Living in Peru : your everyday companion

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Peru's President, Alan García, denied the rumor that he would be about to become a father again.

The rumor, launched yesterday by a local journalist's personal blog, stated that the mother of Alan Garcia's 6th child, Roxanne Cheesman, would be at present almost three months pregnant.

“That is nothing but a lie and a rumor spread by a blog,” he said, adding that “this is completely false and I am surprised by the fact media has spread it so quickly. It is not serious to run a story that has not been verified. This is not the way to handle an issue which, moreover, is absolutely false," President Garcia said.

He also made clear that, being 60 years old, he is not planning to have any other child.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

According to a press release, Yanacocha Cajamarca Solidarity Fund will finance pre-investment studies that will provide guidelines for the future construction of the railway project called Norandino, which will link several provinces of Cajamarca with Bayovar port, in Lambayeque region.

This project is expected to become an alternative, fast and efficient transport for mineral, freight and passengers from Cajamarca to the coast and vice versa.

Yanacocha Cajamarca Solidarity Fund is committed to making all necessary pre-investment studies to continue with this project, at the request of the Central Government.

Once the second study (with an investment of US $670,000) is done, the next phase would be the feasibility studies, which could be finished by late 2010.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

Bar tender extraordinaire Dale Degroff was decorated today by Alán García with a “medal for distinguished services, degree of commander.” Due to his efforts to promote Peruvian pisco throughout the world, as well as his special affinity for the drink, Pisco Sour, he was awarded this prestigious medal. In an exclusive interview with LivinginPeru.com, Degroff mentioned that he first learned about pisco when he was working in the states, at a bar that had included pisco on the menu since 1959. He declared that pisco is Peruvian, and stated that it was only during the era of terrorism in the country that they had to import Chilean pisco. “Thank God we can use Peruvian pisco today. There is no comparison.”

Responsible for the popularity of the pisco sour in New York, Degroff arrived in Peru this week to discuss the quality of Peruvian pisco, as well as prepare a variety of pisco cocktails that he himself has invented.

Degroff recommends that Peruvian pisco be tightly regulated for export standards, as well as overall quality. This will help publicize and popularize the drink overseas. Degroff has also opened a museum, which is called the “Museum of the American cocktails” and is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. For more information about the museum, or to take a virtual tour, click here.

Spam Email Falsely Claims Dogs Carry Dangerous Flu Virus

Peruvian net surfers whose email addresses have the misfortune to be on spam email lists were the recipients of a fraudulent news alert, purportedly from Peru.com, which claimed that household pets in southern Peru were spreading a virus, “Fiebre Q,” which the email claims is “letal de alto riesgo.”

The email was not sent by Peru.com or by its parent company, InterLatin Corporation. The email implies a similarity to the virus that causes SIDA, and claims that over 1200 Europeans have already died from “Fiebre Q.”
   
Neither is true. Both H1N1 and the canine influenza, H3N8, are sub-types of Influenza A, and neither is in any way related to the virus that causes SIDA.Furthermore, according to health authorities, pet dogs cannot transmit canine influenza to their human owners, and owners cannot transmit human influenza to their pets.
   
The email directs readers to contact “National Cientific World”, but no such organization exists.Readers are strongly advised not to click on the link which promises “Descarger Informe Prevencion” because the link will download malicious software onto the readers’ computers.

The link is associated with another web service provider, HostMonster.com, based in Provo, Utah (EEUU), and the domain is registered to a company called FastDomain Inc.
ALERT ALSO INTENDED TO CAUSE PANIC.The hoax email seems intended to cause panic among Peruvians, and induce them to click the link, but it also might cause them to discard their household pets. The hoax could have tragic consequences.
   
The email is purportedly from joshuacr@blackbird.netcolo.com, but the address is not real.The internet domain, netcolo.com, is currently registered to a company called Enom, which buys inactive internet domains and holds them for later sale.
   
Information hidden in the full headers of the email show that the hoax actually originated from a computer at Softlayer Technologies, a Texas (EEUU) company with server hubs located in Dallas, Texas, Seattle, Washington, and Washington, D.C.Softlayer Technologies provides hosting services to corporations and individuals, usually for business purposes. It leases network connections and webservers to companies all over the world.

A Softlayer customer service representative, contacted by telephone late Sunday night, could provide no information about steps Softlayer might take when their servers are used to send hoax emails. He referred all questions to the Softlayer abuse department.

Canine influenza is a respiratory disease of dogs caused by the H3N8 sub-type of the Type A influenza virus. It was first identified in in 2004, and up until now has only been found in certain parts of the United States.Canine influenza does not infect humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control (EEUU), it “a disease of dogs, not of humans.”
   
Dogs are most likely to be exposed to canine influenza in kennels and other sites where groups of dogs are kept together.Household pets with little contact with other dogs are much less likely to contract the virus, and owners of household pets are not at risk.For more information on Canine Influenza, the Centers for Disease Control (EEUU) has a webpage with updated information.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Discovery Channel Network, which reaches 450 million homes in more than 160 countries, featured the Olmos Tinajones Special Project (Lambayeque), whose images were recorded in February in different areas of this hydro power initiative.

