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The APRA Government and the Urban Poor: The PAIT Programme in Lima's Pueblos Jóvenes*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Carol Graham
Carol Graham
Affiliation:
Guest Scholar, Foreign Policy Studies Program, The Brookings Institution; and Adjunct Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University.
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Extract

It is now a well-known sad story that Alan Garcia's APRA government initially raised high hopes within and outside Peru and then collapsed into incoherent policy-making and political chaos, with hyper-inflation and a drastic increase in insurgent violence as a result. The social costs of that collapse have been grave indeed, and the worst victims have been the nation's poor, who were already subsisting at deplorable levels prior to the crisis. Paradoxically, one of the priorities of the APRA government upon coming to power in 1985 was the improvement of the precarious situation of the nation's poor and marginalised population in the pueblos jóvenes–shanty-towns–and in the sierra. The APRA government introduced a variety of innovative strategies directed at these groups. The most highly publicised of those–the Programa de Apoyo de Ingreso Temporal (PAIT)–is the subject of this study.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , February 1991 , pp. 91 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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References

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15 H. Dietz, ‘Poverty and Voting 1982: Lima’, unpubl. survey, University of Texas, Austin, 1984. Dietz carried out extensive surveys of Lima's urban poor during the time that SINAMOS was active. He then returned to the same pueblos jóvenes and conducted voting surveys in 1981 and 1984. His conclusions on the behaviour of the urban poor in the seventies are complemented by those of David Collier and in the 1980s by the work of Fernando Tuesta at DESCO in Lima.

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21 ‘Historia de un Tren y Algunas Piscinas sin Agua’, Oiga, 9 February 1987. The author also conducted site visits to the Olympic pool in San Juan de Lurigancho, as well as to a government-built ‘ high technology’ institute, which towers above most of the buildings in the district, but remains empty and non-functional.

22 M. Franke Ballre, ‘Weathering Economic Crisis: Urban Women's Response to Recession in Lima, Peru’, paper presented at the International Center for Research on Women, Conference on the Economic Crisis in Peru, 1985–7, Spring 1988.

23 Burgess, ‘The Communal Kitchens’.

24 Ibid.

25 Ibid. See also ‘Reflexiones de Mujeres Organizadas y la Ley del PAD’, Centro de Investigación Social y Educación Popular, Lima, Dec. 1986.

26 Ibid.

27 Javier Camara, Director of Community Services, Municipality of San Juan de Lurigancho, interview, Zarate, Lima, 14 March 1988. In addition, the imposition of PAD organisation where others already existed had little positive effect, and often resulted in a lack of coordination of the programme's activities with those of the municipalities, as even officials of APRA-run municipalities privately admitted.

28 ‘Primer Conversatorio Sobre PAIT-PAD’, Centro de Estudios Alternativa, Centro de Investigación Social y Investigación Popular, Lima, March 1987.

29 Peredes and Vigier, ‘Los Trabajadores’, and Pinilla, ‘PAIT and IDESI’.

30 Peredes and Vigier, ‘Los Trabajadores’, and Pinilla, ‘Políticas y Programas’.

31 ‘El Jefe de Estado Fundamento el Proyecto de Disolución de Coopop’, El Comercio, 19 January 1988.

32 Nicholas Houghton, International Labour Organisation, interview, Lima, 12 February 1988.

33 Ibid.

34 Peredes and Vigier, ‘Los Trabajadores’. Many of the conclusions of this survey are supported by the results of the author's study of the PAIT in practice.

35 Ibid.

36 Mary Fukumoto, Instituto de Investigación Nutricional/Universidad Católica, interview, Lima, 28 August 1987.

37 ‘Primer Conversatorio Sobre PAD-PAIT’.

38 Hilary Creed Kanashiro, Instituto de Investigación Nutricional, interview, 28 August 1987.

39 Health Survey Team for Cantogrande, Instituto de Investigación Nutricional, group interview, Cantogrande, Lima, 29 August 1987.

40 Oiga, 19 September 1988, pp. 14–15. The timely announcement of the new PAIT posts was in keeping with past policy, such as the raising of enrolments prior to the November 1986 elections. To the author's knowledge, the 200,000 new posts have yet to materialise. After September 1988, there was some sporadic PAIT activity, with workers working approximately four hours per day for half of the minimum wage. The programme never geared up to its original full-scale or full-time status, however.

41 Author's conversations with PAIT and municipal officials, Lima, January–March 1988, and return visit to the San Juan de Lurigancho municipality, July 1989.

42 Graham, C., ‘APRA 1968–88: From Opposition to Government—The Elusive Search for Political Integration in Peru’, unpubl. DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 1989.Google Scholar

43 Houghton, interview, 19 August 1987. Also author's interview with Generación en Marcha (APRA Youth Wing), 27 January 1988.

44 Peri Peredes, interview, ADEC/ATC, Lima, 25 August 1987. Peredes’ description of the practices within the PAIT bureaucracy were confirmed by the author's conversations with PAIT officials, both at the central level and in San Juan de Lurigancho, and also by the author's observations in the field.

