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


do not know how we live here, -
said an emaciated Indian wom-
an standing in the doorway of
her city hut.
We talked in one Of the
barbados" or slumS- which
now house one-third of the
l,750.000 people in this capital
They run like a semicircular
ceSSpool around Lima. The
stencil stays in the nostrilS
for hours afterwards.
They form dismal contrast
to the wide avenues in the
central city and to the gem of
colonial architecture in the
main Plaza de Armas.
I'VE cannot afford to live
anywhere else" the woman
continued. Her husband earns
20 soles about rs cents a day
wrapping boxes in a factory.
Lowest rents in city houses
run 500 soles a month";" she
explained.
While she talked a Squealing
pig ran through the door,
across the dirt floor. and out
the back. At the end of the
unpaved street women washed
clothes under the community
water faucet. They threw the
dirty water in mud where bare
footed urchins played.
Nearby other water trickled
through an evil-smelling ditch
which served both as open
sewer and wading pool.
Further on a murky river cut
the barriada in half. On its
high banks. Uttered with gar
bage, more children played and
dogs hunted.
Down the road the single
state school stood in the early
stages of decay. Dirty white
washed walls had large pieces
of plaster missing.
One hundred twenty-seven
boys and girls attend first to
fifth grade classes in the one
room. 1t has two movable
blackboards, dirt floor. and
a grimy sink in the corner.
The Areas Get Bigger
Despite subhuman living
conditions, the barbados con-
inue to spread. They spring
up like dirty mushrooms on
any unused land. The inhab-
itants mainly Indians have
squatters' rights. They pay no
rent.
Property owners are hiring
extra police to protect any bare
land remaining around the
city.
The shanty-towns have no
electricity, no sanitary water
supply. no toilets. Estimates
place tuberculosis incidence as
high as 1871.
Because it neither rains nor
SHOWS in this mild climate.
however, the people who do
not catch disease can survive.
Current estimates place ITO
barbados in Lima. The larg-
est ones house between 10000
and $4,000 persons. They are
run by native juntas 'coun-
ellis democratically if infor-
mally elected.
In the outer sanctums huge
street markets have grown up
with makeshift stalls which sell
everything from rotten turnips
to party dresses.
When housing conditions get
too crowded in one barriada,
families band together for mi
grafton. They form reconnais-
sance groups for new ground.
Once that is located, plans are
laid for a surprise move.
Over night the chosen land
is colonized by 1000 families.
They put up straw huts with
taxpayer roofs. And within a
week the shacks they left be-
hind are filled with newcomers.
Symptoms of Upheaval
These slums are only symp-
toms of the upheaval now
stalking Peru. Experienced OBJ
servers there put this country
at the top of their list of po-
tential bloodbaths haunting the
hemisphere.
The awakening Indian is the
fodder of revolt. They are 8
million out of the IL million
people in Peru. Too long &C
cepted as the passive offspring
of the once-proud Incas, they
are breaking out of timeless
misery.
That misery has kept them
trapped for 400 years in the
High Sierra of the Andes. This
plateau runs like a jagged
backbone north to south
through the country.
About 6 million people live
on this plateau. Experts say
that in its present state of
archaic economy it can sup
port about 3 million. The In
dams live like serfs and slowly
starve to death on large feudal
estates.
They exchange three to four
days work a week for small
subsistence plot from their
patron" Many chew a prim-
tive connection of coca and
lime which together form CO.
caine. This addiction offered
for a long time the only escape
from stark reality.
Outlook Changing
Roads and radio have
changed this outlook. News of
a better life in the lowlands
has spread through the noun
tainS. The narrow strip along
the Pacific is more fertile, and
fishing is another source of
livelihood. More roads offer
more chance to get there.