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Peru Local and Regional Government
Municipal Governments
The process of independent municipal government was
initiated
with the first nationwide municipal elections in December
1963.
This process was halted by twelve years of military rule
after
1968, but was reinitiated with the November 1980 municipal
elections (see
table 18, Appendix). Each municipality has
been
run autonomously by a municipal council (consejo
municipal), a provincial council (consejo
provincial),
and a district council (consejo distrital), all of
whose
members were directly elected. Municipalities had
jurisdiction
over their internal organization and they administered
their
assets and income, taxes, transportation, local public
services,
urban development, and education systems.
Yet, the autonomy of municipalities may have been
reduced by
their financial dependence on the central government.
Their funds
have come primarily from property taxes, licenses and
patents
required for professional services, market fees, vehicle
taxes,
tolls from bridges and roads, fines, and donations from
urban
migrant clubs. In the majority of municipalities, where
the bulk
of the inhabitants are poor, those with legal title to a
home are
in the minority; few people even own their own vehicles;
roads
are not paved; and there is a dramatic shortage of basic
services, such as water and electricity. Most
municipalities can
hardly generate the revenue to cover operating costs, much
less
to provide desperately needed services. Thus, a degree of
dependence on the central government for resources may
limit
somewhat the potential for autonomous initiative. Although
this
is hardly unique in Latin America,the shortage of
resources in
Peru is particularly extreme.
The municipal process has also come under substantial
threat
from the SL. An important component of its strategy was to
sabotage the 1989 municipal and presidential elections.
The group
launched a ruthless campaign in which elected officials or
candidates for electoral offices were targeted. During the
1985-
89 period, the SL assassinated 45 mayors. In a campaign of
violence prior to the 1989 elections, it killed over 120
elected
officials or municipal candidates, resulting in the
resignation
or withdrawal of 500 other candidates. In December 1988,
dozens
of Andean mayors resigned, citing lack of protection from
terrorist threats; many rural towns were left with no
authorities
whatsoever. Voters were also threatened with having their
index
fingers chopped off by the SL. The threats were most
effective in
the more remote regions, such as Ayacucho, where null and
blank
voting in the 1990 elections was the highest in the
country.
Data as of September 1992
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