Peru: Cambio 90 political party, whether its members are targeted by guerrilla groups, and whether protection is available (1992-1998)

For information on the availability of police protection for cases involving terrorist groups, please consult Responses to Information Requests PER27146.E of 20 June 1997, PER21214.E of 26 July 1995, PER14989 of 11 August 1993 and PER14493 of 9 July 1993. Previous Responses on the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL or PCP-SL) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru, MRTA) provide information on the targeting by these groups of political figures and activists in general.

A complete list of attacks against members or supporters of Cambio 90 could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, early examples of attacks against members of Cambio 90 include the murder of the party's secretary general in the mountain Department of Puno on 30 August 1991 (EFE 30 Aug. 1991) and the murder by Shining Path rebels of two brothers "responsible for Change 90 in Catao," Department of Ancash, on 21 October 1991 (EFE 21 Oct. 1991). One of the brothers had been a municipal candidate in complementary elections held in the area two months before (ibid.). Offices of Cambio 90 were attacked with explosives on the eve of municipal elections in peripheral areas of Lima, in Los Olivos on 26 January 1993 (AFP 27 Jan. 1993) and in Comas on 29 January 1993 (Panamericana 29 Jan. 1993). In the latter attack, the mayoral candidate for the party was abducted by the attackers (ibid.).

Cambio 90-Nueva Mayoria (Change 90-New Majority) is a political movement that holds a majority of seats in Congress and whose leader, Alberto Fujimori, is the president of Peru. The political party Cambio 90 was formed in preparation for the 1990 general elections to support the congressional and presidential candidacy of  Fujimori, a new participant in national politics; Nueva Mayoria appeared in 1992 as a movement led by Jaime Yoshiyama, which merged with Cambio 90 in preparation for the 1992 congressional elections. The alliance is a wide-ranging collection of supporters, independent figures and former militants of other parties. One source describes Cambio 90-Nueva Mayoria as a "moderate conservative, personalist" political movement (Elections in Peru 1998).

The 1992 report Peru: A Country Study provides the following description of Cambio 90:

Cambio '90 only entered the Peruvian political spectrum in early 1990, but by June 1991 it was the most powerful political force in the nation. Cambio's success hinged largely on the success of its candidate for the presidency, Alberto Fujimori, an agricultural engineer and rector of the National Agrarian University (Universidad Nacional Agrario--UNA) in Lima's La Molina District from 1984 to 1989. Fujimori's appeal to a large extent was his standing as a political outsider.

At the same time, Cambio's success was also attributed largely to its eclectic political base and its active grassroots campaign. Cambio's two main bases of support were the Peruvian Association of Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses (Asociación Peruana de Empresas Medias y Pequeñas--Apemipe) and the informal sector workers who associated their cause with Apemipe, and the evangelical movement. Less than 4 percent of the Peruvian population was Protestant, but the Evangelicals were extremely active at the grassroots level, particularly in areas where traditional parties were weak, such as the urban shantytowns and rural areas in the Sierra. Although Cambio only began activities in January 1990, by the time of the elections it had 200,000 members in its ranks.

However, Cambio's success at the polls did not translate into a lasting party machinery. Cambio was much more of a front than a political party, and its ability to hold together was called into question within a few weeks after attaining power. Cambio's two bases of support had little in common with each other except opposition to Vargas Llosa. Their links to Fujimori were quite recent and were ruptured to a large extent when Fujimori opted, out of necessity, for an orthodox economic shock program. Less than six months into his government, Fujimori broke with many of his Cambio supporters, including the second vice president and leader of the Evangelical Movement, Carlos García y García, and Apemipe. The latter became disenchanted with Fujimori because small businesses were threatened by the dramatic price rises and opening to foreign competition that the "Fujishock" program entailed.

