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What nation?
Area: 912,050 sq. km. (352,143 sq. mi.); slightly more than twice the size of California. |
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What nation?
Cities: Capital--Caracas (metro. area pop. 3.2 million). Other major cities--Maracaibo, Valencia, Barquisimeto, Maracay, Merida, Ciudad Bolivar.
Terrain: Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest; central plains; Guiana Highlands in southeast.
Climate: Varies from tropical to temperate, depending on elevation. |
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What nation?
Population (August 2011 est.): 29,335,489.
Annual population growth rate: 1.6%.
Religion: Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%, other 2%.
Language: Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects.
Education: Years compulsory--9. Literacy (2009)--98.7%.
Health: Infant mortality rate (2008)--16 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy (2009)--73.94 years.
Ethnic groups: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, Amerindian. |
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| What type of government does Venezuela have? |
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What nation?
Independence: July 5, 1811.
Constitution: December 20, 1999. |
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What nation?
GDP (2009): $326 billion.
Annual growth rate (2009): -3.3%.
GDP per capita (2009): $11,509.
Government expenditures (2009): 28% of GDP.
Natural resources: Petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, gold, diamonds, bauxite, other minerals, hydroelectric power.
Petroleum industry (11.6% of 2009 GDP in constant 1997 dollars): Oil refining, petrochemicals.
Manufacturing (15.2% of 2009 GDP in constant 2007 dollars): Types--iron and steel products, paper products, aluminum, textiles, transport equipment, consumer products.
Agriculture (4% of GDP): Products--corn, sorghum, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee, beef, pork, poultry, milk, eggs, fish.
Trade: Exports (2009)--$60.9 billion: petroleum ($57.6 billion), aluminum, steel, chemical products, iron ore, cigarettes, plastics, fish, cement, and paper products. Major markets (2005)--U.S. 57.5%, the Netherlands 5.2%, Mexico 4.5%, Colombia 4.5%. Imports (2009)--$38.5 billion: consumer goods, machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, construction materials. Major suppliers (Jan.-Oct. 2009)--U.S. 27.0%, Colombia 12.6%, China 10.2%, Brazil 8.2%. |
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What nation?
The population growth rate is 1.6% per year, and roughly 47% of the people are under the age of 25. According to the 2001 census, almost 90% of the population lives in urban areas. Metropolitan capital area, the country's largest city, has an estimated 3.2 million inhabitants. |
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| At the time of Spanish discovery, the natives in Venezuela were mainly agriculturists and hunters living in groups along the coast, the Andean mountain range, and the ___________ River. Venezuela was a relatively neglected colony in the 1500s and 1600s as the Spaniards focused on extracting gold and silver from other areas of the Americas. |
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| Toward the end of the 18th century, the Venezuelans began to grow restive under colonial control. In _______, after several unsuccessful uprisings, the country achieved independence from Spain under the leadership of Simon Bolivar. Venezuela, along with what are now Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador, was part of the Republic of Gran Colombia until 1830, when Venezuela separated and became a separate sovereign country. |
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| Much of Venezuela's 19th-century history was characterized by periods of political instability, dictatorial rule, and revolutionary turbulence. The first half of the 20th century was marked by periods of authoritarianism--including dictatorships from _____ and from ________. In addition, the Venezuelan economy shifted after the First World War from a primarily agricultural orientation to an economy centered on petroleum production and export. |
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| Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez/ 1958 |
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| Since the overthrow of ___________ in _______ and the military's withdrawal from direct involvement in national politics, Venezuela has enjoyed an unbroken tradition of civilian elected governments. Until the 1998 elections, the Democratic Action (AD) and the Christian Democratic (COPEI) parties dominated the political environment at both the state and federal level. |
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| Venezuela's prevailing political calm came to an end in ______, when Venezuela experienced riots in which 200 people were reportedly killed in Caracas. |
