Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Peru's boxing dog packs a mean punch

She can't float like a butterfly, or sting like a bee, but Chela the boxing dog certainly packs a punch -- and a bite too. With her red boxing gloves on, the 3-½ year-old German Shorthaired Pointer dodges punches and throws jabs with her front paws while standing up on her hind legs. Her trainer says she's the only dog in Peru who knows how to box. "Chela didn't want to put the gloves on at first," said Cesar Chacaliaza, a brigadier in the national police force who has been training dogs for 13 years. "But now she likes it. She's very playful." (Reuters - click here to read complete article by Terry Wade)


One Year Later: Red Cross Helping Peru Earthquake Survivors Rebuild

When the massive earthquake struck this region last August 15th, it left communities crumbled, infrastructure destroyed and nearly 140,000 people homeless. Although the spotlight has moved on, the American Red Cross is still on the ground, working with the Peruvian Red Cross to help families rebuild physically and mentally. (Market Watch - click here to read complete press release)


Learning from mistakes a year after Peru's quake

August 15th is the first anniversary of the Peruvian earthquake that killed almost 600 people, injured over 1,000 and affected over 70,000 families in Sur Chico, south of Lima. It gives us a chance to take stock of what happened and push for an injection of new energy in an ongoing reconstruction process which has so far failed the families who most need help to recover and start earning a living again. (Alertnet - click here to read complete article by Samir Elhawary)


One year after the earthquake in Peru: Malteser International draws a positive balance

One year after the severe earthquake in Peru, the rehabilitation measures are still in full process. "Together with Malteser International and many members of Malteser Peru and the Peruvian Association of the Order of Malta, we have reconstructed the houses of 92 families in the two villages of Cedro de Villa and Nuevo Hulacará in a short time", Monsignore Helmut Zielinski, founder of Malteser Peru, says. (Relief Web - click here to read complete article)


Garcia says Peru not in midst of an energy crisis

Peruvian President Alan Garcia worked to calm concerns about the country's growing, if temporary, energy shortage on Wednesday, saying Peru is not in the midst of a crisis. In the last two weeks, Peru has experienced two blackouts as spiking demand, a shortage of rains and poor infrastructure have combined to crimp power supplies. Garcia has met with energy industry leaders to discuss the problem. (Reuters - click here to read complete article by Jean Luis Arce)


Peru: Fujimori planned to execute rebel leader

A former top Peruvian intelligence analyst says ex-President Alberto Fujimori planned to execute the captured leader of the Shining Path rebel group, an execution that was never carried out. Ex-analyst Rafael Merino Bartet says he and former intelligence chief Vladimir Montesinos prepared a decree ordering the execution of Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman. (AP - click here to read complete article)


Petroperu says protests shut oil pipeline in Peru

Peru's state-run energy company said on Thursday it had stopped running its oil pipeline in northern Peru because of protests, forcing its main refinery to work off inventories. The stoppage by Petroperu started on Tuesday after some 500 indigenous people, angry at recent laws passed to promote investment in the Amazon, began a protest. Gas and oil exploration has angered many indigenous and environmental rights groups. (Reuters - click here to read complete article)


Orica Buys 48.6% Stake in Samex in Peru for $58.2 Million

Orica Ltd., the world's largest explosives maker, bought the 48.6 percent stake it doesn't already own in the Samex joint venture in Peru for $58.2 million. The purchase takes Orica's ownership of Samex to 99 percent, the Melbourne-based company said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. (Bloomberg - click here to read complete article by Madelene Pearson)