Two Peru's

When you look at Peru compared to other Peace Corps countries, for example those in sub-Saharan Africa, my South American home definitely looks like the "posh corps." I mean, there are more than 30 Starbucks in this country - almost all are in Lima, but still, you can't exactly call Peru third-world. In fact, the World Bank has recently classified Peru as an "upper-middle-income economy." So what is Peace Corps doing here? We're here because, in reality, there are two Peru's: Lima, and non-Lima. And life doesn't look so rosy for the majority of Peruvians if you split the overall statistics down this key division and take a closer look. I came across this recent op-ed today, which does a nice job of summarizing why putting Peru in the "developed" category of countries would be a horrible mistake. Here's an excerpt:

"Peru is booming. Largely spared by the global financial crisis, its economy grew by 9.8% in 2008, 6.3% last year. Peru is an enviable fount of gold, silver, copper, fish, agriculture. Its capital is alive with foreign investment. Its cuisine is among the most celebrated in the world. Visit Lima, and you see a city abuzz with shops, restaurants, and a robust new middle class. Visit Cuzco or Machu Picchu, and you cannot help but note the five-star destinations.

"But look around more, and you see two Peru's: effervescent Lima, 9 and a half million strong, and the 20 million more who live outside it. While the poverty rate in Lima fell to 15.7% in 2011 from 44.8% in 2004, the rural Andes and Amazon languish in nearly feudal conditions. According to the World Bank, a citizen of Lima earns 21 times more than a resident of the outback, where the rural poverty rate is a staggering 54%. To make matters worse, it is a starkly racial problem: the poor are the dark-skinned indigenous, the rich, getting richer, are mostly white."