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| Caracazo/ Hugo Chavez Frias |
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| The so-called “__________” was a response to an economic austerity program launched by then-President Carlos Andres Perez. Three years later, in February 1992, a group of army officers led by then-Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez mounted an unsuccessful coup attempt, claiming that the events of 1989 showed that the political system no longer served the interests of the people. Chavez was convicted of rebellion and jailed for his role in the coup, but was released in 1994. A second unsuccessful coup attempt by other officers affiliated with Chavez followed in November 1992, while Chavez remained in jail. A year later, Congress impeached Perez on corruption charges. Deep popular dissatisfaction with the traditional political parties, income disparities, and economic difficulties were some of the major frustrations expressed by Venezuelans following Perez's impeachment. In December 1998, ___________ won the presidency on a campaign for broad reform, constitutional change, and a crackdown on corruption. |
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| President Chavez also had campaigned for the election of a National Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution. The National Constituent Assembly (ANC) convened in August 1999 to begin rewriting the constitution. Venezuelans approved the ANC's draft in a national referendum on December 15, 1999. The political system described below is that defined by the 1999 constitution. The president is elected by a plurality vote with direct and universal suffrage. The term of office is __ years, and subsequent to a national referendum to amend the constitution on February 15, 2009, there are no term limits for elected officials. |
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| In __________________ the president appoints the vice president. He decides the size and composition of the cabinet and makes appointments to it, in consultation with the National Assembly. Legislation can be initiated by the executive branch, the legislative branch (either a committee of the National Assembly or three members of the latter), the judicial branch, the citizen branch (public defender, prosecutor general, and comptroller general) or a public petition signed by no fewer than 0.1% of registered voters. The president can ask the National Assembly to reconsider portions of laws he finds objectionable, but a simple majority of the Assembly can override these objections. |
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| In addition to the executive and legislative branches in Venezuela there are three additional branches - the __________, ____________, and electoral. |
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| In July 2000, voters re-elected President Hugo Chavez of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR). The election occurred under the new constitution in elections that the international community found to be generally free and fair. The MVR and the pro-Chavez Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) parties won 92 seats in the 165-member legislature. In April 2002, the country experienced a temporary alteration of constitutional order which included the temporary departure of Chavez from the presidency. When an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 persons participated in a march in downtown Caracas to demand President Chavez's resignation, gunfire broke out, resulting in as many as 18 deaths and more than 100 injuries on both sides. Military officers took President Chavez into custody, and business leader _____________ swore himself in as interim President. |
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| Opposition leaders called a national work stoppage on December 2, 2002. Strikers protested the government and called for the resignation of President Chavez. The ____________ joined other sectors of the economy and effectively shut down all economic activity for a month. The OAS Permanent Council passed Resolution 833 on December 16, 2002, calling for a "constitutional, democratic, peaceful, and electoral solution" to the crisis in Venezuela. The strike formally ended in February 2003 as political opponents of Chavez changed tactics, focusing on a recall referendum to revoke the mandate of the president. |
