Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Peru's Vargas Llosa: The hopes of Cuba's revolution have not been realized

Peruvuian author Mario Vargas Llosa, one of the most influential writers in Latin America, said history will not absolve ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro. "The hopes awakened by the Cuban revolution have not been realized," Vargas Llosa told the French news agency AFP in New York. "Cuba is today a poorer country, with huge inequalities between the lives of the nomenclature, tourists and the average Cuban." (Sun-Sentinel - click here to read complete article by Ray Sanchez)


Peru Upgrades Limit On Foreign Investment By Private Pension Funds

Peru's government has increased the legal limit on foreign investments made by the nation's private pension funds, or AFPs. The nation's Superintendent of Banking, Insurance and pension funds, SBS, said late Wednesday that the legal limit has been lifted to 30% from a previous 20%. "This increase in the limit will take place gradually taking into account macroeconomic conditions and the exchange market," the SBS said. (CNN Money - click here to read complete article)


Taylor looking for donations to help pay for soccer trip to Peru

Olney native Kristin Taylor has been chosen to represent the United States in Lima, Peru, in July at the 2008 Apemude Invitational Series. Taylor, a 2007 graduate of East Richland High School, was selected along with 15 other girls soccer players. She is currently majoring in Sports Science at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, and hopes to coach soccer at the college level one day. (Olney Daily Mail - click here to read complete article)


Aon Re Global Acquires Peruvian Reinsurance Intermediary Cosegur Re

Aon Re Global, the world's largest provider of reinsurance brokerage and capital solutions and a unit of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC), today announced it has acquired Peruvian reinsurance intermediary Cosegur Re, offering clients in Peru greater access to worldwide reinsurance markets and Aon Re Global's industry-leading catastrophe modeling and servicing capabilities. (Sun Herald - click here to read complete article by Aon Corporation)

Bus plunges into river in Peru's Andes, killing at least 29

At least 29 people have died in Peru's Andes after a passenger bus went off a road and fell 300 feet (100 meters) into a river. Police Col. Jose del Rio says the bus plunged in the Canete river about two hours before it was due arrive at its destination in the city of Yauyos, 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Lima. (AP - click here to read complete article)


Peru's Central Bank May Keep Rate at 5.5% as Inflation Slows

Peru's central bank will probably keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at the highest since 2001 at its monthly meeting today after inflation slowed in April. All 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the bank to leave the reference rate at 5.50 percent, after an unexpected increase at the April meeting. Annual inflation last month slowed for the first time since August. (Bloomberg - click here to read complete article by Alex Emery)


UPDATE 2-Peru Credicorp's 1st-qtr profit soars 125 pct

Peru's Credicorp (BAP.LM: Quote, Profile, Research)(BAP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday its first-quarter net income rose 125 percent to $178 million from the same period a year earlier, lifted by booming economic growth in the Andean country. Credicorp has a 97.3 percent stake in Banco de Credito, Peru's largest bank, which also operates in Bolivia. (Reuters - click here to read complete article)


Luis Carranza Ugarte, Peru's Minister of Finance, on Lima's Economic Growth

Speaking at the Washington Conference on the Americas, Peru's Minister of Finance Luis Carranza discussed his recent impressive growth—noting that the country’s GDP grew by 9 percent last year—as well as the obstacles to consolidating such gains. Challenges facing Peru include high financial volatility, poverty, and social inequality. But, said Carranza, Peru can achieve success through structural reforms, improved commercial ports, and trade liberalization. (Americas Society - click here to read complete article by Carin Zissis)


Peru prepares for Latin America-European Union summit

Police mapped out traffic detours and readied roadblocks in Peru's capital Wednesday ahead of a summit of European and Latin American leaders expected to address trade, climate change, poverty and the global food crisis. Some 6,000 police officers were being transferred to Lima for next week's summit, in anticipation of protests seen at such meetings before, police said. (AP - click here to read complete article)

Peru president demands justice for murder of Israeli woman

President Alan Garcia on Tuesday demanded severe punishment for those who raped and killed a young Israeli journalist vacationing in southern Peru. Garcia told reporters that he was moved by "the case of an Israeli journalist and soldier who was murdered because she dared to walk the streets of Arequipa alone. (AP - click here to read complete article)


Two arrested in murder of Israeli

Peruvian police overnight Tuesday arrested two men on suspicion of murdering of 22-year-old Israeli tourist Tamar Shahak, who was apparently strangled to death in a robbery on Sunday night. According to a local newspaper, the two are suspected of involvement in a number of robberies and attacks against tourists in the last few years. (The Jerusalem Post - click here to read complete article)


