Waging Peace: Peru

Go to: Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum | Mapping the Media's Influence on Elections | Monitoring Elections | Defending Human Rights | Mediating Conflict 

Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum

The Carter Center and International IDEA initiated a dialogue forum between the five Andean countries (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia) and the United States in 2010.  The purpose of the Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum, an 18-month series of dialogue sessions held in both the United States and the Andean region, was to:

• Identify a common agenda for the six countries,
• Address misperceptions and misunderstandings between countries,
• Propose innovative solutions to problematic issues, and
• Explore the possibility of bilateral dialogues between pairs of countries with tense relations within the forum.

Between February 2010 and June 2011, the members of the Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum met four times in Atlanta, Ga.; Lima, Peru; and Washington, D.C.

Read more about The Carter Center/International IDEA-sponsored Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum >

Mapping the Media's Influence on Elections

Breakthrough interactive and Web-based maps detailing media coverage during national elections were unveiled in February 2006 by The Carter Center, the University of Calgary, and the Canadian Foundation for the Americas. Developed using state-of-the-art  technology, the maps were designed to increase transparency in campaign finance reform and democracy-building efforts by illustrating where media are located, how far they broadcast, who owns them, and what the demographic profile is of the electoral constituencies they reach.

Monitoring Elections

Peru President Alberto Fujimori was first elected in 1990, amended the constitution so he could run for a second term, and was widely criticized during those two five-year terms for undemocratic practices. During a 1992 coup against him, he shut down the Congress and Supreme Court, replacing them with a legislature and judiciary that leaned in his favor. His intelligence service intimidated his critics into silence, and independent media outlets were shut down. When he decided to run for a third term and three judges said such a move would be unconstitutional, he dismissed them. The Carter Center and others in the international community became increasing concerned as they saw these developments unfold.

2000 Elections
Given these events, The Carter Center and its partner, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), were welcomed by Peruvian civil society groups and the electoral authorities as international observers. Prior to the April 9, 2000, election day, The Carter Center and the NDI publicly identified numerous issues that led them to conclude irreparable damage was done to the electoral process and that it fell far below international standards. Election day was in jeopardy, and the Center and NDI asked President Alberto Fujimori to postpone the April 9 presidential and legislative elections, but he declined.
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Election Reports

View Carter Center election reports for Peru >

Defending Human Rights

President Carter issued a statement to the media in May 1996, calling for the Peruvian government to provide a civilian court trial for Lori Berenson, a young American woman convicted of treason by a military tribunal in Peru. Ms. Berenson's trial was in a secret military court, where her lawyer was not allowed to cross-examine witnesses or challenge evidence. The Carter Center continued to follow the case at the request of her family. In 2001, she was granted a retrial, which resulted in the reduction of her life sentence to a 20-year prison sentence, and in May 2010, Ms. Berenson was released on parole after serving 15 years in prison.

Read more about the Carter Center's human rights initiatives >

Mediating Conflict

During the resurgence of violence between Ecuador and Peru in 1995, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former Costa Rica President Oscar Arias issued a message urging peace between the two nations. They requested negotiations and a cease-fire to restore peace in the region. Both leaders were  members of the Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas.

Learn more about the Carter Center's Americas Program >