Peru’s crisis has brought to light the fact that the country is dramatically divided: north from south, highlands from lowlands, and especially indigenous from mestizos and whites.

Racism, poverty and discrimination are at the root of this latest uprising by inhabitants of Peru’s highlands, where much of the country’s gas and mineral wealth comes from.

Yet the majority of the people, who are indigenous Aymara and Quechua, complain that the rich who live in the capital or foreigners are the only ones who benefit. Health and education services are poor or nonexistent.

It is a marginalization that goes back decades and even centuries.

Aljazeera.