Efforts on to aid Malaysian Indian woman jailed in Peru

A Malaysian Indian yoga instructor is looking for sponsors to travel to the Peruvian capital Lima to meet his former employee, who is critically ill in a jail after apparently being caught with cocaine in her luggage. Kalai Kumar has said he wants to visit Lima to rescue Punitha after Peruvian authorities contacted him to inform that the 50-year-old was seriously sick in jail. Malaysia's foreign office said Tuesday its mission in Lima was in touch with Punitha, reported the New Straits Times. (Mangalorean - click here to read complete article)


Universal Periodic Review of Peru

Human Rights Watch's Submission to the Human Rights Council

Justice for past abuses is a leading human rights concern in Peru. While authorities have made some progress in holding accountable those responsible for some abuses committed during its 20-year armed conflict (1980-2000), most perpetrators continue to evade justice. Investigations of massacres and “disappearances” by government forces have been held up in part by lack of military cooperation. (Human Rights Watch - click here to read complete article)


ADI: Peru set to lead South America with animal circus ban

ADI to launch new scientific report in Congress at unveiling of Bill to ban the use of animals in circuses. A year after launching a devastating exposé of the treatment of animals in circuses in South America, Animal Defenders International (ADI) stands on the brink of securing legislation to end this shocking abuse in Peru and Bolivia. (Politics - click here to read complete article)

Philippines, Peru lauded for child health progress

The Philippines and Peru are doing the best job of vaccinating children and treating them for critical diseases compared to other developing nations, Save the Children reported on Tuesday. With 84 percent of its children having these basic health needs unmet, Ethiopia placed on the bottom of the list in the report issued by the U.S.-based humanitarian group. (Reuters - click here to read complete article by Will Dunham)


Peru putting human rights at risk, groups say

President Alan Garcia is jeopardizing Peru's human rights gains in his drive to turn the economy into a regional powerhouse through free-market reforms, activists say. Garcia recently issued a decree that will make it easier to use the military to arrest protesters. He also called a respected human rights activist a traitor for saying the government was using the threat of terrorism to clamp down on protests. (Reuters - click here to read complete article by Jean Luis Arce and Terry Wade)


Peru Upgrade Follows Strong Growth

The investment grade of Peru by Fitch ratings follows years of solid growth. Peru, the seventh-largest economy in Latin America, was recently granted investment-grade status by Fitch Ratings. This action can be expected to be followed by the other two international rating agencies. Peru thus joins a very exclusive regional club, up to now only consisting of Chile and Mexico. (Latin Business Chronicle - click here to read complete article by Claudio Loser)


Massive cocaine bust in Peru

Peruvian police have found two tons of cocaine in a warehouse at the port of El Callao in Lima. The drugs had been hidden amongst bentonite, a clay used in the paper and metal-casting industries. Investigators said the shipment was about to be sent to Italy. (ITN - click here to read complete article)


Volcano in 1600 May Have Put World Into Deep Freeze

The effects of a massive volcanic eruption in Peru more than 400 years ago might have significantly impacted societies and agriculture world-wide, according to a new study of historic records. Huaynaputina erupted in southern Peru on Feb. 19, 1600, driving volcanic mudflows that destroyed villages for many miles around and spewing a huge column of smoke and ash into the atmosphere. (Fox News - click here to read complete article by Andrea Thompson)


Building digital life lines

"Mom, where are you calling from? Your voice is trembling, are you sure everything is alright?" These were the first words Carmen Hernandez heard after getting through to her son on the phone following the massive earthquake that struck Peru in August 2007. Mrs Hernandez lived in Pisco, where the quake hit hardest. (BBC News - click here to read complete article by Jonathan Fildes)

Where La Laptop Hits El Camino: The OLPC Roll-out in Peru

After months--nay years--of anticipation, criticism, setbacks and praise, the One Laptop Per Child program is finally taking the diminutive slab of highly-designed tech to its intended audience in a large way. Peru, one of the earliest and strongest supporters of the OLPC, is beginning to ship them in large numbers to some very poor school districts, and MIT Technology Review has a well-researched tale of how it's all going. (Core77 - click here to read complete article posted by Carl Alviani)


Peru Takes the Other Path

It's about 90 minutes flying time from Lima to this jungle metropolis of 400,000. But daily life here is light years away from what it is in the Peruvian capital. After almost two decades of gradual reforms by the central government, Lima is today home to first-world services, globally competitive businesses, shopping malls and an emerging middle class. But here in the hub of the Peruvian Amazon, living standards are all too similar to what they were 30 years ago. (The Wall Street Journal - click here to read complete article by Mary Anastasia O'Grady)


We Are Helping the Poor, Not Supporting Terrorists

The Journal chose to publish a photograph of George Soros, founder and chairman of the Open Society Institute, in connection with an April 28 op-ed "Friends of Terror in Peru" by Mary Anastasia O'Grady. The article seeks to link armed terrorist organizations and groups connected to Hugo Chavez to human rights organizations and other nonprofit associations in Peru. (The Wall Street Journal - click here to read complete article)


Food crisis: summit in Venezuela, protests in Peru

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez convened an extraordinary meeting of member nations of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) in Caracas April 23 to discuss the world food crisis. At the meeting, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, and Chávez signed a series of accords to promote mutual agricultural development, create a joint food distribution network, and create a $100 million ALBA food security fund. (World War 4 Report - click here to read complete article submitted by Bill Weinberg)


22-year-old Israeli murdered in Peru

A 22-year-old Israeli tourist was found murdered in Arequipa, in southern Peru, the Foreign Ministry announced Sunday night. The victim was identified as Tamar Shahak. Israel Radio reported that she was an announcer for Army Radio and a correspondent for Walla. According to the report, Shahak was in the middle of an extended trip through South America. (The Jerusalem Post - click here to read complete article)


Malaysian social worker gravely ill in Peru prison

Punitha K.K. Samy, 50, was arrested after authorities at the international airport in Lima found 3kg of cocaine in her luggage. On Tuesday, Peruvian prison authorities contacted Dr Kalai Kumar, a friend and former employer of Punitha here, to reveal that the woman was gravely ill. (nstonline - click here to read complete article by Fadhal A. Ghani)

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz


Karol Castillo Pinillos, a native of Trujillo, was crowned Miss Peru Universo on Thursday evening and will represent the Andean country at the Miss Universe 2008 beauty pageant on July 14 in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Giuliana Cevallos, Miss Loreto, was the runner-up.

Karol, an 18-year-old university student majoring in psychology, is the youngest of three.

She affirms that her two older brothers, Paulo and Bruno are very protective of her.

The new Miss Peru Universo, who has long black hair and is just under 6 feet tall, captivated the panel of judges last night at what used to be the Hacienda Villa, located in Chorrillos, a seaside Lima district.

After the pageant, the new beauty queen stated she did not think she would win the crown and dedicated her victory to the city of Trujillo.

"I dreamed of it but I didn't expect it," said Karol. "This proves that anyone can reach (the goals) they set."

In Peru Protest, Women Urge Action on Food Prices

More than 1,000 women protested outside Peru’s Congress on Wednesday, banging empty pots and pans to demand that the government do more to counter rising food prices, which are squeezing the poor worldwide. The women, some toting small children on their hips, run food kitchens, known as eating halls, for the poor. (Reuters - click here to read complete article)


Peruvians ditch the dollar, move savings to soles

Max Campos, one of hundreds of money changers who works the street corners of Lima, Peru's capital, spent years trying to get his hands on U.S. dollars. Now he dumps them for the once beleaguered Peruvian sol. Campos, 32, has become part of a sea change of savvy consumers helping to break the Peruvian economy's link to the dollar faster than the government expected. (Reuters - click here to read complete article)


Peru's Coffee Output to Rise 9% as Farming and Prices Improve

Peru's production of coffee, the country's biggest agricultural export, will rise 9 percent in the year through March 2009 as farming practices and prices improve, the U.S. Agriculture Department said. Output will increase to 4.3 million bags from an estimated 3.95 million in the year ended March 31, the U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service attache said in a report prepared by Gaspar E. Nolte and posted on the USDA's Web site. (Bloomberg - click here to read complete article by Ron Day)


Oxygen-poor ocean zones are growing

Oxygen-starved waters are expanding in the Pacific and Atlantic as ocean temperatures increase with global warming, threatening fisheries and other marine life, a study published today concludes. Most of these zones remain hundreds of feet below the surface, but they are beginning to spill onto the relatively shallow continental shelf off the coast of California and are nearing the surface off Peru, driving away fish from commercially important fishing. (LA Times - click here to read complete article by Kenneth R. Weiss)

Americans Can Cash in with Investments in Peru

As American investors struggle with the beginnings of a financial crisis in this country, many are looking overseas for investment opportunities that can bring them a great return in a short amount of time. Manny Backus, known in investment circles as the stock trading whiz kid, says there are plenty of high yield profits to be made in the Peruvian stock market. "It's a little known but fastest growing stock market in the world," Backus said. If someone had invested in these foreign stocks in 2006, "you could have made 11 times more money investing in Peruvian stocks than you did investing in American stocks." (PRWeb - click here to read complete press release)


Cuban Residents in Peru Condemn US Economic Blockade

Participants in the First Encounter of Cuban Residents in Peru condemned the US economic blockade against the Caribbean nation and demanded the immediate release of five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters who remain unjustly imprisoned in the United States. (Cuban news agency - click here to read complete article)


