Floods expose continuing state weaknesses in Peru

Significance

The impacts on infrastructure and agriculture have been severe. These have exposed the vulnerabilities of community defences and the weakness of state agencies in responding to such problems. For the government, they may represent a welcome distraction from negative media coverage of its response to three months of protests.

Impacts

• Many of the most urgent problems are associated with maintenance of adequate flooding defences, such as drainage channels.
• Small-scale schemes will prove less rewarding to the authorities, politically and financially, than large-scale infrastructure improvements.
• Community-based defence needs are likely to receive scant recognition from state authorities.