Let 'Em Eat Nesselrode

One of Manuel Prado's big campaign pitches when he was running for President last year was a promise to fight inflation with sol-searching* austerity. Last week, five months after his inauguration, the country's two top newspapers, El Comercio and La Prensa, both rapped him hard for breaking the promise. His first yearly budget had just emerged from Congress, at $254.6 million, the fattest in the nation's history and nearly 25% bigger than the last, spending-spree budget of President (1950-56) Manuel Odria, whom Candidate Prado had lambasted as a spendthrift. Old Soldier Odria was often accused of lavishing the taxpayers' soles on the armed forces just to keep the brass contented, but Old (67) Civilian Prado outdid him. Prado upped the army's share 10%, the air force's 75%, the navy's 98%. The civilian ministries, too, got raises.

To El Comercio, La Prensa (usually pro-Prado) and a lot of Peruvian businessmen, the President's freehandedness seemed dangerously inflationary. In a Lima restaurant, a Peruvian economist quipped: "If President Prado's budget is austerity, then this"--he held up a piece of Melba toast--"is a Nesselrode pie."

The budget surprised Peruvians not only because Prado had promised austerity but also because he is usually considered a conservative (he is a member of Peru's richest family). One widespread theory was that the aging, ailing President, besides wanting to keep the military and bureaucratic brass happy, was bent on giving his country plenty of public works to remember him by.

* Free-market value of Peru's sol: 5.3-c-.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.