Peru Social Factors

What causes people from rural areas in Peru to move to its capital, Lima, and what are the effects it has on the way of living? This is a big concern for the Peruvian people whose lives are affected by an increase in poverty, invaded settlements, and crime. Lima is crowded with people who live in very poor conditions due to the lack of employment.
In order to explain the current situation in Lima I truly feel one must understand its history. Peru is a country which history contained many different settled cultures before the Incan empire reigned and was conquered. Once conquered by the Spanish, their main objectives were to pillage and to convert native tribes to Christianity, and to stop the development of the indigenous civilizations. Incans
were treated ruthlessly, used for labor to produce what was needed in Spain. The result was the creation of a mental gap between the Inca and the Spanish population. A separation that has endured for more than 400 years, and the evidence is easily seen today when analyzing the current situation in Lima. Almost all of the people migrating to Lima come from an Incan (indigenous) background, which is totally separated from a more modern life in the capital.
To start, when contrasting Peru to other Latin American countries like Bolivia, Ecuador and Mexico, "Mestizaje," (the integration of Indigenous with European blood) never became an official national ideology in Peru. Cultural problems and conflicts have been evident in the countries history as well as the migration issues that have transpired in the past decades. This is the large numbers of indigenous people from rural areas occupying the capital. An interesting thought for us would be to imagine the US still having a large Native American population and many of those groups integrating into our society today. In what ways would it affect our society?
Although many factors lead to migration in Lima's urban areas, it is mainly blamed on the lack of opportunity available to remote rural areas. More than half of Peru's population struggle to survive. In most cases Lima offers the only location for opportunity. Three out of every four Peruvians live in urban areas. The majority of Peru's poor people live in and in the outskirts of Lima.
Close to one fourth of the population lives in severe poverty. People come to Lima from rural areas hoping for a better life only to be hit by a severe and cold reality. When looking at migration to Lima by rural people often referred as "paisanos," the poverty that they live within is obvious. "Most of the poor in Lima, likewise, live in three great peripheral "conos" radiating from the central city" (Davis 27).
There are many reasons for migration to Lima, whether in the past or in the present, the reasons for migrating vary in many ways.
Initially it must be understood that Peru is a country whose economy is centralized on its capital. In the last couple of decades Lima's development as a primate city began taking form in a rapid manner. In 1990 Lima was 14% larger than the following 24 cities combined. The centralization is evident and more than demographic. During the late 80's, Lima consumed over 70% of the national electrical energy, had near 70% of its industry , near 100% of all private investment and every other economical as well as educational advantages over any other province in the country. The Peruvian government has been almost totally centralized in Lima since the 16th century. In the past a resident of the capital who committed a crime would be punished by deporting them out of Lima to serve their sentence, the farther away from the capital the greater the penalty. This concept still supports the social conflict in Peru today. Anyone, especially people with indigenous physical characteristics and beliefs is considered a provincial person, more or less like an outsider. They are mainly stereotyped as not being civilized and for being disadvantaged and are referred to as Provincianos (born outside the capital.) as well as paisanos, cholos, and serranos (people from
highlands). It is significant to look at the push and pull factors when breaking down migration to Lima. Migrants looking for better living conditions, searching employment, and mainly aspiring for progress and life opportunities can all be viewed as pull factors. Push factors that forced many people to migrate have been natural disasters such as the earthquake of 1970 which hit the central part of Peru, killing 70,000 and leaving many with the only option to migrate as well as El Nino in the 90's with major flooding and landslides, all affecting good farmland that people survived of. Another critical push factor was the terrorist activities carried out by Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) as well as corrupt military that are blamed for the migration of over 30,000 people from mostly villages and highlands in the eighties and nineties. The present day Free Trade agreement is also blamed by many spokespeople for rural residents having to move around. They claim that free trade has violated what was promised and has only benefited the rich investors. This only left rural people in worse financial shape than they originally were before any modern free trade began. "Poor indigenous farmers in Peru have expressed particular concern regarding the IPR commitments established by the US-Peru FTA, which would legalize the patenting of genetic resources and traditional knowledge that have long been used and developed in indigenous communities. With the FTA, Peru snubs Andean law and accepts the US demand to "make all reasonable efforts" to start patenting plants and to never go back on this policy once in place. The