Leaving Perú

The Peruvian coast is marked by the immense sand deserts and the precariousness of the peasants’ lives. In addition, the north of the coastal area is also marked by the amount of garbage piling up along the roads, mostly around and inside the cities. Very disheartening to see how life goes down the drain in those places. In my opinion it shows a clear failure of the cities’ government to educate the people and organize the garbage collection and disposal. 

Overall the main highways, though improperly designed, are in very good shape. However, once the central government gives place to the local, municipal and regional government, we can see a collapse of the infrastructures. This phenomenon is not unique to Perú as we can also see it in Argentina and Bolivia. If we take Argentina’s case as an example, the collapse might be due to the failure of the government to collect taxes from the big corporations owning the land, the industry and commerce. On top of that, add the traditional corruption of all politicians and government officials, regardless of political colors.

The situation gets worst as we approached Chiclayo, closer to the border with Ecuador. Even Pimentel, the resort city by the beach near Chiclayo is covered by garbage. The Pimentel beach shows the Peruvian kayaks used by the local fishermen:

Boats made of reeds

A 'carrizo' house by the beach

Six years ago we travelled the same road but from North to South. At the time we noticed the huge extensions of the desert marked as Private Property. Now the same desert has been developed into agricultural land. Most of them is fenced and some has signs stating “Private Property – No trespassing - Order to shoot”. Those plots are worked by the same peasants that live in ‘carrizo’ huts and living a life of extreme misery. As usual, the developers leave zero taxes in the local coffers and this explains in part the collapse of the cities.

ECUADOR

Checking out at the border

The contrast cannot be more evident between the two countries. While Perú shows a general collapse Ecuador shows a country in good shape. Roads and bridges in excellent conditions, widespread agriculture works, no garbage piling along the roads, and well maintained cities. Considering that the people is about the same in both countries, the main difference might be in their ruling classes.