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Peru Change '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.
Data as of September 1992
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