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| In Venezuela, for a recall to occur, the promoters must obtain signatures for 20% of all registered voters. Preparations for the recall were delayed by the lack of a quorum in the National Electoral Council. In September 2003, after an impasse in the National Assembly, the Supreme Court resolved the issue by naming a new CNE board of directors. After months of intense deliberations that included two conflicting signature drives overseen by the CNE, deep disagreements and occasional violence over the CNE’s disqualification of signatures on the petition, and the intervention of international electoral observers, the CNE certified that the opposition had obtained sufficient signatures to trigger the vote mechanism and set the date of the recall referendum for August 15, 2004. According to the CNE, President _______ won 59% of the vote. His opponents immediately claimed electoral fraud. However, international electoral observation missions carried out by the Organization of American States and the Carter Center found no indication of systemic fraud. |
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| In the wake of the referendum victory, pro-Chavez candidates continued to sweep other electoral contests. Chavez supporters won 20 out of the total 22 state governorships up for election in October 2004. Chavez supporters also won a majority of the seats in the August 2005 municipal council elections. Pro-Chavez parties won all 167 seats in the December 2005 National Assembly elections, after most opposition candidates boycotted the elections over voter secrecy concerns. The final reports of the European Union (EU) and OAS observer missions to the 2005 legislative elections, which were marked by record-high abstention, noted high levels of distrust in electoral institutions. The reports made specific recommendations to increase transparency and help voters regain the confidence necessary for participation. Most recommendations were not implemented.President Chavez was re-elected by an overwhelming majority (63%) in the December 3, 2006 presidential elections. He defeated Zulia Governor ______________, whose Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) party formed an alliance with several significant opposition parties. Though international observers found no evidence of election fraud, they did note concerns over abuse of government resources used to support the Chavez campaign, voter intimidation tactics, and manipulation of the electoral registry. |
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| In January 2007, President Chavez announced a renewed effort to implement his vision of "____________________________" in Venezuela. He asked the National Assembly to grant him special constitutional powers via an "enabling law" to rule by decree with respect to a broad range of issues. The all pro-government National Assembly granted those powers, for a period of 18 months. Chavez used that authority to take major steps to nationalize the telecommunications and electricity sectors, as well as to finalize a majority government share in many oil projects, all sectors with significant foreign investments. |
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| On August 15, 2007, President Chavez proposed a package of reforms to the 1999 constitution, including measures that allowed indefinite presidential re-election, a reorganization of the geographic boundaries of government, and a redefinition of private property. On December 2, 2007, the proposed reforms were narrowly defeated in a public referendum after student groups, traditional opposition leaders, and former Chavez allies urged Venezuelans to reject the package. The vote was the _________ electoral loss for President Chavez since he assumed office and was seen as a rebuke of his efforts to consolidate greater power in the executive office. President Chavez has since passed some of the changes defeated in the referendum by presidential decree or legislation. Indeed, Chavez organized a vote on a constitutional amendment to end term limits for all elected officials, which was approved on February 15, 2009. |
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In legislative elections held on September 26, 2010, Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) party won 98 seats, the opposition’s Democratic Unity Table (MUD) 65 seats, and the “third way” Fatherland for All (PPT) party 2 seats. Debate continues over the national popular vote, with Chavez claiming the PSUV won a majority (by 100,000 votes) and the opposition claiming a 52% majority when all non-PSUV parties are counted together. Following the September 26 elections, the PSUV moved quickly to accelerate implementation of President Chavez’s "__________________" in advance of the January 5, 2011 convening of the new National Assembly. In addition to appointing nine Chavez loyalists to the TSJ, PSUV deputies approved a series of laws aimed at creating a “communal” state and economy; limiting internal rules for assembly debate; prohibiting party defections; and increasing government control over the independent media, Internet, banks, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It also approved a fourth “enabling law” granting President Chavez decree powers for 18 months, effectively marginalizing the legislative power of the newly-elected opposition deputies.
