The government’s attempt to derail opposition to the proposed privatization of Petro-PerO is a pal- pable demonstration of the contradiction in which:
the government finds itself enmeshed. On the one
hand, the government talks up the neoliberal dis-
course of a new open institutional model; on the
other hand, however, it acts in exclusionary, anti-
democratic ways when things don’t go as desired.
The government hopes to collect about $3.8 billion
with the sale of Petro-Perl-nearly the same amount as all the other privatizations to date. The:
government sees the privatization of the national
oil company as a way to increase its coffers, enhance
foreign investment, and remain on good terms with- the IMF. It is proving more sticky than expected, how-
ever, given that Peru’s nationalist tradition considers
oil a symbol of national pride.
Opposition to the privatization of Petro-PerO is
divided between “moderates” and “radicals.”
Those in the first group (gathered around the UPP
front, led by Javier P&rez de Cuellar) say the privati-
zation should go forward, but the unity of the com-
pany should be kept intact. The government, by
contrast, proposes a privatization of the oil compa-
ny piece by piece, which would break up the com-
pany into independent units.
Those in the “radical” camp characterize the pri- vatization of Petro-PerO as anti-constitutional, and
point to opinion polls showing that 65% of the
population opposes the move. They have reactivat- ed the Civic Committee for Democracy, a coalition
led by the daily paper La Repdblica and made up of mainly old politicians from the left and APRA.
Mobilizing workers behind their campaign, the
Civic Committee wanted to call a referendum on
the subject. According to the Constitution of 1993, a nationwide referendum can be held if a group is able to gather 1,200,000 signatures-10% of the
voting population.
As workers, students and left-wing activists
began collecting signatures, the government decid- ed to nip the whole thing in the bud by modifying
the referendum process by anti-constitutional
means. The Congress passed the Siura Law (named
after a senator from Fujimori’s camp) which gives
parliament the power to decide whether or not to
proceed with a referendum. The government is
determined to move ahead with the privatization
of Petro-PerO, and with its current parliamentary
majority, it is unlikely that it will ever allow a refer-
endum on the subject.
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