The politics of agrarian reform in Peru

• In Event: Los grandes terratenientes y el conflicto político sobre la cuestión agraria: Balance y perspectivas

Abstract

The 1969 Peruvian Agrarian Reform was one of the most radical land reforms in Latin America. While previous reform attempts in Peru had been stymied by elite opposition and an absence of political will, the military government led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado placed agrarian reform at the centre of its vision for a 'new Peru'. To a much greater extent than governments in neighbouring countries, the Velasco regime succeeded in containing landowner opposition and introducing new political structures in rural areas. This paper argues that this success was due to the government's innovative strategies for generating popular support through local politics, education and the mass media. While landowners criticised the Agrarian Reform on technical grounds and called for the depoliticisation of its implementation, the Velasco government framed it as part of a 'revolutionary process' with broad social implications. Drawing on archival research and oral history interviews, I examine this debate as it played out through the press and government propaganda. I further argue that in the decades following the collapse of the Velasco government, landowners and conservative politicians have tried to diminish the political importance of the reform and emphasise its economic failings in order to limit the possibilities for future state-led reform in Peru.

Author

• Anna F Cant, University of Cambridge