Nearly all notable legislation enacted since January 2011 has been through presidential decree. |
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| In Venezuela, he constitution establishes January 10 as the date for presidential inaugurations, but does not set election dates. Despite his _____________ diagnosis in June 2011, President Chavez said he would be his party’s candidate. |
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| Who is the President of Venezuela? |
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| The Venezuelan Government dominates the economy. There is considerable income inequality. The Gini coefficient was 0.39 in the second half of 2009. According to government statistics, the percentages of poor and extremely poor among Venezuelan households were 23.8% and 5.9%, respectively, in the second half of 2009. Real GDP contracted 3.3% in 2009, indicating a decrease in government expenditures and private consumption as a result of a drop in oil prices. The economic contraction continued in 2010 when real GDP decreased by 3.5% during the period January-June 2010 compared with the same period of 2009. The Consumer Price Index increased by 27.9% from September 2009 to September 2010, following increases of 25.1% in 2009, 30.9% in 2008, and 22.5% in 2007. The state oil company, ________________, controls the petroleum sector. |
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| On August 17, __________, President Chavez announced his government’s decision to relocate all of Venezuela’s international reserves that were deposited in U.S. and European financial institutions. This included 211 tons of gold reserves to be transferred to the Central Bank of Venezuela and $6.28 billion in cash reserves to be transferred to banks in Brazil, China, and Russia. |
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| Economic prospects remain mostly dependent on oil prices and the export of petroleum. The oil sector accounts for roughly 12% of GDP, 94% of export earnings, and more than half of the central government's ordinary revenues. Venezuela remains an important supplier of imported crude and refined petroleum products to the ____________. |
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| In early ______, the government informed companies with operating service contracts for mature fields that they must migrate the contracts to joint ventures that conform to the 2001 Hydrocarbons Law. The government threatened to seize fields operating under the services contracts on December 31, 2005 if oil companies did not sign transition agreements to migrate their contracts. All but three companies ultimately signed joint venture agreements with the government. One company was bought out by its partner, while the fields operated by two other companies were ultimately taken over by the government. These disputes were handled by negotiation. In early 2007, President Chavez announced that the Venezuelan Government would take a majority government share in the remaining foreign investments in the oil sector, including the four heavy-oil "strategic associations" in the Orinoco belt. Several international oil companies agreed to migrate their interests to joint ventures with majority government ownership. Two U.S. companies decided to pull out of Venezuela and filed for international arbitration. |
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| President Chavez has promoted his "____________________" as a model for other countries to follow. The policy calls for the establishment of a "multi-polar" world, the end of alleged U.S. hegemony, and greater integration among developing countries. |
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| The Venezuelan Government broke diplomatic relations with Colombia after a July 22, 2010 special session of the OAS Permanent Council in which Colombia charged that the Venezuelan Government was permitting members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) to use Venezuelan territory to rest and regroup, engage in narcotics trafficking, and extort protection money and kidnap Venezuelans to finance their operations. On August 10, 2010, newly-inaugurated Colombian President ______________ and President Chavez met in Santa Marta, Colombia, and announced the restoration of diplomatic relations, including the establishment of a bilateral commission with five working groups, including one on security. Since then, there have been ministerial-level meetings to discuss bilateral commercial and security issues. |
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| Since 2005, President Chavez has deepened relations with ______, a U.S.-designated state sponsor of terrorism, by signing multiple economic and social accords and publicly supporting their controversial nuclear program. |
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| President Chavez has also reached out to North Korea, Belarus, and Syria, the latter another state sponsor of terrorism. ____________ also embarked on a worldwide effort to increase their presence in embassies overseas in Africa and Asia and strengthen economic, political, and military ties with Russia and China. |
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| During 2010, the __________ Government asked the Venezuelan Government for information regarding allegations that it was providing support to the Basque terrorist group Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA). In October,they requested the extradition of Arturo Cubillas Fontan, a naturalized Venezuelan citizen, in connection with an ongoing investigation about ETA-FARC links in Venezuela. Chavez "dismissed and denied" the accusations that ETA members had received training in Venezuela. The Venezuelan prosecutor general said the constitution prohibited the extradition of Venezuelan nationals. |
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| Venezuela has longstanding border disputes with Colombia and Guyana, but seeks in general to resolve them peacefully. Bilateral commissions have been established by Venezuela and Colombia to address a range of pending issues, including resolution of the maritime boundary in the Gulf of Venezuela. Relations with Guyana are complicated by Venezuela's claim to roughly three-quarters of _________'s territory. Since 1987, the two countries have held exchanges on the boundary under the "good offices" of the United Nations. |
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| Area: 1.28 million sq. km. (496,225 sq. mi.). _________ is the third-largest country in South America and is approximately three times the size of California. |
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What nation?
Major cities: Lima (capital), Arequipa, Chiclayo, Cuzco, Huancayo, Ica, Trujillo, Ayacucho, Piura, Iquitos, and Chimbote.
