Lima’s other side
March 6, 2008
Below the videos of Lima in 1944 from this previous post I explained how explosive growth in the decades that followed ruined Lima’s plans of steady growth, modernity and provision of public services. The disenfranchised rural poor, practically destitute, living off the allotments of their ancestors land now owned by the descendants of the Spanish colonisers, migrated en masse to the capital. In the 1980′s, to avoid the further poverty and death caused by the Shining Path and harsh military responses to their terrorist attacks, this migration only grew.
How did these people settle in Lima? Where?
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The fertile green mountain valleys of the Andes were traded for the rocky desert wasteland that is the Peruvian desert coast. There were no homes for the new arrivals, nor land, nor money to buy either – so they had to invade.
It was these invasions, as they are called, that now make up the vast majority of Lima. On the outskirts of the city, people simply claimed the land as theirs and constructed their shacks. Later arrivals built their shacks a little further out, and yet newer arrivals built theirs yet further. As the years past the first arrivals were finally able to buy bricks and mortar. This process continued. People continued (and still continue) to build their houses on any scrap of land they could find north, east or south of the original city and the vast established slums. These slums expanded up the slopes of the Andean foothills and into every little nook and cranny.
Eventually, the city felt obligated to provide these people with running water and electricity, while trying not to attract more invaders. Programs were launched to provide municipal services, local Government, police forces and other basic needs. The costs of this are paid out of Lima and central Government funds, and the costs of providing free or cheap electricity and water is a burden felt by all those who have to pay the high charges.
Today, these slums are huge. Organised into city districts and fully integrated into Lima, large parts are now considered developed. In the north of Lima for example, where there were once shacks you’ll now find shopping centres, gyms and restaurants. The residents, accustomed to not paying tax, run informal or illegal businesses – so despite the huge amount of money that now exists here the roads are still dirty and potholed, there are no green parks and it can often be unsafe. Some consider Peru to have a huge problem with people who believe they don’t have to contribute to society, but society ought to provide them with all they need.
The vast majority of the slums though have roads that remain unpaved, and consist entirely of buildings that do not meet building codes and do not have permission.
The photos above show how Lima’s other side looks from the ground, but seeing it from the air is a different experience.
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Hi Stuart
Long time. I really like your photos of “the other side of Lima” anf they show the biggest part of a city that represents very well how divided Peruvian society is today.
Now I have to correct some things:
Most slums in Lima that have now roads, shopping centers, finished homes, etc. did not start with the help of the city government of Lima nor from the central Peruvian government. Not at all!
People organized themselves since the 1940′s to build their own communities with the Andean tradition of Minka (community work.)
In the 1970s and 1980s migrations to main cities in Peru (not only Lima) worsened after natural disasters (earthquakes, floodings, etc.) and bacause of the internal armed conflict.
Immigrants created what they used to call “Pueblos Jovenes” or young towns. They built their water and electrical power supplies piping, roads, sidewalks, schools, health care posts, churches and even sports facilities.
Official authorities did the basic regulations and worked along the population, and local univerities helped as well. Many districts of Lima were built by their population who PAY TAXES because they were their own authorities. Their contribution might not have been with direct tax forms, but with work and funds.
Villa El Salvador, San Juan de Lurigancho, San Juan de Miraflores, Villa Maria del Triunfo, Comas, Independencia, San Martin de Porras, Carmen de la Legua, Santa Anita, Carabayllo, Ventanilla, parts of Ate, Chosica, Rimac, San Miguel, Callao, etc. and most of the 43 districts of Lima were constructed with the effort, hard work, and money of their new habitants.
I’d recommend that you read more about this incredible process of collective work and social transformation that has changed Lima, and that should be a reason for pride for the new limenos. “El otro Sendero” of Hernando de Soto is a great book to start. Now, remember, Lima is an unfinished city and a result of the centralist ways of Peru as a country.
Finally, the Peruvian desert deserves a better description than just “rocky desert wasteland”. Seriously. Most places on earth can be considered wasteland following your point of view. The Andean coastal desert of South America has its beauty, its peaceful charm and its soil is very rich in resources and a great potential that is waiting for Peruvi…
Thanks for the input Carlos.
I am aware of the work the arrivals put in when moving to the city, and the minka style work that went on in Lima in “better times” that I just don’t see today in Lima (but is still going very strong in Arequipa as I have heard). As I said, I don’t see this anymore. Roads are built in the Pueblos Jóvenes by the municipal authorities that the arrivals set up the foundations of when they arrived and now receive funds from local taxes (yes, many pay some form, but many more don’t) but also central Government.
