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November 15, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Violent protests in Peru

Earlier this month, protests in southern Peru got out of hand, and a state of emergency was declared, authorizing the Army to restore order. Three people were killed and several dozen were injured when workers in the city of Tacna gathered to voice anger at a law passed by the Peruvian Congress that would shift a great share of the proceeds from state-owned mines to the central government in Lima. See CNN.com. "Renting mobs" for the purpose of staging protests is very common in Latin America, and it would be interesting to find what political organizations or labor unions were financing that street battle. Historically, the Peruvian economy (and the economies of Bolivia, and other mineral-exporting countries in Latin America) has been held back by corrupt, inefficient state-owned mining enterprises. Whether the government of Peru stands up to the mercantilistic "mafias" (exposed and denounced by Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto) will make a big difference in whether Peru continues to lead the way in Latin American economic growth, as it has in recent years. Peru has managed to overcome political calamity stemming from the Fujimori era, and has stayed on the path of growth, contrary to the expectations of many observers (like me).

Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 15 Nov 2008, 9: 40 PM

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Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.


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The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:

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