Terrain: Western arid coastal plains, central rugged Andean mountains, and eastern lowlands with tropical forests that are part of the Amazon basin.
Climate: Arid and mild in coastal area, temperate to frigid in the Andes, and warm and humid in the jungle lowlands. |
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What nation?
Ethnic groups: Indigenous (45%); mixed background ("mestizo") (37%); European (15%); African, Japanese, Chinese, and other (3%).
Population (2011): 29.8 million. Close to 30% of the population lives in the Lima/Callao metropolitan area.
Annual population growth rate (2011): 1.14%.
Religions: Roman Catholic (81%), other (10%).
Languages: Spanish is the principal language. Quechua, Aymara and other indigenous languages also have official status.
Education: Years compulsory--11. Attendance--ages 6-11, 92%; ages 12-16, 66%. Literacy--96% in urban areas, 80% in rural areas.
Health: Infant mortality rate (2006)--29.96 per 1,000. Life expectancy (2007)--68.33 years male; 72.04 years female.
Unemployment in Lima (2010): 7.9%; underemployment (2010): 42.5%. |
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| What type of government does Peru have? |
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What nation?
Independence: July 28, 1821.
Constitution: December 31, 1993.
Branches: Executive--president, two vice presidents, and a Council of Ministers led by a president of the Council of Ministers (prime minister). Legislative--unicameral Congress. Judicial--four-tier court structure consisting of Supreme Court and lower courts.
Administrative divisions: 25 regions (sometimes called departments) subdivided into 195 provinces and 1,834 districts. |
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What nation?
GDP (2010): $153.92 billion.
Annual growth rate: 0.9% (2009); 8.8% (2010).
Per capita GDP (2010): $5,224.
Natural resources: Copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead, iron ore, fish, petroleum, natural gas, and forestry.
Manufacturing (2010): 15.0% of GDP. Types--food and beverages, textiles and apparel, nonferrous and precious metals, nonmetallic minerals, petroleum refining, paper, chemicals, iron and steel, fishmeal, footwear, chemicals, paper, machinery, furniture.
Agriculture (2010): 7.5% of GDP. Products--coffee, cotton, asparagus, paprika, artichokes, sugarcane, potatoes, rice, banana, maize, poultry, milk, fruits, others.
Other sectors, by percentage of GDP (2010): Services (55.6%), mining (5.2%), construction (6.7%), fisheries (0.3%). |
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What nation?
GDP (2010): $153.92 billion.
Annual growth rate: 0.9% (2009); 8.8% (2010).
Per capita GDP (2010): $5,224.
Natural resources: Copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead, iron ore, fish, petroleum, natural gas, and forestry.
Manufacturing (2010): 15.0% of GDP. Types--food and beverages, textiles and apparel, nonferrous and precious metals, nonmetallic minerals, petroleum refining, paper, chemicals, iron and steel, fishmeal, footwear, chemicals, paper, machinery, furniture.
Agriculture (2010): 7.5% of GDP. Products--coffee, cotton, asparagus, paprika, artichokes, sugarcane, potatoes, rice, banana, maize, poultry, milk, fruits, others.
