Twice president of Peru, Gamarra used taxes, specifically taxes placed on the local Andeans, to fill the bureaucracy with followers loyal to him. Gamarra disliked the native Andeans of Peru, but he campaigned tirelessly to associate himself with the Andean utopian tradition.[1] He also failed to control his enemies, the liberals. The liberals favored the dismantling of the primary colonial barrier to progress: the maintenance of corporate interest groups. They wanted international trade to foster economic and social development that would be guided by a decentralized state. Gamarra identified with the conservatives, they called for a protectionist trade policy, the maintenance of corporate interest, and strict social control.[2] Gamarra agreed with Santa Cruz, wanting Bolivia to be a part of Peru, but only as an addition, not as part of a confederation. Gamarra kept to his beliefs and later managed to encourage other countries to go to war against Santa Cruz and Peru-Bolivian confederation.

Agustín Gamarra, a politician and later the president of Peru, said in 1826, “[A]n Indian barely uses fifteen days to cultivate his small plot: the rest of the year, he and his family remain idle and suffer in poverty due to the lack of tasks and profitability occupations that would alleviate them.”[3] People saw these natives as drunk, lazy, and worthless. Those who backed Gamarra used them as a stepping stool to power, capitalizing on the creole elites of Cuzco prejudice towards Andeans. They believed the natives’ idle behavior caused them to be impoverished, reflecting badly on everyone else. Authorities of Cusco used the Andeans to reduce or prohibit payments or get out of debt lawsuits when taxes did not get paid. The Cusco authorities cried out for a head tax on the Andeans.  Claiming it would improve production, enhance tax collection, and perhaps fortify the Indian population. Officials stressed the problems of collecting taxes, the sloth of the Andeans, as a cause for delayed payments.[4] Authorities also created a way to keep the natives from becoming Peruvian citizens. They created the requirements for citizenship specifically with non-Indians in mind. While they could be citizens, the rights could be taken away based on certain actions or crimes. The Andeans and the non-natives of the land did not get along well, and would prove to be detrimental to Gamarra’s power.