PERSONAL SAFETY
Common sense will go a long way to ensure that you do not have any
problems with personal safety. In large cities like Lima (population
~ 8 million), there are certainly areas that you should
avoid, particularly after dark. The locals know about these areas,
and are happy to share this type of information with you (ask your
hotel staff, for instance). Other sections of large cities are as
safe as the safest parts of large cities in the US and Europe. Keep
your eyes open, be aware of what is happening around you, don't
leave personal items unattended, don't wear expensive jewelry, don't flash large sums of cash,
and don't consume large quantities of alcohol! Just because you are on vacation,
doesn't mean you should give your common sense a break too!
Iquitos, our point of departure
for the Amazon, is a city of close to 500,000 people. Despite its size,
it has a small town feel to it, and like a small town, crime is
big news when it happens. Violent crime is rare in Iquitos,
and most visitors feel perfectly comfortable walking about the streets
by day or night. There are some pickpockets and petty thieves as
in any large city, but again, common sense will help you to avoid
most potential problems. Keep valuables secure, money/wallets in
a front pocket, and don't leave personal items unattended.
In rural areas of the Amazon outside
of Iquitos, crime is even rarer. Everyone knows their neighbors,
and people are extremely hospitable and helpful. We make every effort
to return that hospitality and helpfulness, and to cultivate excellent
relations with the communities that we visit and interact with.
Visitors are always an object of attraction in more remote areas
where there is no TV and where many people, particularly children,
rarely travel more than a few miles from home. A bit of humor and
willingness to interact despite language barriers goes a long way
toward making friends. Many ecotourists consider their interactions
with local people to be a major highlight of their trip. We encourage
clients to bring a small amount of school supplies with them to
leave at schools in the remote areas that we visit. Even small donations
make a meaningful difference to the children in these villages.
BORDER DISPUTES
Peru does not have any current border disputes with any of its
neighbors. For ~50 years, there was a dispute with Ecuador over the
location of their common border in a remote and mountainous area of
the western Amazon basin. There were periodic border skirmishes,
usually when economic conditions in one or the other country were
poor, and an excuse needed to rally the population. In 1999, a
definitive border agreement was reached, and the final border
delineated. The final agreement was guaranteed by Brazil, Argentina,
Chile and the United States, and included trade and transport
concessions, efforts to de-mine militarized areas, and the opening
of border areas to transit of goods and persons. There have been no
disputes or incidents since the treaty was signed, and the two
countries have cooperated in
a number of bi-national ventures, including the establishment of
a bi-national park in the area formerly in dispute.
Travel warnings may speak of the
danger of mines in border areas between Ecuador and Peru. Please
note that we do not visit the border area. The mined areas
were in the Cordillera de Condor, an extremely rugged and remote
mountainous area
more than 500 miles from Iquitos, and accessible only by helicopter
or foot.
TERRORISM
In the 1980's and early 1990's, there was a serious problem with
Marxist- and Maoist-influenced terrorist groups in Peru. These groups derived
support from the extremely poor economic conditions existing at the time,
rather
than from ideological fervor on the part of the people. Terrorist
activity was largely confined to remote mountain areas of Peru,
as well as to some of the larger coastal cities. Terrorist activity
was nonexistent in most parts of the Amazon portion of Peru - a
huge area comprising almost 2/3rds of the area of the country. In
the Iquitos region in particular, there was never any terrorism,
due in part to the isolation of this area from the rest of the country,
as well as to the laid-back nature of the inhabitants.
With the election of President Fujimori
in the early 90's, galloping inflation was brought under control,
the economy stabilized and began to grow, and the economic basis
for the support of extremist groups largely disappeared. At the
same time, an aggressive and hugely successful campaign was initiated
to stamp out terrorism and to bring economic development to remote
rural areas, although the civil rights and liberties
of portions of the population were compromised. The last notable
terrorist act in Peru was the taking of hostages at the Japanese
Embassy in Lima in 1998. This act was widely considered as a last
desperate stab for public attention and support on the part of the
terrorists. Attention was received, but no support, and the terrorist
groups that formerly operated in Peru are now largely dismantled,
with their leaders incarcerated. Any remaining active terrorist
cells are isolated in remote mountain areas, far from any tourist
sites in Peru.
The upper Huallaga
Valley, a center for the cultivation of coca and cocaine production
is one area to avoid. This area is far away from any sites visited
by Margarita Tours expeditions - it is at least 500 miles from "our"
area, and would require a week of or more of travel by boat and
then by road or foot to reach the Huallaga Valley from Iquitos.
Some additional remote mountain areas in the southern state of Ayacucho
should also be avoided - these areas are 800-1000 miles distant
from Iquitos, with no ready means of travel between them.
DRUG TRAFFICKING
Drug trafficking was the method by which terrorist groups (as well
as drug-lords with no interest in ideology) funded their activities.
With the virtual elimination of terrorist groups in Peru, a stabilized
economy, and close cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA), drug production has been dramatically reduced in Peru over
the past 15 years, with a sharp decline in drug production through 2000,
though production has since more or less leveled off. Part of this success has been due to programs with
incentives for coca farmers to turn to other crops, part due to
increased drug interdiction effectiveness, and part due to the migration
of drug traffickers to Colombia. Since 2000, there has been a moderate
increase in drug production in Peru due to heavy interdiction and
eradication efforts in Colombia (through the US-funded "Plan
Colombia") which has driven some production back out of Colombia
and into neighboring countries.
