de disputa con el PP en Latinoamérica". El Mundo (in Spanish). p. 14. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  37. ^ Teruggi, Marco (20 October 2021). "La derecha dura española descubrió América | El grupo Vox busca crear una internacional en la "iberoesfera"". Página 12. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  38. ^ "Poderes no santos: alianzas de ultraderecha en Latinoamérica". OjoPúblico (in Spanish). 2021-11-14. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  39. ^ Cabral, Ernesto (2021-01-12). "Militares en retiro con discursos extremistas se vinculan a políticos para apoyar la vacancia". OjoPúblico (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  40. La República
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  41. La Republica
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  42. ^ Feline Freier, Luisa; Castillo Jara, Soledad (13 January 2021). ""Terruqueo" and Peru's Fear of the Left". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 2021-11-18. It was in this context that Martha Chávez, ... accused demonstrators of being linked to the terrorist left ... As absurd as it may seem, this kind of attack is common in Peru, and recently there is even a name for it: terruqueo, the mostly groundless accusation of being connected to once powerful communist terrorist organizations. ... After the end of the conflict, the term came to be used carelessly and often as a racially charged political insult, targeting progressive or left-wing politicians or activists, organizations committed to the defense of human rights, and, at least historically, people of indigenous origin.
  43. S2CID 247116260.[permanent dead link
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  44. ^ "Qué es el "terruqueo" en Perú y cómo influye en la disputa presidencial entre Fujimori y Castillo". BBC News (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  45. S2CID 146449265
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  46. S2CID 251877338
    . Retrieved 18 January 2023. terruqueo, ou seja, a construção artificial, racista e conveniente de um inimigo sociopolítico para deslegitimar formas de protesto social
  47. S2CID 247116260.[permanent dead link
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  48. ^ a b Holland, Lynn (30 July 2014). "The House on the Mountain: How Mining Corrodes Democracy in Peru". Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
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  53. ^ The Globalist | Biography of Hernando de Soto Archived 2006-09-11 at the Wayback Machine
  54. ^ a b Orihuela, José Carlos (January–June 2020). "El consenso de Lima y sus descontentos: del restringido desarrollismo oligarca a revolucionarias reformas estructurales". Revista de historia. 27 (1). Concepción, Chile: 77–100.
  55. ^ a b c Levitsky, Steven (Fall 2014). "First Take: Paradoxes of Peruvian Democracy: Political Bust Amid Economic Boom?". ReVista. Archived from the original on 22 November 2014.
  56. ^ Alvarez, Javier Perla; Montero, Daniela Freundt; Barrantes, Eduardo Burga; Takahashi, Talía Postigo; Menton, Mary (2014). REDD+ Politics in the Media: A Case Study from Peru. Center for International Forestry Research. pp. 5–8.
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  59. ^ "Peru | 2022". Reporters Without Borders. 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
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  64. ^ PERÚ, NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO (2019-12-20). "Alberto Fujimori: las cinco sentencias que el expresidente recibió | ELECCIONES-2020". El Comercio Perú (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  65. ^ "El fujimorismo versus El Comercio | EL MONTONERO". EL MONTONERO | Primer Portal de opinión del país (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  66. ^ "Grupo El Comercio". Media Ownership Monitor (in Spanish). Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved 2021-07-07.

Works cited

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