Today in Cajamarca, we presented our latest report “Peru at 200: The need for national consensus“, prepared in collaboration with researchers from the universities of Cambridge and New York.

On its 200th year of independence, our latest report “Peru at 200: The need of national consensus” emphasises how Peru urgently requires political and judicial reforms, which would help to restore the confidence of its citizens in its institutions.

The report, which forms part of our ‘Peru: Pathways to Prosperity’ programme, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation, explains how despite the need for urgency, political and judicial reforms have historically been ignored by a political system that does not serve the interests of the majority of citizens. The report warns that widespread corruption in the judiciary has become the engine of the political system.

The report indicates that this dysfunctional politics produces a state that does not have the capacity to provide basic public services, offer citizen security or regulate the economy in an impartial manner. It also supports an economy that privileges companies with links to politicians, who avoid compliance with environmental standards, such as the use of water, among others.

Prepared in collaboration with researchers from the universities of Cambridge and New York, the report highlights hows the country is experiencing its Bicentennial in the midst of extreme political and ethnic polarisation. As a result, the prosperity of the country requires a process of national consensus.

With the election of President Pedro Castillo in June 2021, it is difficult to ignore the political, ethnic and cultural polarisation of the country, where the regions with the largest original/indigenous population voted overwhelmingly for Perú Libre.  The report emphasises how the great difference in the wealth of the original/indigenous population and the rural population, on the one hand, and the groups of the ‘elite’ and the city of Lima, on the other, have exacerbated the divisions in the country.

Prosperity for all

Carlos Montes, Lead Adviser on our Pathways to Prosperity programme, points out that the report proposes a process of conciliation for prosperity, which – if it manages to strengthen the national consensus – could be the basis of a national agreement that would provide other benefits, such as an economy with inclusive growth; greater state capacity; an agreement on fair and efficient mining taxes; and the expansion of education programmes to improve public education for all.

It is our hope that Peru can take advantage of this moment of crisis to initiate a process of dialogue and conciliation that results in a more consensual policy and that makes possible the prosperity of all Peruvians.