Peru is a country in which poverty and, above all, inequality
continue to be central problems, despite the progress made in
macroeconomic terms over the past two decades. The economy has
grown overall, mainly due to increasing exports of raw
materials. This has put pressure on natural resources, violated
the rights of poor populations in rural and urban areas,
weakened democracy and overlooked structural problems that
foster the exclusion of the majority of the population.
Movements against injustice are emerging Of extreme concern is
the existing gap in the levels of poverty between urban and
rural areas. The poorest sectors continue to be concentrated in
rural areas, principally in the southern highlands. The extreme
poverty rate of populations with a primary language other than
Spanish is three times greater than the national average and in
the same rural areas extreme poverty is almost twice as high for
those who do not speak Spanish as a first language. Many
business practices, above all in extractive in