Peru: Making it to the train early

Ever since I started to get interested in world economics and in particular, Peru, I never read something as optimistic as what was posted on the editorial blog of El Mercurio of Chile this week.

The Peruvian economy could have been characterized as irresponsible, demagogic, and just plain archaic until the 90's struck, and a wave of privatizations came around to the region during that decade. As to what Chileans feel about the potential of Peru, they seem to have a sense of optimism that one would say is rare in the Peruvians themselves.

In this editorial, Roberto Finat talks about the Peruvian economy from a an "older brother perspective", one that is wise enough to say "this is what you have to do next, it's part of the process". This certainly something that Peruvians need to understand, but even more, the government itself.

Not only does Alan Garcia have to maintain the sound economic stand of the country, but he also has the challenge to change several minds and hearts in the population. He has to teach people how to take advantage of a democracy that exists through a strong judicial system, and let people know that the train is coming, so you better prepare yourself, otherwise you will not be able to take the ride to a better future.

This is a challenging task, but in my opinion, the message has to be universal, but at the same time, market this idea in conjunction with the sensibilities of the target audience. No more generalizations, or this will fail and Peru will end up with an extremist leader in 2011, which is pretty much the year this country truly chooses what kind of a nation it wants to be.