Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Jobana Soto

It took seven years of court battles and appeals but Venezuelan Jose Guevara went home happy last Thursday when he won a US$5 million case settlement against the Peruvian government. The decision was ruled by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke in Miami, Florida.

In 2001, Guevara helped Peru capture the country’s former spy chief and former U.S. C.I.A. agent Vladimiro Montesinos in Venezuela after an eight-month international manhunt. Montesinos is imprisoned in Peru awaiting trial on charges of gun running, money laundering and working with drug traffickers among other allegations.

Despite Guevara’s crucial tip that led to the finding of Montesinos in Venezuela, the Peruvian government refused to pay the reward money claiming Guevara was working with Montesinos in money laundering.

Cooke dismissed these allegations saying "Guevara never received any money from the defendants directly," adding that "there was no evidence for conspiracy or aiding and abetting the conversion of funds. There was no evidence of a benefit to Guevara."

It’s not certain when the government will pay Guevara considering the current administration scandal involving the recent resignation of President Alan Garcia’s cabinet for allegations of corruption and oil kickbacks but Guevara’s lawyer, Michael Diaz, states “at least they [Peru] now know the U.S. judicial system is not a place for them to seek refuge from their legal responsibilities."

When Guevara filed suit in the U.S. to claim the reward, the Peruvian government tried to dismiss the case under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), which protects foreign countries from U.S. lawsuits. Diaz argued that by offering a reward, Peru had engaged in "commercial activity," which is an exception to the FSIA.

Montesinos was a principal aide to former and ousted Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori. He is currently awaiting trial for the alleged illegal actions done during Fujimori’s administration.

News Source: Diaz Reus & Targ LLP

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

In the Limean district of San Juan de Lurigancho early Sunday morning, Peru's national police arrested the head of a gang known as The Grasshoppers and seized 30 million soles worth of counterfeit soles that were to be distributed in the city.

After national police detective performed a month-long investigation, Frank Henry Manrique Brito, the 41-year-old head of the criminal organization was captured in a shantytown known as Juan Pablo Segundo.

A raid of Manrique's home revealed a $20,000 printer along with thousands of sheets of counterfeit bills. It was reported that the sheets were reproductions of 10, 20, 50 and 100-sol bills.

The printer was moved from one location to another to keep police from finding it and ending the operation, reported El Comercio newspaper.

These bills, which were produced over a period of two weeks, were not only going to be distributed in Lima but also in the regions of Cusco, Arequipa and Trujillo, said General Walter Rivera, the head of Peru's National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (DIRINCRI).

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Agents belonging to Peru's tax regulatory agency confiscated over $500,000 worth of products in a series of operations at the Andean country's main port.

Among the products seized by officers were 67 high-tech camcorders and cameras along with over 3,000 designer handbags.

It was reported that the operations took place last week in a group of private warehouses in Callao, where SUNAT agents became suspicious of importers after they presented their package listings.

In boxes that were supposed to be containing construction material, agents found 67 modern camcorders and cameras made in Japan.

In another container, which came to Peru from China, authorities found over 3,000 designer handbags that had not been properly listed so as to avoid paying taxes.

Importers had listed they were bringing sunglasses and hair products into the country when they had in fact imported handbags made by Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Channel, Lacoste, Guess and Versace.

All confiscated products have been taken to SUNAT warehouses.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

After several days of violent protests in one of Peru's southern regions, the Andean country's prime minister announced that several of the region's provinces had been declared in a state of emergency.

Late Tuesday evening, Yehude Simon announced that the provinces of Tacna, Jorge Basadre, Candarave and Tarata - located in the region of Tacna - would be in a state of emergency for the following thirty days and under military control.

According to the supreme decree to be published in Peru's official gazette, citizens will not be able to meet in public places or move freely about the provinces declared in a state of emergency.

Furthermore, it was noted that military personnel had the authority to inspect homes and private property where criminals are thought to be.

Peru's council of ministers decided to place provinces in Tacna under a state of emergency after a mob of protestors attacked officers and set a police station on fire on Tuesday afternoon.

Using homemade bombs, angry citizens also set fire to a judicial building and a municipal office on Tuesday afternoon.

This is not the first time protestors have attacked police or set a government buildings on fire during this series of riots.

Citizens in the region of Tacna continue to protest a law passed by congress which redistributes taxes paid by mining companies.

The new law will benefit citizens in the neighboring region of Moquegua.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Affirming the fight is far from over, the governor of Tacna Hugo Ordoñez has stated his region will continue protesting a mining tax bill recently passed by congress.

With violent protests taking place in several regions across Peru, some of the worst have been in the southern part of the Andean nation, in the regions of Tacna and Moquegua.

Unable to agree on the distribution of millions of dollars in mining royalties, protestors have blocked roads, fought police and set government buildings on fire for the past four days.

Protests worsened on Thursday after congress passed a law which is to reorganize the way taxes paid by mines are distributed.

In an effort to push congress to reconsider, riots continue to break out in Tacna.

Only receiving 20 percent of royalties, citizens in Moquegua are demanding a change while protestors in Tacna have blocked access to Chile and cut water supply to Moquegua protesting this change.

It is expected that Alan Garcia will sign this bill into law. Once ratified, it would change the way royalties are distributed to all provinces in hundreds of mines.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Neighbors and pedestrians on Puno Street in downtown Lima on Wednesday morning were witnesses to tear gas in the air, flying bricks, metal bars being swung around and shotguns being fired as police and apartment tenants battled over a colonial style house.