Other sectors, by percentage of GDP (2010): Services (55.6%), mining (5.2%), construction (6.7%), fisheries (0.3%). |
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| ________ is the fifth-most populous country in Latin America (after Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina). Twenty-one cities have a population of 100,000 or more. Rural migration increased the urban population from 35.4% of the total population in 1940 to an estimated 74.6% as of 2005. |
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| Most Peruvians are either Spanish-speaking mestizos--a term that usually refers to a mixture of indigenous and European/Caucasian--or __________________, largely Quechua-speaking indigenous people. Peruvians of European descent make up about 15% of the population. There also are small numbers of persons of African, Japanese, and Chinese ancestry. Socioeconomic and cultural indicators are increasingly important as identifiers. For example, Peruvians of Amerindian descent who have adopted aspects of Hispanic culture also are considered mestizo. With economic development, access to education, intermarriage, and large-scale migration from rural to urban areas, a more homogeneous national culture is developing, mainly along the relatively more prosperous coast. Peru's distinct geographical regions are mirrored in a socioeconomic divide between the coast's mestizo-Hispanic culture and the more diverse, traditional Andean cultures of the mountains and highlands and Amazon indigenous communities east of the Andes. |
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| When the Spanish landed in 1531, Peru's territory was the nucleus of the highly developed ______ civilization. |
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| Centered at _____, the Incan Empire extended over a vast region from northern Ecuador to central Chile. In search of Inca wealth, the Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro, who arrived in the territory after the Incas had fought a debilitating civil war, conquered the weakened people. The Spanish captured the Incan capital at Cuzco by 1533, and consolidated their control by 1542. Gold and silver from the Andes enriched the conquerors, and Peru became the principal source of Spanish wealth and power in South America. |
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| ____________ founded Lima in 1535. The viceroyalty established at Lima in 1542 initially had jurisdiction over all of the Spanish colonies in South America. By the time of the wars of independence (1820-24), Lima had become one of the most distinguished and aristocratic colonial capitals and the chief Spanish stronghold in the Americas (along with Mexico City). |
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| Jose de San Martin/ Simon Bolivar |
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| ______________ of Argentina and _____________ of Venezuela led Peru's independence struggle. |
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| San Martin proclaimed Peruvian independence from Spain on July 28, 1821. Emancipation was completed in December 1824, when Venezuelan Marshall Antonio Jose de Sucre defeated a Spanish army at Ayacucho, ending Spain's rule in South America. Spain subsequently made futile attempts to regain its former colonies, but in _____ it finally recognized Peru's independence. |
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| After independence, Peru and its neighbors engaged in intermittent territorial disputes. Chile's victory over Peru and Bolivia in the ______________(1879-83) resulted in a territorial settlement in which Peru ceded the department of Tarapaca and the provinces of Tacna and Arica to Chile. In 1929, Chile returned Tacna to Peru. |
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| Following a clash between Peru and Ecuador in 1941, the ______________--of which the United States is one of four guarantors (along with Argentina, Brazil, and Chile)--sought to establish the boundary between the two countries. Continuing boundary disagreements led to brief armed conflicts in early 1981 and early 1995, but in 1998 the governments of Peru and Ecuador signed an historic peace treaty and demarcated the border. In late 1999, the governments of Peru and Chile likewise implemented the last outstanding article of their 1929 border agreement. Peru and Chile still dispute the maritime boundary. |
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| The military has been prominent in Peruvian history. Coups have repeatedly interrupted civilian constitutional government. The most recent period of military rule (1968-80) began when General _______________ _____________ overthrew elected President Fernando Belaunde Terry of the Popular Action Party (AP). As part of what has been called the "first phase" of the military government's nationalist program, he undertook an extensive agrarian reform program and nationalized the fishmeal industry, some petroleum and mining companies, and several banks. Because of his economic mismanagement and deteriorating health, he was replaced in 1975 by General Francisco Morales Bermudez. Morales Bermudez tempered the authoritarian abuses of the administration and began the task of restoring the country's economy. Morales Bermudez presided over the return to civilian government under a new constitution, and in the May 1980 elections President Belaunde Terry was returned to office by an impressive plurality. |
