06-08-2015: Latin American Weekly Report

Expectations were not especially high for President Humala’s last state-of-the- nation address. He naturally kept well away from the story dominating the media – the corruption scandal surrounding First Lady Nadine Heredia. Instead, Humala stuck limpet-tight to a recitation of his government’s administrative achievements. He said that big strides had been taken to improve edu- cation, with the education budget up by 70% to surpass NS$22bn (US$7.3bn), and grants provided for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. He also claimed that 1.3m people had been lifted out of poverty during his mandate, and that “even in times of uncertainty” Peru had kept growing and should post the fastest growth of the region (3.5%) this year.