RIGHTS-PERU: Fujimori Hemmed In

After 50 days of hearings, the Peruvian court trying former President Alberto Fujimori has heard virtually incontrovertible evidence that the former president was responsible for kidnappings and for two massacres of civilians perpetrated in the early 1990s, according to prosecutor Avelino Guillén. (IPS - click here to read complete article by Ángel Páez)


Missing Spaniard found dead in Peruvian jungle

The body of 23 year old Spanish student, Pablo Barbadillo Maestre, who was last seen alive in Pacal Guacamayo (Madre de Dios, Peru) on Sunday, April 13th, has been found in the Peruvian jungle. The well-preserved corpse displayed no obvious signs of violence, except for numerous animal and insect bites that may have been inflicted post mortem, and it is believed that Pablo died accidentally. (Think Spain - click here to read complete article)


Feds seize $4 million in heroin at airport

Customs and Border Protection agents say they uncovered $4 million in heroin concealed in Peruvian candy boxes at Newark Liberty International Airport. Tuesday's discovery came three days after a Colombian citizen was arrested on charges of trying to smuggle $1 million dollars worth of liquid heroin through the airport. (WNBC - click here to read complete article)


Potato production a solution to food shortages

Global potato production is expected to be boosted in response to the global food crisis. The recent spike in grain prices has led to food shortages in some countries, with riots in the most severe cases. The International Potato Centre in Peru is now reporting more interest from both governments and business to invest more in potato production. (ABC Rural - click here to read complete article)


Luxury Cruises Now Available on the Amazon River in Peru

Luxury cruises are available to nearly any destination you can dream up, but up until now, they weren't available on the Amazon. A company by the name of Aqua Expeditions has just launched the very first luxury cruise on the Amazon, and the area once unfamiliar to such luxury will now get its taste of in-suite air conditioning, and fabulous 280-thread count sheets. (Cleveland leader - click here to read complete article)


Susanna Baca's Peruvian Passion

A woman with an incandescent look on her face dances on the stage, inspired by a rapture the audience can feel. She stops for a moment and poses, then dances again; the smile on her face seems permanent, the joy she conveys – irresistible. (The Epoch Times - click here to read complete article by Cherian Philipose)

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz


Former Miss Universe and Chilean entertainer, Cecilia Bolocco made headlines in Peru when she arrived to the Andean country and stated she desperately needed a pisco sour and a plate of ceviche.

What made headlines was the fact that Bolocco stated she wanted an "original" pisco sour, admitting that she prepared it Peruvian style in her home.

"I have to be very honest and say that I prepare pisco sour in my home the way it is prepared here. That's how it should be done," said Bolocco, who is in Peru to promote a new line of clothing she has recently released.

The release of the new line can be seen tonight during a fashion show to be held at Saga Falabella in Jockey Plaza.

Cecilia Bolocco, who was the first Chilean woman to win the Miss Universe beauty pageant, has not been the only person to comment on Chile's pisco this week.

Peru's president Alan Garcia said on Monday that he supported statements made by the country's Minister of Agriculture, Ismael Benavides that Chile's pisco is "water downed", assuring the Peru had surpassed Chile's pisco a long time ago.

The statements were brought on after Chile's Minster of Agriculture, Marigen Hornkohl declared that May 15 would be National Pisco Day in Chile.

Telefonica Wholesale Tests Broadband Network in Peru, Confirms Positive Impact of P4P Technology

Telefonica International Wholesale Services, a subsidiary of Telefonica Group, recently conducted a field test of the company’s broadband network in Peru, evaluating its peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol technology, P4P. Results from the test showed that the P4P protocols had a positive impact on network efficiency, achieved by shifting traffic from external to internal links and byrouting the internal traffic shorter distances across the network. (TMC net - click here to read complete article by Calvin Azuri)


APEC trade ministers meet against backdrop of uncertainty

At the 2007 summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum, the leaders asked ministers and officials to report back in 2008 with a summary of steps taken to promote regional economic integration. When they meet in Arequipa, trade ministers, as bidden, can be expected to look again at progress towards the body's overall goal -- free and open trade among the developed nations of the 21 country Pacific Rim forum by 2010 and by 2020 for its developing countries. (Newsahead - click here to read complete article)


April 28, 1947: Kon-Tiki Sets Sail From Peru to Polynesia

1947: Thor Heyerdahl and five crewmen leave Callao, Peru, on a balsa-wood raft. They're hoping to prove that ancient South Americans could have sailed to Polynesia. Heyerdahl was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnologist who crossed the boundaries of academic disciplines and ruffled plenty of feathers in the process. He theorized that South Americans had visited and traded with Polynesia, not that they were the primary population source. Scholars derided him and maintained that South American balsa-wood craft would get waterlogged and sink before they could cross the Pacific. (Wired - click here to read complete article by Randy Alfred)