Shadows of Belaúnde’s Utopia: A Critical Analysis of La Conquista del Perú por los peruanos

Sing E.; de la Cerna S.; Dextre C.; Pastor J. · ARQ (2025) · DOI: 10.4067/s0717-69962025000300103

Resumen

In 1959, Fernando Belaúnde Terry, former president and Peruvian architect, published La conquista del Perú por los peruanos (The Conquest of Peru by the Peruvians), a document outlining the foundations of a national utopia that viewed the Amazon as a driver of progress. However, when reviewing the key projects of his vision, such as the Marginal Jungle Road and the Civil River Service, the territory is consistently portrayed as an “empty space.” Drawing on Amazonian testimonies and readings, the modernizing narrative reveals its consequences of dispossession and invisibilization, exposing the colonial mentality that underpins the rhetoric of progress.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú