Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NEW REPUBLIC
The lofty idealism of the revolution was soon followed by the harsh reality of having to
govern. Peru, the young nation, proved to be just as anarchic as Peru, the viceroyalty.
Between 1825 and 1841, there was a revolving door of regime changes (two dozen!) as re-
gional
caudillos
(chieftains) scrambled for power. The situation improved in the 1840s with
the mining of vast deposits of guano off the Peruvian coast, the nitrate-rich bird droppings
that reaped unheard-of profits as fertilizer on the international market. (Nineteenth-century
Peruvian history is - literally - rife with poop jokes.)
The country would find some measure of sta-
bility under the governance of Ramón Castilla
(a
mestizo
), who would be elected to his first
term in 1845. The income from the guano boom
- which he had been key in exploiting - helped
Castilla make needed economic improvements.
He abolished slavery, paid off some of Peru's
debt and established a public school system.
Castilla served as president three more times
over the course of two decades - at times, by
force; at others, in an interim capacity; at one point, for less than a week. Following his fi-
nal term, he was exiled by competitors who wanted to neutralize him politically.
He died in 1867, in northern Chile, attempting to make his way back to Peru. (Visitors
can see his impressive crypt at the Panteón de los Proceres in Central Lima,
Click here
.
)
A full scan of Guamán Poma de Ayala's 17th cen-
tury manuscript (complete with illustrations), in
which he documents colonial atrocities against indi-
genous people, can be found on the Danish Nation-
al Library's website at
www.kb.dk/permalink/2006/
info/en/frontpage.htm.