Andean Community-a trade block linking Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia-currently outlaws the patenting of plants" ( Agarwal ). Many civil society groups have voted down the agreement. Congressional Democrats of the United States have been vocal unlike Peru's congress, not defending the rights of the underprivileged whose approval of a FTA was overwhelming. It is interesting when contrasting the difference in groups that migrated to Lima voluntarily and those who were forced out of their land. The mentality of a person arriving in the capital by their own will is that of a hunger for modernization, knowledge and general self advancement for their families, therefore there is more of an endeavor to grow. On the other hand there is generally a more oppressed mentality of the people who have migrated through forceful acts and have been displaced. This in many ways can be understandable and explained when looking at recent history. Many psychological problems were created when terrorists groups and military forces occupied the land of indigenous groups in the eighties. Against their will they were pressured to choose sides between the two. When looking from the outside it's an easy choice picking good over evil, when in reality it was more complex. It was viewed as having to choose between two evils. Many terrorists targeted these highlands because they knew there was no police presence. Also, the lack of education possessed by rural people played a big factor when looking for recruits to help with their cause. Sendero Luminoso brought to their attention just how much Peruvian government did not take rural people into consideration and that they were forgotten. All focus was on Lima and that it was time for a government change. The corruption of the military further helped terrorist with their cause, as well as validating the exploited mentality that exists today within many squatter settlements in Lima, especially within what is considered slums. Starting in 1940 was the early stage of large migration to Lima.
Vast groups of people would come and settle wherever possible. This mostly consisted of illegal land invasions. Early on Peru's plan to provide housing for the poor took a turn for the worse due to no coordination. In the end the government did close to nothing in helping these people. It can be said is that the government allowed many "paisanos" to stay where they had invaded but only to be forced to build their own housing and their communities. This resulted in many unsafe building procedures with disregard for safety measures. Many of the settlements are in hills that could easily be destroyed by an earthquake. This is an increasing problem for most new settlements because of the difficulty to gain services in far and unsuitable places. Occupation of peripheral land became officially accepted after 1961, and cleared from requirements to building
licenses. Lima now is a capital that consists of over 400 settlements considered pueblos jovenes (young towns) in which vary in living standards. This makes up about half of Lima's population today. Unlike the US where there are many states that provide jobs for people. Jobs in Lima are very hard to find. There are many people who are unemployed. Even though people in Lima are not able to find jobs, the influx of people from other provinces does not cease. People still migrate to Lima. This is one of the reasons why there are so many people living in so much poverty. They become "ambulantes" – meaning they are people who sell things on the streets. That is the only way they can make a living. Many flood streets trying to sell you anything imaginable from candy, flowers to books. Sometimes they set up blankets out on the street and sell what they can. "Among them are the disparity between urban employment prospects in oil-rich and poor contries, the severe pressures to provide adequate shelter for permanent and temporary migrants to the city, the gradual disintegration of traditional ethnic and religious "quarters" through the twin processes of intermingling and minority emigration to large urban centers, the redistribution of retailing and service activities in cities now geared to motorized rather than pedestrian patterns of travel, and the problems of water use and abuse in rapidly growing metropolitan centers."( Lloyd 485)
Evidence shows the move of many street vendors which populated the capital into organized markets throughout Lima such as "Polvos Azules" and "Las Malvinas". This was in result of the amount of over crowed streets, increased pollution and crime. Many children are found to be working in these zones with their parents or roaming the streets. The cause is Peru's reluctance to address the education issues, the amount of private schools in Lima are overwhelming eliminating the chance for the poor to gain an education. This is important issue because the future will reflect this in a negative aspect and consequences are all but apparent in society.
When looking at all settlements n Lima the most is that of "Villa Del Salvador". In 1970 empty sand lots in south Lima where vacated by people in housing needs from rural areas. This has evolved into a successful urban zone on the strength of its residents. VDS is a perfect example of development. Once nothing it became well known for its industrial sector in manufacturing furniture, in which now is becoming more of a commercial area This became a formal district in 1983, in turn VDS has been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize as well as receiving awards for its achievements. The never ending problem of the settlements is an issue that Peru must address in order for a better life in the future.