The image is a fairly accurate visual description of the current state of affairs in Peru and much of Latin America.
The government is in disarray, the economy is slowing as investors have all but given up and are largely deciding to wait out things out until the elections that are still 6+ months out, social unrest and crime continue to ravage the lives of Peruvians from all walks of life – urban and rural, rich and poor – and the futból squad lost a home match to eternal rival Chile. All this is going on while large multilateral institutions like the World Bank, IMF, UN, and others continue to heap praise on Peru for its economic management. So there seems to be this disconnect between what big economic data has to say compared to what is happening on the ground. Peru is not alone in this matter as Brazil continues to stumble, Venezuela is ….finding words to describe what is going on there is hard to describe, Argentina will have to figure out what to do after decades of Kirchner Power, and even Chile – its recent success in futból notwithstanding – continues to slog through a host problems.
This is not to say that Peru or the region as a whole is not without hope as we will see what these governments and societies have learned from the past. Will they be good stewards that the coming year or so will only be a blip on the growth and progress continuum or will Peru and Latin America be racked but the always persistent problems of corruption, ineffective government, poor fiscal and monetary management, and social unrest – many of which were easy to cover up or mitigate when the money was flowing in but now with tighter economic times it makes it harder to throw money at these issues.
Hemipshere Politico 