45 Ibid.

46 Houghton, interview, Lima, 19 August 1987. The study of the PAIT in practice confirms Houghton's conclusion about the willingness of APRA party officials to use the programme for political ends.

47 Cantogrande Health Survey Team, group interview, 29 August 1987.

48 Poloni, J., San Juan de Lurigancho: Su Historia y Su Gente (Lima, 1987), p. 131Google Scholar; and Víctor Raúl Ortiz Pilco, Mayor, San Juan de Lurigancho, interview, San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima, 3 February 1988. Population grew from 1,046 in 1940 to 86,173 in 1972 477,928 in 1986, according to official estimates. The annual growth rate in San Juan (1972–81) was 13.0%, substantially higher than the 3.18% average for Lima's most populous districts. San Juan grew from one of the least to one of the most populous districts.

49 Poloni, , San Juan, p. 132.Google Scholar

50 Señora Jubilia, Huascar resident, interview, Huascar, Lima, 19 January 1988. Señora Jubilia's account was supplemented by the author's conversations with another of the original residents of Huascar, Señora Mercedes. The timing and the size of the invasion are documented by press coverage in Cronología Político [1976] (Lima, DESCO).Google Scholar

51 Ibid. In 1980, approximately 10,000 settlers from Huascar marched to the Congress asking for water and sewerage services. The Senate promised an emergency plan, but nothing materialised. In February of the next year 20,000 marched to the Plaza de Armas; that time they were prevented from entering the Plaza by the police, resulting in the injury and detention of several settlers. Poloni, , San Juan, p. 158.Google Scholar

52 ‘Problemas Mayúsculas en un Asentamiento de Canto Grande, El Comercio, 14 August 1988.

53 Señora Jubilia, interview, Huascar, 21 January 1988.

54 Señora Mercedes, Huascar resident, interview, Huascar, 26 January 1988.

55 Vigier, M. E. and Hoyle, J., ‘Características de la Población Económicamente Activa Ocupada de Bajos Ingresos en Lima Metropolitana’, unpubl. paper, Lima, 1983.Google Scholar These figures are particularly striking given that one minimum wage is by no means sufficient to feed and clothe a family.

56 Poloni, , San Juan, pp. 152–8.Google Scholar

57 Ibid. This lack of services serves as a regressive tax on the poor, as the services that the poor are able to purchase (water from trucks, ‘electricity’ from kerosene and candles) result in costing more both in net and in quality terms. See Adrianzen, B., T., and Graham, G., ‘The High Costs of Being Poor’, Archives of Environmental Health, 28 (06 1974), pp. 312–15.Google ScholarPubMed

58 Survey of 326 Huascar/Bayovar Households; conducted by Dr Francisco Lazo, Instituto de Investigación Nutricional, Lima, October 1987–February 1988.

59 Survey of Huascar/Bayovar Households.

60 Alfonso Barrantes, former Mayor of Lima, interview, La Sucuyana, Lima, 9 March 1988.

61 Víctor Raúl Ortiz Pilco, interview, 3 February 1988.

62 Ibid. The mayor's assertions were confirmed by interviews with four social workers who operate in the area; none of the four were Apristas. In addition, the author's interviews in the municipality with the women who worked in the PAIT resulted in high ratings for the mayor, lending support to his claims of attempting to operate in a non-partisan manner. Interviews with Huascar residents confirmed that the mayor was a substantial improvement over his predecessors.

63 ‘Balance del Primer Año de Gestión Municipal 1987’, Discurso del Alcalde de San Juan de Lurigancho, V. R. Ortiz Pilco, Lima, 13 Jan. 1988. The tax system was revamped so that at least 40% of the population was reached, an effort which was at least partly successful as—at least according to municipal accounts—the income from property tax doubled in 1987.

64 V. R. Ortiz Pilco, interview, San Juan de Lurigancho, 17 July 1989.

65 Dr Jorge Beto, Director of Field Studies at the Instituto de Investigación Nutricional's Cantogrande Centre, interview, Cantogrande, 17 July 1989.

66 V. R. Ortiz Pilco, ‘Gestión Municipal y Participación Popular: Un Proyecto Municipal para la Juventud’, paper presented to the Fundación Friedrich Ebert Foundation Conference for District Mayors, Cuzco, December 1987, and author's interview with the mayor, 3 February 1987. This was confirmed by the author's visit to the district's non-functioning ‘high technology’ institute.

67 Valenzuela, A., Political Brokers in Chile: Local Government in a Centralized Polity (Durham, 1977)Google Scholar. Municipal officials in Chile, for example, even during democratic governments, functioned much more as brokers between their electorate and the central government, rather than as the executors of significant projects within their districts.

68 Mercedes Cabanilla, social worker, Municipality of Lima, interview, 28 August 1988. The highly popular milk distribution programme relied on community organised autonomous committees to distribute donated milk to over one million children per day. With the APRA takeover of the Lima municipality, there was an increase in tension in several areas, where district committees clashed with newly-appointed APRA coordinators. The author observed the distribution of Vaso de Leche milk at the San Juan municipality and attended meetings of the neighbourhood dirigentes with the APRA municipality officials.

