Editing Cusco (section)

== Government ==
{{See also|Provincial Municipality of Cusco}}
[[File:Palacio del Cabildo del Cusco1.jpg|thumb|The Palacio del Cabildo, now housing [[Provincial Municipality of Cusco|Cusco City Hall]] and a museum.]]
Throughout its history, Cusco has had a marked political importance. During the Inca period, it was the main political center of the region from which the [[Inca Empire]] was ruled and where the political and religious elite lived. After its Spanish foundation, it lost prominence due to [[Francisco Pizarro]]'s decision to establish the capital of the new territories in the city of [[Lima]] because it had close access to the sea and communication with the metropolis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sisbib.unmsm.edu.pe/Exposiciones/FundLima/fundacion/fundacion_Lima.htm |title=Fundación de Lima |publisher=[[Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos]] |access-date=29 April 2011 |archive-date=2 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902104902/http://sisbib.unmsm.edu.pe/exposiciones/fundlima/fundacion/fundacion_lima.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Cusco continued to be an important city within the viceregal political scheme to the point of being the first city in the entire Viceroyalty to have a bishop.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Angles Vargas |first1=Víctor |title=Historia del Cusco Colonial Tomo II Libro segundo |date=1983 |publisher=Industrialgrafica S.A |location=Lima |author-link=Víctor Angles Vargas }}</ref> Its participation in the trade routes during the viceroyalty guaranteed its political importance<ref>{{cite web |title=Informe Económico y Social Región Cusco |url=http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/docs/Proyeccion-Institucional/Encuentros-Regionales/2009/Cusco/Informe-Economico-Social/IES-Cusco.pdf |publisher=Banco Central de Reserva del Perú |date=22-23 May 2009 |access-date=6 December 2019 |page=21 |archive-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024085552/http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/docs/Proyeccion-Institucional/Encuentros-Regionales/2009/Cusco/Informe-Economico-Social/IES-Cusco.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> as it remained the capital of the corregimiento established in these territories and, later, of the Intendancy of Cusco and, towards the end of the viceroyalty, of the Royal Audience of Cusco.

During the republic, Cusco's political role languished due to its isolation from the capital, coastline, and trade routes of the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tamayo Herrera |first1=José |author-link=José Tamayo Herrera |title=Historia social del Cuzco republicano |date=1981 |publisher=Editorial Universo S.A. |location=Lima }}</ref> However, it maintained its status as the main city in southern Peru, although subordinated to the importance that [[Arequipa]] was gaining, better connected with the rest of the country. Cusco has always remained the capital of the department of Cusco

Politically, according to the results of elections held in the second half of the 20th century, Cusco has been a stronghold of leftist parties in Peru. In the 1970s and 1980s, the socialist leader [[Daniel Estrada Pérez]] brought together this political tendency under the banner of the [[United Left (Peru)|United Left]] alliance. Since his death, Cusco has been a major city for parties such as the [[Peruvian Nationalist Party]] and the Broad Front for Justice, Life and Liberty, as well as regional movements. Traditional Peruvian parties, such as the Peruvian Aprista Party and Acción Popular, have recorded eventual electoral victories, while those that represent a right-wing political position, such as the Popular Christian Party and [[Fujimorism]] itself, have had little presence among the elected authorities.