After the April 1992 "self-coup" in which Fujimori dissolved the legislature (see the DIRB Q&A Papers Peru: Chronology of Events April 1992-February 1994 of May 1994 Peru: Impact Of The April 1992 Coup of August 1992), a new Congress was convened. One report described the electoral fortunes of Cambio 90 as follows (INS June 1995):

The two national elections held after April 1992 solidified Fujimori's power while demonstrating that Peru's traditional political establishment had lost the confidence and support of the electorate. As a result of international pressure, Fujimori authorized popular elections for a unicameral Congreso Constituyente Democrático (CCD, Democratic Constituent Congress), consisting of 80 members elected at large. The November 1992 elections gave Fujimori's Cambio 90/Nueva Mayoría alliance (Change 90/New Majority) a majority with 44 seats. The Partido Popular Cristiano (PPC, Popular Christian Party), led by Lourdes Flores Nano, became the largest opposition group with 8 seats. The two largest opposition parties, APRA and Acción Popular (AP, Popular Action Party), refused to participate in the elections, in protest of their extra-constitutionality. Opposition groups also alleged fraud in the tabulation of the election results.

The results of municipal elections held in January 1993 also indicated the extent of voter disenchantment with traditional political parties. APRA, the PPC, the IU, and even Fujimori's Cambio 90/Nueva Mayoría did poorly at the polls, losing many races to independent candidates. Independent candidates were elected in important cities such as Cuzco, Arequipa, and Juliaca. Ricardo Belmont, an independent, was reelected as mayor of Lima

The party and later the political alliance underwent major changes during the first presidential term of Fujimori (1990-1995).

Internal divisions in Cambio 90 led to the resignation of five deputies from the Cambio 90 caucus and later of six more in 1991; although most of those resigning belonged to "evangelical" groups, they declared that their resignation had nothing to do with religion, but rather that a number of those critical of the government's acts happened to belong to evangelical groups that helped constitute Cambio 90 (El Comercio 8 Feb. 1991, Expreso 21 Mar. 1991, and Expreso 8 Nov. 1991).

Cambio 90 formed an alliance with the Nueva Mayoria movement, which appeared before the November 1992 congressional elections under the leadership of Jaime Yoshiyama (Panamericana 5 Oct. 1992, Global 11 Oct. 1992, Global 17 Dec. 1992 and SI 22-28 Nov. 1993). The alliance included a wide variety of members with differing and often opposing views on political, social and economic issues, but was united in its support of Fujimori and its government (SI 22-28 November 1993).

In the general elections of 1995 Fujimori was re-elected and Cambio 90-Nueva Mayoria won 67 of the 120 congressional seats (Country Reports 1996 1997).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 27 January 1993. "Shining Path Rebels Attack Change 90 Offices." (FBIS-LAT-93-016 27 Jan. 1993, p. 22)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996. 1997. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. (Refworld)

EFE [Madrid, in Spanish]. 21 October 1991. "'Summary Trial' Held, Kill 2." (FBIS-LAT-91-204 22 Oct. 1991, p. 43)

_____. 30 August 1991. "Change 90 Official Killed in Puno Department." (FBIS-LAT-91-170 3 Sept. 1991, p. 36)

El Comercio [Lima, in Spanish]. 8 February 1991. "Change 90 Faction To Form New Organization." (FBIS-LAT-91-030 13 Feb. 1991, pp. 27-28)

Expreso [Lima, in Spanish]. 8 November 1991. "Resignation of Change 90 Deputies 'Surprising'." (FBIS-LAT-91-224 20 Nov. 1991, p. 25)

_____. 21 March 1991. "Former Change 90 Politicians Create new Party." (FBIS-LAT-91-062 1 Apr. 1991, p. 39)

Global de Television [Lima, in Spanish]. 17 December 1992. "Change 90 Leader on Relations With New Majority." (FBIS-LAT-92-244 18 Dec. 1992, pp. 27-28)

_____. 11 Oct. 1992. "Fujimori, Yoshiyama Meet Change 90 Candidates." (FBIS-LAT-92-198 13 Oct. 1992, p. 47)

Panamericana Television [Lima, in Spanish]. 29 January 1993. "New Majority/Change 90 Candidate Reported Kidnapped." (FBIS-LAT-93-018 29 Jan. 1993, p. 39)

_____. 5 October 1992. "Fujimori on C-90, New Majority Movement Talks." (FBIS-LAT-92-194 6 Oct. 1992, pp. 29-30)

SI [Lima, in Spanish]. 22-28 November 1993. "Division in Change 90, New Majority Viewed." (FBIS-LAT-93-245 23 Dec. 1993, pp. 38-42)

United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). June 1995. Peru Profile. (Refworld)

United States Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Washington, DC. 1992. Peru: A Country Study. [Internet] [Accessed 1 Sept. 1998]