69 Alfonso Barrantes, interview, Lima, 9 March 1988. Barrantes’ assertions are confirmed by the author's interviews with social workers who have worked in such communities both under the Barrantes (IU) and del Castillo (APRA) municipalities; and by the author's field observations, particularly attendance at Vaso de Leche Committee meetings.

70 Nicholas Houghton, interview, 12 February 1988. This was confirmed by the author's extensive interviews with various APRA officials in charge of the PAIT in San Juan de Lurigancho. Also author's interview with Javier Cámara, Director of Community Services, San Juan de Lurigancho Municipality, 15 February 1988.

71 PAIT Programme Directorate figures, San Juan de Lurigancho, 1988.

72 Javier Cámara, interview, 26 January 1988.

73 PAIT Programme Directorate figures.

74 Ibid.

75 Víctor García, PAIT Programme functionary, interview, San Juan de Lurigancho, 3 February 1988. Also author's observation of voluntary PAIT workshops in San Juan de Lurigancho in early 1988.

76 V. R. Ortiz Pilco, interview, 17 July 1989. The mayor felt that there had been much more coordination of effort between the PAIT office and his own since the proposed transfer. He attributed this to the increased interest in the PAIT on the part of the mayors who had expected to receive control of the programme. While the transfer did not occur, he believed that mayors had asserted themselves more in the direction of the programme. Javier Cámara, one of the original organisers of the PAIT, also shared this impression. Interview, 19 July 1989.

77 Sister Wilma Carrasco, Damas Apostólicas Catholic Parish, interview, Huascar, Lima, 10 March 1988.

78 Interview with Señora Judith within Survey of Huascar PAIT Workers, conducted by the author, Huascar, January 1988.

79 Señora Jubilia, interview, Huascar, 21 January 1988.

80 Ibid.

81 Interview with Señora Julia within the Survey of Huascar PAIT Workers conducted by the author.

82 Gladys de la Cruz, Huascar resident, interview, Cantogrande, 20 January 1988.

83 Sister Wilma Carrasco, interview, 10 March 1988.

84 Survey of Huascar PAIT Workers conducted by the author, January 1988.

85 Ibid.

86 Señora Mercedes in Survey of Huascar PAIT Workers.

87 Survey of Huascar PAIT Workers.

88 Ibid.

89 Survey of Pamplona Alta PAIT Workers, conducted by the author, Pamplona Alta, Lima, February 1988.

90 Survey of Huascar PAIT Workers.

91 Ibid.

92 Survey of Pamplona PAIT Workers.

93 Ibid.

94 Survey of Huascar PAIT Workers and author's conversations with San Juan de Lurigancho PAIT officials.

95 Coppedge, M. J., ‘Strong Parties and Lame Ducks: A Study of the Quality and Stability of Venezuelan Democracy’, unpubl. PhD diss., Yale University, 1988Google Scholar. The behaviour of AD in the barrios during their tenure in power in the fifties was characterised by lack of planning, inadequate training of local officials, and a high degree of sectarianism which limited the performance of local projects. These traits are analogous to the APRA's performance in implementing the PAIT. With experience, however, AD changed its approach and now functions in a less exclusive and defensive manner. Ray, T. F., The Politics of the Barrios, pp. 55–65.Google Scholar

96 ‘Community development programmes, at least those in Latin America, offer governments a prime medium for political mediation and the exercise of social control’, Ward, Peter and Chant, Sylvia, ‘Community Leadership and Self-Help Housing’, Progress in Planning, vol. 27, Part 2 (1987).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

97 Billone, J., El PAIT: Funcionalidad y Metodologías (Lima, 1986), p. 113.Google Scholar

98 Ruiz-Tagle, J. and Urmaneta, R., Los Trabajadores del Programa de Empleo Mínimo (Santiago, 1984)Google Scholar; and Stallings, B. and Kaufman, R., Debt and Democracy in Latin America (Boulder, 1989), p. 185.Google Scholar

99 Ruiz-Tagle and Urmaneta, , Los Trabajadores, p. 5.Google Scholar

100 Billone, , El PAIT, pp. 113–17Google Scholar. For a comparison of the PAIT/PEM programmes in greater detail, see Graham, C., ‘Recent Experiences with Employment Programs in Chile, Bolivia, and Peru’, unpublished mimeo, Inter-American Dialogue, 03 1990.Google Scholar

101 Ruiz-Tagle and Urmaneta, Los Trabajadores.

102 Franke Ballre, ‘Weathering Economic Crises’.

103 Ruiz-Tagle and Urmaneta, Los Trabajadores, and Empleos de Emergencia (PREALC: 1988).

104 Ibid.

105 Politzer, P., Miedo en Chile (Santiago, 1985), p. 36.Google Scholar

106 Monge, C., ‘La Práctica Política Aprista como Respuesta a la Crisis de los 88’, paper presented to University of California at San Diego Conference on ‘APRA as Party and Government’, 21–2 March 1988.Google Scholar