In March 1995, Expreso, a pro-government newspaper in Lima published a "SASE Report" from Interbanc, which claims to be the first international bank of Peru. In this report, Interbank presents a number of distortions in an fruitless effort to boost the illusory propaganda of "economic recovery" for the dictatorship. The economic policies of the dictatorship serves mainly the Yankee imperialists, therefore, they are rejected by the people. Fujimori cannot fool international public opinion any longer since its illegitimate regime is being sustained only by the bayonets of the blody Armed Forces. The way the regime tried to legitimize itself with the recent fraudulent elections confirm more clearly that it is a fascist dictatorship, no matter how nice it is dressed up with words about "direct democracy."
In the Interbank "SASE report", the analyst Mrs. Maria Josefina Huaman, head of an U.S. funded Non-Governmental Organization "Alternativa" claimed the following:
"Up to now, the conceptualization of poverty has as a common denominator to be described as a lack or difficulty of access to satisfiers [satisfactores] to meet basic necessities. Then, poor people are those who lack or do not access such satisfiers, defined as basic necessities such as food, health, education, housing, and others ... Nobody could disagree with this description."
The lady may well write about poverty and conceptualize it as much as she desires, but still, not a single word is included to explain why there is such poverty, not just what it is--any poor person could explain it well--but, what is more important, what are the causes of such poverty? Mrs. Huaman is skillful in juggling "conceptualization", "access to", "satisfiers", and other fancy jargon, but she does not explain WHY there is such extreme and growing poverty in Peru, nor explains that the "modernisation" advertized by the IMF and implemented by Fujimori is creating more acute poverty in the country. On the contrary, Mrs. Huaman hides the truth.
Why do poor people "lack or do not access satisfiers"? Mrs. Huaman never explains. Why do 15 million Peruvians lack adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, basic education, employment and a decent life? Mrs. Huaman would answer, obviously, "because they are poor, they lack or have the difficulty of access to satisfiers", and she includes superficial explanations such as "the cause of poverty is the lack of economic growth...related with social, political, age, gender and ethnic aspects". It is claimed that poor people lack "economic growth". But why is this so? Why are they poor? The truth of the matter is that the rotten Peruvian State, at present headed by the puppet Fujimori, cannot provide for the basic needs of Perus population. The reactionary Peruvian State enforces its tax collection mechanisms, sells state services and natural resources to foreign corporations, reduces spending for health care, education, housing, etc. in order to pay loan interests to foreign banks on time (economic re-insertion). Those who oppose such injustices are oppressed and massacred by the military and death squads. It is that clear and simple, and that is also the reason for the massive and acute poverty in Peru. For the masses of poor and oppressed people, the Peruvian state has no reason to exist. Such a state is supported by and serves big landlords, big capitalists, and greedy imperialist bankers, mainly the Yankee imperialists. This is the reason why there is poverty and oppression in Peru. It is not a matter of "conceptualization" and "access to satisfiers".
The Peruvian state DOES NOT serve the people, nor does it serve the interests of the vast majority of Peruvians. Such a state is useless for the people, it is criminal, it causes extreme suffering to children and women, and, because of its class character, can only create more hunger, more exploitation, and more poverty, period.
The number of poor people continues to increase in "modern" Peru. Let us take into account some statistics:
Year Pop. of poor people % of total
(millions)
1982 9,400,000 56
1986 11,500,000 57
1990 13,000,000 58
1993 15,000,000 68
In a decade (1982-1993) the population of poor people has increased by over five million, and in 1995 it continues to increase. This shows that economic aid from imperialist governments and banks is useless for reducing poverty. Still, in 1985, Perus foreign debt was $12,800 million, in 1990 it was $19,800 million, and in 1994 it increased to $22,500 million. And the result? Now two out of every three Peruvians live in poverty. In Metropolitan Lima the available manpower is of 2,896,203 but 75.7% of those are unemployed, including 760,000 youngters 14-24 years old (25%). Fifty percent of those who are employed are in small factories (with less than 9 workers), therefore, without any social benefits and earning less than $117 per month in a city such as Lima where the minimun "family basket" is about $1,000 a month, $600 as estimated by ENAPROM in 1989 [ADEC-ATC, 10/4/94].
Thus it is clear that as the foreign debt increases, poverty also increases.
The Peruvian State is so corrupt that mercenary politicians and militaries at the service of imperialists (big financial capitalists controlling Perus resources for their greedy benefit) manipulate the growing poverty in Peru to suck up more loans from international banks, while neglecting the needs of the people. As the foreign debt increases so does the military spending in Peru. Recent statistics indicate that the reactionary Peruvian military is continuing such "modern" trend.
Year 1994 1995 Military 1,407.1 1,873.9 % of State budget 19.2% 18.9%
Military spending in Peru takes the largest share when compared to spending in education and health care:
Year 1979 1980 1990 1994 Education 10.56 13.2 12.0 5.1 Health 4.68 4.8 3.7 2.8 Interior/Defense 16.48 16.22 23.56 19.2
From the above, it is clear that as military spending is increasing, spending in health care and education is decreasing since 1979. During the same years, loans to Peru from foreign banks have increased, resulting in a large payment of interests and the resulting increase in foreign debt. The results of these State actions lead to more poverty, more misery, more hunger, more homelessness, more disease, cholera, malnutrition, exploitation and genocide. The increase of spending in "Interior/Defense" simply reflects an internal class war against the masses of poor and oppressed Peruvians who are rising up against such a system of misery and growing oppression. It is the war of the people and for the people; it is the Peoples War!
The reactionary Peruvian government (now led by an alliance of drug dealers and military) blames the Peoples War for causing poverty, but this is simply a lie and a crazy fantasy to deceive public opinion worldwide. Let us ask: Did the Peoples War create the rich landlords and big capitalists who exploit the poor people? Of course not. Did the Peoples War create foreign rich bankers who intervene in Perus political economy to make their greedy profits? Of course not. Did the PCP create Francisco Pizarro to plunder Peru in the XVI century? Of course not. Did the PCP elect Fujimori to starve 260,000 teachers with a miserable salary of $60.0 (sixty) dollars a month? Of course not. On the contrary, the Communist Party of Peru (PCP) is ending these and all other injustices. The PCP truly serves and defends the rights of the people.
The truth is that THE PEOPLES WAR IS THE SOLUTION, and it is advancing all over Peru, organizing the masses of poor and oppressed people to serve their own interests, for their own benefit in all aspects of life!