The confrontation began at approximately 10 a.m., when national police attempted to evict a group of people from a house on the fourth block of Puno Street in the historic center of Lima.

Police faced off with approximately one hundred men, who were divided into two gangs and fighting over a 900 square meter (9,688 square foot) piece of property.

Minutes before the street battle broke out, Amparo Rojas, a woman that had rented the establishment for over 10 years, showed up with district authorities and a court order stating that Isabel Céspedes had to immediately abandon the premises.

According to Julio Cachay, Céspedes' lawyer, the original owner of the large house was Francisco de Madalengoitia, who rented the place to Amparo Rojas for several years.

Rojas in turn rented parts of the house to approximately 15 people.

At the beginning of this year, the house was sold to Banco Continental for $380,000 and then leased by Isabel Céspedes for $500,000.

Deciding she would not wait for an official eviction notice, it was reported that Céspedes used thugs to kick Rojas off the land.

The case was taken to court and it was ruled that Rojas and her tenants would be allowed to live on the property until their eviction was officially ordered.

Affirming they would not hand the property over to the former tenants, the new owner, her family members and a hired gang of criminals attempted to keep police from letting Rojas onto the property.

The fight between the two gangs left two men wounded. Antonio Esquivel Nicolás and Luis Rodríguez were seriously injured after being struck by shotgun blasts.

It was reported that 60 police officers managed to detain eight of the men throwing bricks, glass and acid from the house's balcony.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

As protests sweep the nation, Peru's new premier, Yehude Simon has affirmed he will not negotiate while citizens are taking part in violent acts.

While angry mobs in the region of Moquegua released police officers that were being held hostage on Wednesday afternoon, protestors in other parts of Peru have not let up on demands or violent acts.

Approximately 1,000 protestors surrounded a police station full of officers in northern Peru, reported a local radio station, affirming there were officials that had been wounded.

"We are being attacked, a lot of people have taken over a large part of the police station," said an officer in the Amazon region of San Martin.

It was reported that police officers were on the second floor of the station while rioters set fire to documents on the first floor and to the police station itself.

The riot broke out after officers shot tear gas while evicting a group of people from a building.

Since the building was near a school, children were affected by the gas and had to be evacuated. Angry parents, neighbors and citizens joined the attack on the station.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

As Halloween products such as candy and costumes fill Lima's streets, consumer protection agencies have issued serious warnings against purchasing these goods from informal vendors or unauthorized establishments.

Horrible masks with a strong smell of plastic and other chemicals along with candies that have fake health registration codes have flooded the streets of Lima, reported local media.

Upon observing this situation, Jaime Delgado, head of Peru's Consumer Association has assured that using these costumes or eating these candies could cause allergic reactions and even poison children.

"These products don't have real (health) certificates. We've checked with the General Health Directorate (DIGESA) and they aren't authorized," said Delgado, explaining it was unknown who or where the items were produced.

He asked parents to be very cautious and closely check the products they bought for their children because consumers were at the mercy of thousands of informal vendors.

Delgado affirmed that with so many fake products in the country it was difficult for customers to tell what was real, fake or safe.

He stated it was necessary for the government to take immediate action against so many fraudulent vendors.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Hundreds of store owners at Polvos Azules shopping center in downtown Lima battled sixty armed men that had arrived to takeover the buildings top floor on Sunday morning.

The men, who were armed with guns, sticks and knives, attempted to overrun the shopping center's roof at approximately 10:30 a.m., when store owners were opening shops for business.

According to José Álamo, a store manager that witnessed the event, thugs stormed the shopping center through all seven of its entrances, firing gunshots into the air while threatening those in the establishment.

While some store owners and customers immediately fled the scene screaming and crying with their hands in the air, other shop owners closed their stores and confronted the gang of criminals.

Members of the national police's special operations tactical unit (SUAT) arrived at 11:30 a.m.

After dispersing a crowd that had gathered outside the shopping center, they entered the building firing shots into the air.

After what was described by local media as a prolonged shootout, police managed to surround the attackers, who had been shooting from the buildings roof.

Some attempted to flee using the stairs, but were caught by store owners, who beat them with metal bars and sticks.

It was reported that 27 people were detained, twenty-five men and two women.

Legal representatives for Polvos Azules blamed the attack on Florentino Zevallos Rojas, the former head of the shopping center's administrative association. Zevallos was accused of fraud in 2000.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Protesting the construction of a hydroelectric plant in Canchis, a province in the region of Cusco, a mob of citizens that have been on strike since Monday attempted to take over the municipality Friday afternoon.

In an effort to keep protestors from overrunning the municipal building, police confronted the angry mob, reported a police station in the district of Sicuari, explaining that two officers had been injured.

Aside from this riot, the mob attacked Sicuani radio station and organized a protest outside the national bank.

Furthermore, it was reported that a group of youth headed to the home of Mayor Mario Velásquez but did not find him.

"It's a shame they are attacking freedom of press," said the head of the radio station, Doris Ochoa.

It was reported that after protestors forced their way into the radio station, they destroyed office supplies and equipment.

Protestors have also taken over a bridge in the province and have blocked several highways.

Tourists and students on prom trips that have come from the regions of Arequipa and Puno are stranded in these areas and have requested help.