Alan Garcia and Peru - The state of things one year in

Peru's President Alan Garcia marked his first anniversary in office with a traditional 'state of the union' speech before the country's legislature this weekend.

The keynote of the address was a renewed commitment to help Peru's poor - almost 44 percent of the country's 28 million residents live in poverty. He set a goal of reducing that total to one third of Peruvians by the end of his term in 2011 through increased public investment and building low-cost housing for 1.2 million. (Critics pointed out that Garcia was very vague on how he plans to achieve these goals)

The speech a precarious time for the beleaguered leader. He has struggled with a wave of public protests in recent weeks and witnessed his approval rating plunge precipitously.

(And they didn't leave anything to chance during the Independence Day activities. Security was at an inordinately high level with many police and no public on the streets in key areas. "Everything was very aseptic, very cold, very perfect," reported the El Comercio newspaper.)

Following his hard-fought election last year, Garcia has emerged as one of Washington's strongest allies in Latin America - an alternative to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and a possible future trade partner.

The Peruvian economy has been expanding by a healthy 8 percent annually, driven primarily by metals prices. In his speech, Garcia has pledged to continue to support that growth by fostering $20 billion in private investment in manufacturing, mining, gas and electricity and providing $5 billion in public spending on infrastructure, Bloomberg reported.

That's a dramatic difference from 1985 when Garcia first took the reigns of office touting classic populist policies - subsidized food programs, price freezes and an embargo on foreign debt.

Many in Peru recall that Garcia's policies in the mid-1980s allowed his government to function relatively well for the first two years of his presidency but, it was an effort to stem the dip in public perception that prompted him to take a radical action in 1987 - nationalization of the banking system. The subsequent fallout led to an economic collapse.

The event he chose to make the announcement? His second 'state of the union' speech.


Find out more about Peru, South America and my varied interests over on Klephblog.

Technorati Tags: Peru, Alan Garcia, Fiestas Patrias

Reggaetón - More popular than you can imagine

A few years ago, in a story documenting the expanding reach of the Reggaetón music into the Southwest of the United States, the Phoenix New times described this unique style of music as "audio crack" with the power to "creep up on even the most rhythmically challenged and make them move." I don't know about that but it certainly has become a cultural juggernaut in Latin America and Peru is no exception.

Reggaetón emerged in the early 1990s as a synthesis of Jamaican reggae rhythms and various other styles of Latin American music. It also absorbed a style of “hip hop” rapping for it’s vocals that, although primarily Spanish, is infused with slang and terms from English and other languages.

In Peru, it is hugely popular with gigantic sold out shows and the obligatory screaming fans. Last March, Lima was the site of the Third Annual International Reggaetón Festival where an estimated 25,000 people showed up to see such popular acts such as Rakim & Ken-y and Wisin & Yandel. A second concert held in northern Peruvian city of Trujillo was attended by more than 20,000 fans who showed a similar level of enthusiasm.

That level of popularity of the genre led to one of the most interesting uses of the music last year - as a lure for younger Peruvian voters.

During the hotly contested race for the presidency in Peru, the APRA party, whose candidate was the eventual victor Alan Garcia, trotted out a Reggaetón commercial. While Garcia was ridiculed by other parties for the pop-culture advertisement, it was certainly gave APRA the spotlight at the time it was aired.

For many Hispanic youth, Reggaetón is a unique style of music they consider their own completely distinct from the musical antecedents it evolved from. The influence of this genre has spread to the wider Latino communities in the United States.

In recent years, has started to show a cross-over potential for wider audiences. The success of artists such as Daddy Yankee whose massive popularity got him on Time Magazine's 2007 list of the world's "100 Most Influential People." So if you aren't familiar with it now... you probably will be before long.


Find out more about Peru, South America and my varied interests over on Klephblog.

Technorati Tags: Peru, reggaeton, APRA, rakim y ken-y, wisin y yandel, daddy yankee