Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [17]
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Women in 19th-century Lima took to donning head scarves that obscured everything but one eye. This unusual fashion led people to dub them ‘las tapadas’ (‘the covered ones’).
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Enter Simón Bolívar, the venerated Venezuelan revolutionary, who had been leading independence fights in Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. San Martín met with Bolívar privately in Ecuador, in 1822, to seek help on the Peruvian campaign. Bolívar, however, was not interested in sharing command, so San Martín withdrew. In 1823, the Peruvians gave Bolívar dictatorial powers (an honor that had been bestowed upon him in other countries as well). By the latter half of 1824, he and his lieutenant, Antonio José de Sucre, had routed the Spanish in decisive battles in Junín, as well as in Ayacucho – where the revolutionaries faced staggering odds, but nonetheless managed to capture the viceroy and negotiate a surrender. As part of the deal, the Spanish would retire all of their forces from Peru and Bolivia. In January of 1826, the last detachment of royal soldiers left from the port of Callao.
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THE NEW REPUBLIC
The lofty idealism of the revolution was followed by the harsh reality of having to govern. Peru, the young nation, proved to be just as anarchic as Peru, the young viceroyalty. Between 1825 and 1841, there was a revolving door of regime changes (two dozen!) as regional 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 on international markets as fertilizer. (Nineteenth-century Peruvian history is – literally – rife with poop jokes.)
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Peru’s exports of guano fertilizer in the mid-1800s totaled more than US$20 million a year; that’s more than US$500 million a year by today’s standards.
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The country would also find some measure of stability 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 final 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.)
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It was Chinese migrants who staffed many of the guano operations on the country’s south coast during the 19th century.
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THE WAR OF THE PACIFIC
With Castilla’s passing, the country once again descended into chaos. A succession of caudillos squandered the enormous profits of the guano boom and, in general, managed the economy in a deplorable fashion. Moreover, military skirmishes would ensue with Ecuador (over border issues) and Spain (which was trying to dominate its former South American colonies). The conflicts left the nation’s coffers empty. By 1874, Peru was bankrupt.
This left the country in a weak position to deal with the expanding clash between Chile and Bolivia over nitrate-rich lands in the Atacama Desert. Borders in this area had never been clearly defined and escalating tensions eventually led to outright