The documentary, created by Powderhouse for “Mega Engineering” series on Discovery Channel, presents the construction process of the project, highlighting its benefits for the regions under its influence.

This is the first time that a Peruvian mega project is broadcast all around the world.

The interest of “Mega Engineering” to broadcast the Olmos project is explained by the number of years it took to achieve this great work (more than 80), besides the vast array of machinery for the construction of Limon Dam and Transandino Tunnel.

The episode was aired in the US last February.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

Empresabio.com, a Peruvian investment portal, announced in El Foro de las Regiones Peru 2009, the beta launch of its platform for the international promotion of investment projects.

Manuel Olguin, General Manager of Holosens SAC, the company responsible for the technological development of the portal, summarized on one of the forum’s workshops the main advantages offered by the site in promoting the public investment projects of the 26 regional governments participating in the event. The attending public got an exclusive demonstration of the platform, whose official launch date will be in late 2010, coinciding with APEC 2010 in Yokohama, Japan.

Over the next 12 months Empresabio.com's mission is to gather in one site all public and private investment projects in Peru, and expose them to the widest possible audience through its proprietary technology for the formulation and dissemination of business opportunities. Empresabio.com already has a network of more than 4,300 foreign investors and in the short run, plans to incorporate Peruvian commercial banks and other financial institutions.

Representatives of Regional Governments learned that more than 62,000 viable public investment projects have already been preloaded into Empresabio’s database and are ready to be prioritized and promoted. They were also informed of the portal’s strengths in the promotion of SME projects, especially those oriented towards exports, which will benefit from ADEX’s backing of the platform.

Finally, the portal’s creators emphasized how Empresabio has translated common online marketing strategies in an innovative way to the active promotion of Peruvian projects, such as the use of social networks, content and keyword density optimization, and automatic content translation into several languages. Ultimately, the goal is to dramatically increase the visibility of Peruvian investment opportunities on the Internet and attract investors.

About Empresabio
Empresabio is an interactive tool that assists entrepreneurs in the formulation and dissemination of business projects in order to obtain the resources required for their execution. The process is facilitated by proprietary software based on algorithms taken from hundreds of real projects that have previously secured funding. The portal was created by Manuel Olguin and Gary Urteaga, founding partners of Holosens SAC, the company responsible for the site’s development.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The Peruvian chess player Jorge Cori became the youngest Grand Master (GM) in the world.

Aged 14 years and 2 months, the national chess player won this title after winning two Grandmaster norms in the Continental Chess Championships of the Americas 2009 in Brazil, and now in the International Marcel Duchamp Championship in Argentina.

Cori's participation for the title of Grand Master took three months of preparation in Europe, where he had a private tutor with Spanish Javier Moreno.

Meanwhile, his sister Daysi, who already holds at age 16 the title of GM, has now entered the ranking of the 80 best chess players in the world and is acknowledged as one of the best players in the adult category.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

Newspapers and magazines from all over the world are recognizing Peru for its excellent gastronomy and fantastic tourist destinations. In the past two weeks, four prestigious North American media outlets, such as the New York Times, and National Geographic Traveler, have featured Peru in their principle articles.

Many of these features are due to the influence of PromPerú, or the Commission of Promotion of Peruvian Exports and Tourism.

At the end of the month, an international delegation of media outlets, including food critics and tourism specialists, will visit Peru to undergo various tours. First of all, they will experience a gastronomic tour of Lima, a tour of specialized institutes and hotels and many of Peru’s marvels. This delegation will consist of media such as Time (USA), Western Living (Canada), El País (Spain), El Tiempo (Colombia), and many others.

This week women of Peru celebrate 54 years of having the right to vote. The law allowing women to vote was passed on September 7th of 1955, under the government of Manuel Apolinario Odría. Law number 12931 modified articles 84, 86 and 88 of the Political Constitution of 1933, and incorporated women as eligible, upon reaching the age of 21, to vote.

In the first election in which women were able to vote, which took place in 1956, women represented 34% of the national electorate. Lima was the department with the most votes placed by women. Women had solicited the government for suffrage rights since 1910, according to El Comercio.

On July 28th, 1956 nine women were elected for the first time to Parliament. This week celebrates the 54th anniversary of the power of women’s suffrage in Peru, a fact that has most definitely changed the face of Peruvian politics.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The handicrafts exhibition “Hecho a mano para hoteles” (Handmade for hotels), intended to showcase the best among the best in this area, is to be held between August 27th and 28th, at the Casa Berrocal (Barranco district) according to Madeleine Burns, the the National Director of Handicrafts.

The event is organized by Peru's Hotel Society (SHP) and the Peruvian Exporters' Association (Adex), and will unique designs that are not common in the world.

“This is the first time we organize a “Hecho a mano para hoteles”. We will see the level of reception, in order to increase the volume of the exhibition in future events,” said Burns.

Tibisay Monsalve, General Manager of SHP, informed that many Peruvian companies will take place in this exhibition, such as Allpa SAC,  R. Berrocal SAC, Raymisa S.A., Mertrade SAC,  Isabel Rejtman, Full Art Perú,  Jallpanina S. A., Vigady SAC, Wayra, Plumas, Kunckel SRL y Arte & Artesanías Colla SAC, Proart SRL, Gabel 950, y Acacia Peruana.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com