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| Nagging economic problems left over from the military government persisted, worsened by an occurrence of the "__________" weather phenomenon in 1982-83, which caused widespread flooding in some parts of the country, severe droughts in others, and decimated the fishing industry. The fall in international commodity prices to their lowest levels since the Great Depression combined with the natural disasters to decrease production, depress wages, exacerbate unemployment, and spur inflation. Bloated state-owned companies compounded the deteriorating fiscal situation. The ensuing economic collapse was reflected in worsening living conditions for Peru's poor and provided a breeding ground for social and political discontent. |
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| Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path)/ Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) |
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| he emergence of two terrorist groups--_____________________ in rural areas in 1980, followed shortly thereafter by the ___________________ in Lima and the Amazonas--sent the country further into chaos. The terrorists were financed in part from alliances with narcotraffickers, who had established strongholds in the Peruvian Andes and Amazon basin during this period. Peru and Bolivia became the largest coca producers in the world, accounting for roughly four-fifths of production. |
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| Amid inflation, economic hardship, and terrorism, Alan Garcia Perez of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) won the presidential election in 1985. The transfer of the presidency from Belaunde to Garcia on July 28, 1985, was Peru's first transfer of power from one democratically elected leader to another in 40 years. The Garcia administration’s economic mismanagement led to hyperinflation from 1988 to 1990. Concerned about the economy, the increasing terrorist threat from Sendero Luminoso, and allegations of official corruption, in 1990 voters chose as President a relatively unknown mathematician-turned-politician, _________________. |
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| Although he ran on a populist platform, promising not to implement the macroeconomic shock package proposed by his opponent, novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, the severe economic situation forced Fujimori to carry out radical changes. He immediately implemented drastic economic policies to tackle inflation (which dropped from 7,650% in 1990 to 139% in 1991), but encountered opposition to further economic reforms, including dealing with the growing insurgency. On April 5, 1992, Fujimori dissolved the Congress in an "auto-coup," set aside the 1979 constitution, and carried out a mass firing of judges and “reorganization” of the courts. Later, pressured by the international community, Fujimori called new congressional elections. With a large majority in Congress, Fujimori proceeded to govern unimpeded, and in 1993 pushed through a new constitution with a strong executive function. Fujimori's security advisor, Vladimiro Montesinos, used bribes and intimidation to co-opt large segments of the judiciary, military, and media. The government unleashed a counterattack against the insurgencies that resulted in numerous human rights abuses on both sides and eventually quashed the Shining Path and MRTA. During this period Fujimori introduced far-reaching legal and economic reforms, privatized most state-owned companies, removed investment barriers, and significantly improved public finances. After a short but intense border war, Fujimori reached a milestone peace accord in 1998 with _______________ President Jamil Mahuad related to the common border, ending decades of hostility between the two countries. |
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| Fujimori mired Peru in political and economic turmoil with his questionable decision to seek a third term and his subsequent tainted electoral victory in June 2000. The Organization of American States (OAS), as well as the U.S. and many other states, refused to recognize the election results. A political bribery scandal broke just weeks after Fujimori began his third term in July, forcing him to call new elections in which he would not run. Fujimori fled to Japan and resigned from office in November 2000. A caretaker government under Valentin Paniagua presided over new presidential and congressional elections in April 2001. In the presidential contest, _______________ defeated Alan Garcia in a runoff and took office on July 28, 2001. |
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| Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) |
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| The Toledo government consolidated Peru's return to democracy, a process that had begun under President Paniagua. Despite being a frequent target of political and media criticism, Toledo maintained strong commitments to freedom of the press. The government undertook initiatives to implement the recommendations of the ________________________, which had studied the circumstances surrounding the human rights abuses and violations committed between 1980 and 2000. Prosecutors brought criminal charges against former president Fujimori for corruption and human rights violations. Authorities in Chile detained Fujimori in November 2005 and extradited him to face criminal charges in Peru in September 2007. In December 2007, a Peruvian court convicted Fujimori of ordering an illegal search and seizure of documents and sentenced him to 6 years in prison. In April 2009, a court convicted Fujimori of human rights violations and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Another court convicted the former president in July and September 2009 on embezzlement and corruption charges, respectively, and sentenced him to 7.5 years, and ordered him to pay $10 million in civil reparations. |
