The top 1 percent in Peru captured 42 percent of all new wealth generated between 2019 and 2025, an analysis by the nonprofit group Oxfam has found. The report, released on Tuesday, highlights growing inequality in the South American country and raises questions about how the government is addressing deepening social divisions. And when people feel that the same people always win, that nothing changes and nothing can change, inequality starts to look less like an injustice and more like the natural order of things,” said Alejandra Alayza, the executive director of Oxfam in Peru.
Just 1.4 percent of new wealth from 2019 to 2025 went to the poorest 50 percent of the country’s population, according to the group. Experts warn the trend bodes poorly for public faith in government and democratic institutions. Oxfam worked with the Institute for Peruvian Studies, a think tank in Lima, to publish a report this month on Peruvians’ perceptions of inequality in their country.
The groups found that 84 percent of Peruvians believed their country is governed by powerful interests that shape politics to their benefit. More than 75 percent also said that wealthy corporations and individuals avoid paying their fair share of taxes. The survey also suggested that public opinion was in favour of action to address the issue.
About 70 percent of respondents said they want the government to do more to reduce inequality, which a majority felt had limited access to services such as healthcare, employment, education and justice. And different choices can build a different Peru.” Peru’s rising inequality has been accompanied by a period of political turmoil, particularly in the presidential palace. A stream of probes, scandals and impeachments has led to Peru being governed by nine presidents in the last 10 years.
The latest, right-wing President Keiko Fujimori, was sworn into office in July after a narrow race that saw voting delays and heated recriminations among the leading candidates. Experts believe powerful interests have found opportunity amid the political tumult. How can you have such a rotation among elites but still have a relatively narrow political-criminal-business elite that holds a lot of power?
I think both things are true in Peru,” Will Freeman, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a US-based think tank, told Al Jazeera. Part of the political upheaval has come from clashes between the presidency and Peru’s powerful Congress, which has the power to impeach executive leaders on the basis of “moral incapacity”, an ambiguous term. The repeated leadership shakeups have weakened Peru’s democracy, according to analysts.
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