Over Christmas vacation, I traveled to Peru with my girlfriend to visit her family and travel the country. Peru is a beautiful country with a fascinating history, great food, and very welcoming people.
I spent a lot of time speaking to Peruvians about the United States, how to create progress in their country, and Barack Obama. The conversations were inspiring and full of hope, and seeing so much of Peru reminded me of the immense work left to be done to reduce poverty throughout the world.
The Legislative session is already in full swing. Bill filing is wrapping up this week, and I look forward to discussing in detail with the BMG community some of the bills that I have filed, and the issues that I’ll be focusing on. But in light of next week’s inauguration of Barack Obama, I thought I would post some of my observations in Peru, because so many Peruvians I spoke to have renewed hope in America with Barack Obama being elected President.
My observations:
People are incredibly excited about the election of Barack Obama. While a large amount of this sentiment comes from relief about the end of President Bush’s rule, many Peruvians I talked with are encouraged that the son of an immigrant and an African-American will become President of the United States.
Concern about the economic crisis. On a radio interview I did on Peruvian national radio (Radio Programas del Peru), there was a great deal of concern expressed about the state of the American economy. The United States is Peru’s biggest trade partner, and the country has already felt a negative impact from the economic crisis. The radio hosts had followed the financial bailout very closely, and really scratched their heads about how so much of the federal bailout money went to large banks, and not to struggling homeowners and small businesses.
The negative feelings about President Bush mainly stem from the arrogance that the Bush administration has shown towards other countries, and the Iraq War. The war in Iraq represents to many citizens of Peru the most extreme example of a pattern they find incomprehensible, which is the use of military action and state violence as a foreign policy.
Good feelings about Americans. That being said, there is an incredible warmth towards Americans themselves, and a strong belief in the ability of the United States to make a difference in the world, as well as a recognition that perhaps only the U.S. can create dramatic change across the globe.
A good reminder about the importance of infrastructure! Spending time in Lima and Cuzco, and traveling by bus to the city of Huaraz up in the Andes Mountains, it’s very easy to experience how much more inefficient a society can be without a significant investment in infrastructure. Peru’s lack of public transportation, poor condition of its roads, and weak safety net hobbles the country’s economy, increases pollution, and makes daily life much more challenging.
This weekend, I am traveling to Washington, DC to witness the inauguration of President Obama. I’m looking forward to being a part of this historic transition for our country, and for the start of a new chapter in America’s history. As we face one of the most serious economic crises our nation has ever seen, I have hope, knowing we’ll soon have new leadership at the top striving to bring change to our country.
Peru has had its own journey, grappling with relations between Hispanics and indigenous communities. Two thousand one marked the election of Alejandro Toledo, whose community speaks Quechua, the language of (among others) the Inca. Toledo was the first leader of Peru to hail from a non-Hispanic background….
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p>….aside from the somewhat curious case of the dictator Alberto Fujimori, whose parents were Japanese born. Fujimori, of course, lives in Japan now, holding dual citizenship.
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p>I think that more diverse countries can appreciate the significance of Obama’s election more than more homogeneous countries.
and excited about our change in government.