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This article reviews the evolution of the process of impoverishment against the background of programmes to fight poverty during the 1990s. It analyses the objectives and the results of these policies and assesses their success in meeting the targets set by the Fujimori government, both in terms of the poor population of Peru and in terms of national levels of poverty. Given the wide range of social benefits (food, health, social infrastructure) available, it seeks to examine the impact of these policies on the quality of life for the poor and for the most needy. Is it possible to claim that these policies really attack the fundamental causes of poverty or do they merely deal with specific aspects of poverty? The programmes’ main objectives seem to have focussed only on the latter.