Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-10-20

WV SHStHe" IVA Issi Iet9iHeu Uom
1890 mile swing through Latir
America. This Is the sixth Of q
series OF articles.
end up in Lima, the Mecca
where all economic and polit-
ical power in Peru resides.
Population Of the capital
has almost doubled in the past
decade. Other cities show the
same trend. Chimbote, where
a new steel mill stands, has
changed in five years from a
sleepy town of 5000 to a series
of barbados housing 100000.
Statistics of the problem
Stagger the imagination. The
birthrate is 3 per cent an
nually among the highest in
South America. At the same
time increased medical care has
draStically reduced infant NOR
tally. All of which spells pop
ulation explosion.
Sixty per cent of the popula-
ton is illiterate. One-half the
Indians or 4 million persons
speak only their own Indian d.
alect of Quechua. Only one
third of the total population
participates in the money econ
omy. The remainder live a
kind of Robinson Crusoe ex-
istence.
The Political Scene
Political power is divided be-
tween the presidency and the
Congress. with a Prime Min
lister appointed by the president
following a tortuous course be-
tween the two. The only real
political party in the United
States sense APRA american
Popular Revolutionary Alliance
is MarxiSt. but anti-Com-
munist and quite moderate be-
meath its bombastic working
class slogans. Nevertheless, up
until five years ago it was out
lawed, its leaders prosecuted
and exiled. Today it is still
anathema to congressional con-
Servatives and military chief
tians.
White" aristocracy working
behind this weak facade of
democracy rules the money
economy. No one knows ex-
actly the number Of ruling fam
lilies. Estimates vary between
40 and 100.
Exact numbers are not so
important as their undiSputed
power. Their mansions cover
whole blocks in fashionable
Lima suburbs. Their power
stretches from remote hacien-
daS (eStatesD in the interior
to interlocking bank director
ates. These central boards OF
directors control all credit and
finance. One absentee landlord
owns an estate in the north
equal to the total area OF Bel
GUM.
Anyone who wants a bank
loan to build even the smallest
factory must reckon on 20
30-per cent annual interest
rate. Home-building loans cost
between 10 and "a per cent, and
no more than half the cost can
be borrowed. Home loan associ-
atoms and credit unions sup
ported by the United States
consider it a major achieve
ment to give IL per cent low
interest loans.
Some See Need Of Reform
( A few hopeful signs exist in
this depressing picture. The
have not" Indian masses are
still relatively passive and the
younger generation among the
"haves" increasingly admit the
need for reform.
The rise of Castroism has
given the established oligarchy
a healthy jolt.
The government is talking
about reform. A three-year
program for bringing electricity
to the Lima slums is under
way. A law has been passed
giving Squatters possession of
their property. Some observers
argue that the grass roots de-
mocracy in the barbados and
the revolt they represent
against high rents are a hope
full example for the future.
Meanwhile. the barbados
still offer more to the Indian
than the rural slums he has
left. Instead of slow starva-
ton, he finds enough work to
keep him and his family alive.
Government Building Roads
The great threat is the
younger generation which will
know nothing but life Of the
slum. These young people are
demanding goods which their
parents have just discovered
and only dare admire in the
store windows.
The government is trying to
dam the migration from the
Sierra. With help of $50 mil
lion loans pledged by the United
States. roads are being built
to unused river valleys in other
parts of the mountains. They
are also encouraging migra-
ton to tn edge of the Amazon
jungle on the eastern side of
the Andes.
These colonization schemes
still duck the real issue of land
reform. The High Sierra cries
out for it. But it would strike
right at the heart of en-
trenched wealth.
Until this reform is done the
Indian will take the easier road
westwards to the coast. He
will also refuse to return.
At the moment, land reform
is the subject of much discus