The government's attempt to derail opposition to the proposed privatization of Petro-PerO is a pal- pable demonstration of the contradiction in which: the government finds itself enmeshed. On the one hand, the government talks up the neoliberal dis- course of a new open institutional model; on the other hand, however, it acts in exclusionary, anti- democratic ways when things don't go as desired. The government hopes to collect about $3.8 billion with the sale of Petro-Perl-nearly the same amount as all the other privatizations to date. The: government sees the privatization of the national oil company as a way to increase its coffers, enhance foreign investment, and remain on good terms with- the IMF. It is proving more sticky than expected, how- ever, given that Peru's nationalist tradition considers oil a symbol of national pride. Opposition to the privatization of Petro-PerO is divided between "moderates" and "radicals." Those in the first group (gathered around the UPP front, led by Javier P&rez de Cuellar) say the privati- zation should go forward, but the unity of the com- pany should be kept intact. The government, by contrast, proposes a privatization of the oil compa- ny piece by piece, which would break up the com- pany into independent units. Those in the "radical" camp characterize the pri- vatization of Petro-PerO as anti-constitutional, and point to opinion polls showing that 65% of the population opposes the move. They have reactivat- ed the Civic Committee for Democracy, a coalition led by the daily paper La Repdblica and made up of mainly old politicians from the left and APRA. Mobilizing workers behind their campaign, the Civic Committee wanted to call a referendum on the subject. According to the Constitution of 1993, a nationwide referendum can be held if a group is able to gather 1,200,000 signatures-10% of the voting population. As workers, students and left-wing activists began collecting signatures, the government decid- ed to nip the whole thing in the bud by modifying the referendum process by anti-constitutional means. The Congress passed the Siura Law (named after a senator from Fujimori's camp) which gives parliament the power to decide whether or not to proceed with a referendum. The government is determined to move ahead with the privatization of Petro-PerO, and with its current parliamentary majority, it is unlikely that it will ever allow a refer- endum on the subject.