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| Under President Toledo, Peru negotiated a trade promotion agreement (the PTPA) with the U.S. Toledo also unveiled plans to construct a road connecting Brazil and Peru's isolated interior to the Pacific coast. Toledo's economic management--a continuation of Fujimori’s--led to an impressive economic boom in Peru. Poverty reduction was uneven, however. Although poverty in some areas decreased to 15.8% during the Toledo administration, nationally it only decreased by 9.8% and nearly half (44.5%) of Peruvians were still living below the poverty line. In 2005 the government implemented "____________," a program to double the income of people living in extreme poverty (17.4% that year). |
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| APRA candidate __________________ won the June 2006 runoff presidential election with 52.5% of the vote, defeating Ollanta Humala, who won the first round under the Union for Peru party banner, with the support of his Peruvian Nationalist Party. APRA also won 36 congressional seats and controlled the largest voting bloc. After his disappointing presidential term from 1985 to 1990, Garcia returned to the presidency with the intention of turning around the perception of him that his first term had generated. During his second term, Garcia oversaw a robust macroeconomic performance, including strong GDP growth and declining poverty levels (39.3% of Peruvians were “poor” in 2007, 36.2% in 2008, and 34.8% in 2009). Garcia faced the most acute crisis of his second term in June 2009, when indigenous protesters and police clashed violently nearly the remote Amazon town of Bagua. The conflict left 10 protesters and 24 police officers dead, and caused a dramatic drop on Garcia’s approval rating. Internationally, Garcia sought to reenergize Peru’s international relations and economic relations with the world and to showcase Peru's democratic and pro-free trade path as a model for the region. |
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| _________________, runner-up to Garcia in 2006, won the most votes in the first round of the 2011 presidential election. In the June 5, 2011 runoff, Humala defeated opponent Keiko Fujimori, daughter of imprisoned former president Alberto Fujimori, by a 51.3% to 48.7% margin. Since taking office July 28, the president has made social inclusion his administration’s central theme. |
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What nation?
The president is popularly elected for a 5-year term. A constitutional amendment passed in 2000 prevents immediate reelection, but allows unlimited nonconsecutive terms. The first and second vice presidents also are popularly elected but have no constitutional functions unless the president is unable to discharge his duties. The principal executive body is the Council of Ministers, headed by a prime minister and comprised of 18 members following the creation in October 2011 of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion. The president appoints its members, who must be ratified by the Congress. All executive laws sent to Congress must be approved by the Council of Ministers. |
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| Peru weathered the _____ global financial crisis well and was one of the few Latin American countries that had a positive growth rate. Annual average inflation receded to 2.9% in 2009 and 1.5% in 2010 after jumping to 5.8% in 2008 due mostly to substantial global food and oil price increases. |
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| Peru is a source of both natural gas and petroleum. In August 2004, Peru inaugurated operations of the _______ natural gas project. |
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| In November 1999, Peru and Chile signed three agreements that put to rest the remaining obstacles holding up implementation of the 1929 ____________, which officially ended the 1879 War of the Pacific. |
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| In late 2005, a declaration of maritime borders by Peru's Congress set off a new round of tensions with _________, which claims that the maritime borders were agreed to in fishing pacts dating from the early 1950s. The Garcia administration submitted arbitration of this dispute to the International Court of Justice at The Hague in hopes of finding an acceptable, apolitical solution, but the dispute remains in the headlines and continues to cause occasional friction. In 2009, a series of incidents renewed tensions between the two countries. These included the “Salitre 2009” multinational military exercises and their alleged quiet negotiations with Bolivia regarding that country’s access to the sea. Relations with this nation became further complicated in November 2009, when a Peruvian Air Force non-commissioned officer was arrested for allegedly spying and passing classified defense information. |
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| Peru has been a member of the United Nations since 1949, and was a member of the Security Council in 2006 and 2007. Peruvian __________________ served as UN Secretary General from 1981 to 1991. |
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| Relations were strained following the tainted re-election of former president Fujimori in June 2000, but improved with the installation of an interim government in November 2000 and the inauguration of the government of Alejandro Toledo in July 2001. Currently, the ______________ enjoys strong and cooperative relations with Peru, and relations with President Humala’s administration remain positive. |
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