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Crossing Continents: Can an economist save Peru?

Can an economist save Peru?

29/04/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Can an economist save Peru?

Can a controversial economic theory improve the lives of Peru's poorest?

Linda Pressly journeys from Lima to the Peruvian Amazon to ask if a controversial economic theory can improve the lives of slum-dwellers and indigenous Amazonian Indians alike.

The world famous Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto believes that the key to ending poverty for countless millions is to give them the right to own the land that they live on. If a person owns the land, and has the paperwork to prove it, his theory says, they can use it as collateral to borrow money from banks to help build businesses and improve their quality of life. 

But de Soto's ideas have proved controversial. Now they are being tested in the rainforests of the Amazon. The indigenous Peruvians who live there believe that they already own the land and protest against what they see as the encroachment of big business. Last year, protests culminated in more than 30 deaths at Bagua

Linda Pressly journeys from Lima to the heart of the Amazon region with Hernando de Soto to discover how he is working with indigenous people.

Presenter: Linda Pressly
Producer: Paul Vickers.

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