What the CIA Factbook says...

The CIA factbook doesn't mess around with lengthy explanations. Here, they have condensed Peruvian history into 171 words:

Ancient Peru was the seat of several prominent Andean civilizations, most notably that of the Incas whose empire was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Peruvian independence was declared in 1821, and remaining Spanish forces defeated in 1824. After a dozen years of military rule, Peru returned to democratic leadership in 1980, but experienced economic problems and the growth of a violent insurgency. President Alberto FUJIMORI's election in 1990 ushered in a decade that saw a dramatic turnaround in the economy and significant progress in curtailing guerrilla activity. Nevertheless, the president's increasing reliance on authoritarian measures and an economic slump in the late 1990s generated mounting dissatisfaction with his regime. FUJIMORI won reelection to a third term in the spring of 2000, but international pressure and corruption scandals led to his ouster by Congress in November of that year. A caretaker government oversaw new elections in the spring of 2001, which ushered in Alejandro TOLEDO as the new head of government; his presidency has been hampered by allegations of corruption.

Election 2006

In recent years, many Peruvians have lost trust in their political leaders; in particular the government of Alberto Fujimori (1990 – 2000) was widely accused of corruption, and Fujimori fled the country. The current president is Alejandro Toledo. Although Peru’s economy has shown steady growth during Toledo’s presidency, the economic situation of the poor of the country has not improved. There have now been several allegations of corruption against Toledo.

Peruvians go to the polls on April 9th to elect a new president. The current president (since 2001) is Alejandro Toledo. The current front-runner is Lourdes Flores, who, if elected, would become Peru’s first woman president.

Read more about the election here: http://tinyurl.com/j37kv