Evening star., 1949-03-06
Military Dictator Again Rules Peru
Group of Landowners
and Businessmen
Helps Regime
by Edword TomIinson

By Edword TomIinson
Ancient Peru, one of the cradles
| of early civilization in Pacific
South America. is once again In
the grip of a military dictatorship
The revolutionary junta of Presi-
dent Manuel Odria, which deposed
and exiled President Luis Busta-
mante Rivero last October, rules
by traditional military right and
might this bleak land of sandy
deserts and mighty mountains
which is almost nine times the size
of Georgia and nearly 31s times
larger than California.
Peru presents a fantastic picture
of old and new, progress and back
wardness, easy life for the rich and
well to do, precarious existence for
the masses, and somewhat be-
nevolent political tyranny for all
The occasional visitor to the cap
ital city of Lima Is scarcely aware
of the iron fist that dominates the
nation. The magnificent, modern
airport of Limatambo.. even more
imposing than the National Air
port in Washington. is one OF the
busiest in the hemisphere. Lima
is the aviation hub of Western
South America.
But out In the poorer sections,
among the cholos and unskilled
working classes, the scene is diff
ferent. Beyond the city limits the
dry, dusty countryside is alive
with ragged, hungry-l looking peo-
pie. The interior mountain towns
and villages are little different
than they were 400 years ago,
when the Spanish conquerors took
over and destroyed the splendid
paternalistic Inca civilization. The
people dress the same, eat and live
the same. just as if four centuries
had been telescoped into four
years. There is poverty and IL
literacy, food shortages and want.
Miners Given Raise
In the fabulous copper mining
districts of Oroya and Cerro de
Pasco, high up in the Central
Andes, and in the oil fields around
Talara on the north coast, wher-
ever there are large foreign enter
prises, living conditions for the
workers are fairly good and wages
comparatively high, but still un-
believably low according to our
standards. Daily wages for un-
skilled workers in the copper
mines average soles and 10 CEN
tavos a day. At the present rate
of exchange. that is only a little
over 80 United States cents. In
addition, of course. there are COM
missary privileges, with staple
foods and other necessities at
almost cost, along with free hous-
ing, medical care and other prlvl-
leges. The government has just
decreed something like q 20 per
>cent raise in wages for the miners.
For farm workers, on the big cot
ton and sugar haciendas, the
average wage Is a fraction over
half that of the mine workers. or
about 2 soles and 10 centavos a
day. In addition, the farm work.
ers get most of their staple foods,
housing and medical care free.
In the hundred odd years since
it's independence from Spain. de-
mocracy and representative gov
ernment in Peru have seldom been
more than a theory and an out
ward form. The government has
usually oscillated between out
right dictation by the military and
semidictatorship by minority OF
the upper and middle classes, al
ways backed by the armed forces.
But three years ago DR.. Busta-
mante, a middle-class diplomat,
was chosen in an election in which
a very large sector of the masses,
principally those in the urban
sections, was permitted to par
ticipate.
This emergence Of the masses
into the political life of the nation
was due solely to the efforts OF
Victor Raul Haya de la Tore. a
highly educated intellectual from
an old Spanish family. About the
time of the First World War Haya
de la Tore organized hundreds
of thousands of urban workers and
cholos into a political and social
movement called APRA, the ini-
tials for Alianza Popular Revolu-
cionaria Americana. More recent
ly the name was officially changed
to Partido del Pueblo. or Party OF
the People, although it still Is
popularity known as APRA. or the
Aprista Movement.
Swings Against Reds
For 20 years APRA was anti
foreign. anti Yankee and as leftist
in its doctrines as Russian boil
shevism. Its activities were often
marked by violence. Its leaders
were subjected to rigorous control
and even persecution by the police
and government. More recently 1t
has been vociferously anti-Russian
and anti-Communist. Haya de la
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