The Latin American state and the austerity policies: Peru 1980-1985

Abstract

The main obfective of this paper is to establish a relationship between the consolidation of the Peruvian democracy and the attempts of the Belaunde regime (1980-1985) to apply programmes of economic austerity.The author therefore describes the main poticies applied by the four Ministers of Economy and Finance who where in charge of the country's economy in the period analized. Finally, the paper makes an appraisal of the increasing loss of legitimacy experienced by the Belaunde regime as a result of the social tensions associated with the immense deterioration of the living standards of the Peruvian population.