I don’t think it’s true that water and electrical infrastructure was built by arrivals. I know for a fact that this isn’t the case today. I am aware locals put a lot of work in, but so did the government and the government wholey-owned (at the time) water and electric companies. Piping systems, pumps and water towers cost huge amounts of money that locals may be able to install with experienced oversight(even if that is freely donated by universities) but volunteering unfortunately doesn’t pay for materials and transport.
From what I am aware, the work put in by arrivals in the construction of the Pueblos Jovenes centred around providing themselves with houses, roughly organised streets, basic schools, and the foundations of local Government. A great achievement, despite the buildings being unsafe and roads somewhat disorganised.
You are right that most of Lima was constructed by new arrivals, and yes some pay taxes. SUNAT figures would dispute that anywhere near the majority pay anything close to what they are supposed to… but the same is true, though to a much lesser extent, of Lima’s wealthy.
And about the desert coast… I am actually a fan, as I think I mention elsewhere on my blog. But I stand by my statement. Laughing I do like this rocky desert wasteland though, I’d never been in one before visiting Peru.
Also… I don’t mean to suggest that Government money was in plentiful supply during the growth of Lima… it was next to nothing, that’s why lots of the Pueblos Jovenes still don’t have running water (today the Government delievers it in trucks for free – or rather by taxation and high water bills for everyone else), roads or much else. What I am saying, that if minka was as big a factor as you suggest there would be roads and water everywhere. The new arrivals put in a fair amount of work that is now being completed with funds from international development agencies, loans and government funds. New arrivals now protest at the lack of Government provision and no longer get on with building infrastructure themselves.
If this is preferable to what they left behind it would seem that other locations are even worse than this. It can’t get better until the economy of the rest of the country is improved to stop all these people having to arrive in Lima, or even want to return home. Tackling only one part of the problem is always going to fail.
Brian, for most of Peru’s post-colonial history, the economy of the rest of the country remained exactly the same year in year out. Only recently is wealth spreading to cities other than Lima, creating new middle classes that now have money to pay for more goods and services (such as food at new record high prices) from the rural poor.
Thank you for this informative post …
Hello Stuart,
Thanks for your update on how things are for Lima nowdays. I have also noticed that young people in the “conos” do not have the same sense of community and solidarity as the first comers had. It’s something that should be addressed by those in charge of the education of Peruvians, but considering how bad is thei media content n Lima, it is not surprise that limenos of today live in a bubble of denial of their responsabilities, and most of them live dreaming of leaving the country for once.
However, I would hope this can be changed.
To BrianA, I must say that NO, these living standards are not better than those left behind. But somehow migrants follow a path of rumors and false promises. I think one of the main reasons people left their town was so their kids would get better education and better jobs, and then they would back and brag about having a family and a home in Lima. Same as today Peruvians overseas do, even if they live under poverty in their new countries.
Very interesting all the messages that I’ read. The situation in these pueblos jovenes, after many years, has not change that much but the sense of community remaind.
How far the Alan Garcia’s goverment has helped these peruvians?
it is true that the people in the pueblos jovenes have long since stopped helping themselves. today they merely demand that a government authority provide them with access to all services. they take land, either on the sides of hills, or by illegal occupation of private land. once they build their shacks, they demand that the government give them deeds for the land. if the owner brings the police to remove them, they turn violent and try to kill the owner and the police. surprisingly this also happens with military land… and they manage to fight off the soldiers by rioting. they also build their homes on top of archaeological sites and destroy them, and demand to the inc that they declare the sites private property and that the government issue deeds.
today the people of lima, rich or poor, have no sense of community, family or responsibility. specifically about the poor, there is no community spirit nor sense of belonging. when the government comes to provide services… perhaps building public spaces… they are immediately destroyed by vandals. even if there is a fire or a medical emergency, and the emergency services come to help… the people throw stones at them, attack the people and steal the objects in the fire trucks or abulances.
i am a doctor and i work for free in villa maria del triunfo. i am assalted almost every day. people never say thank you to me for my services… they think they have a right that i serve them, the same like they think they have a right to the land they took and that the government bring them free water services and electricity.
i try to change this attitude, but today society is falling apart. my only interest as a professional, as a doctor and as a human being is to help others – i dont care if i am paid or if the people i treat are thankful.
thank you for publishing my comment.
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