What drug production and trafficking
occurs in Peru is very low key, with producers and
transporters
very anxious to avoid attention. There are no "drug wars" between
competing traffickers, for instance. Production of coca plants has
never been common in the Amazon lowlands, as the coca plant prefers
somewhat cooler and drier climates, and grows best in the foothills of the
Andes, and in inter-montane valleys. The Iquitos region has thus
never been a significant production area. Although some transport does occur
on rivers on the region, traffickers are very anxious to avoid drawing
attention, due to a strong Peruvian and DEA monitoring and
enforcement presence in the area. Visitors who don't actively seek
out illicit drugs are highly unlikely to encounter the slightest
problem. It is extremely rare to be approached in Iquitos by people trying to sell you drugs
- if you are, it will be for selling marijuana, and all you have to
do is say "no".
Drug
offenses are severely punished in Peru. Drug dogs sniff baggage
upon arrival and departure at airports, and every year, a number
of "mules" are jailed with long sentences. Don't bring
drugs into Peru, or try to purchase them there. Don't be stupid!
Coca leaf tea is legal to purchase
and consume in Peru, and has a long history of legitimate use by
populations in the highlands. It is often used by visitors to high
elevations to counter the effects of altitude sickness. This tea has not undergone
the concentration and processing necessary to produce cocaine, and
at best, a very mild feeling of euphoria results. While legal to
consume, it is probably not advisable to take any home with you
(drug dogs have very sensitive noses, and you might be delayed and
have to do some explaining). Additionally, if you are subject to
regular drug testing, an extremely sensitive test might pick up
minute traces of coca leaf alkaloids.
RECENT POLITICAL EVENTS IN PERU
In the fall of 2000, Alberto Fujimori was re-elected to a third
presidential term in a very dirty campaign which was widely
regarded as illegal by the opposition. A short time later, videotapes
of bribery at high levels turned up, and the Fujimori government
proceeded to collapse in scandal. Ex-president Fujimori traveled
to Japan, his country of ancestry, from whence he turned in his resignation.
It is now known that Fujimori was actually born in Japan, and thus
was ineligible to be president! He was blackmailed with this information by the
head of the Peruvian equivalent of the FBI/CIA, Vladimir Montesinos.
Montesinos became the power behind the presidency, but fled the
country shortly before the resignation of ex-president Fujimori.
He was captured in Venezuela, and is now incarcerated in Peru's
highest security prison.
After the government collapsed,
a highly respected congressman, Valentin Paniagua, was named interim
president by the Peruvian congress, in strict accordance with Peruvian
constitutional law and procedures. The Peruvian military was involved
in some of the corruption scandals. Many top military officers were
forced to resign, or were charged. At no time, however, was there
any indication that the military might try to interfere in the political
scene or stage a coup, and the rank and file openly expressed its
disgust with corrupt top officials.
Liberties of the press which had
been curtailed under the Fujimori government, have been fully restored.
Peru also rejoined the InterAmerican Court, with headquarters in
Costa Rica. The Fujimori government had withdrawn Peru from the
courts jurisdiction after the Court raised questions about civil
rights violations by the Fujimori government.
New presidential elections in April
2001 were among the cleanest ever in Peru. Outside observers and
monitors were invited by the Paniagua government to oversee the
elections. No candidate received >50% of the votes, and a run-off
was scheduled for June 2001 between the two leading candidates;
Alejandro Toledo and Alan Garcia. In the runoff election Alejandro
Toledo was the clear winner, and thus became the first Peruvian
of predominantly Indian background to be elected president of Peru.
The presidential inauguration of President Toledo
took place on 28 July 2001, and was a much celebrated event. July
28 is also Independence Day.
After taking office there was
considerable discontent by the public with various government policies, the lack of immediate
economic turn-around (from the point of view of the populace), and
various poorly-received actions on the part of President Toledo,
including the fact that he refused to acknowledge an illegitimate
daughter until it was proved beyond a doubt that she was his child.
For family-centered Peruvians, this was more scandalous than having
a child through an affair.
His administration came to be considered as one of the least popular,
despite the fact that he maintained the Peruvian economy on an
even keel, and oversaw several years of successive economic growth.
The problem is that he made too many populist promises that he was
unable to keep. Public demonstrations were largely peaceful and orderly (though
usually noisy), though strikes
occasionally disrupted business or public transport.
The Toledo administration was
replaced in 2006 by a re-elected Alan Garcia. During his campaign
Garcia acknowledged having made mistakes in his first administration
(when inflation soared and corruption was rampant), and promised to
continue the economic policies of Toledo and Fujimori. He won a
run-off with ultra-nationalist Humberto Humala, largely due to the
publics fear that Humala would scare away all foreign investment,
and would try to follow the example of Venezuela's Hugo
Chavez. Since being elected, Garcia has kept his word. The economy
has remained one of the strongest in South America, and democratic
institutions have been strengthened. As a measure of the close ties
between Peru and the USA, in January 2009, the US and Peru signed
the first Free Trade agreement to incorporate measures designed to
protect workers rights and also to protect the environment.
Bi-lateral trade between the two countries is over $9 billion per
year, and the number of US tourists, students and business people
traveling to Peru each year has been on a steady rise over the past
decade. In April 2009, a Peruvian court found ex-president
Fujimori guilty of abuses of power and sentenced him to 25 years in
jail. Many Peruvians, however, still fondly remember Fujimori as the
president who turned the country around in the midst of crisis, and
also as the first president who took concrete steps to help the
rural and urban poor.
Perhaps most important is the fact
that Peruvians
have long maintained a strong sense of optimism about the future
of their country.
The fall of the Fujimori government showed that no one is immune
to the rule of law, and Peruvians want change and honest government.
Peruvians are keenly aware of the importance of tourism and foreign
investment to the national economy, and go out of their way
to reassure investors and to welcome visitors. Tourists inevitably
find that Peruvians are hospitable, helpful, and eager to converse,
and interactions with ordinary Peruvians often proves to be a trip
highlight.
We are convinced that you too, will
fall in love with Peru and the wonderful Peruvian people!