Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Peru's President Alan Garcia passes law to benefit subcontracted workers

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Peru's president Alan Garcia approved a law on Monday evening that sets stricter limits on labor outsourcing.

The law, which was a major union demand, was approved by congress in late May.

According to new contracting requirements, companies will have to make sure that the contractor firms they hire are abiding by labor laws.

Furthermore, contracted workers will be allowed to complain directly to main companies.

A national registry containing the names of contracting companies will also be created and companies that abuse workers' rights will be penalized.

Once the law was passed, President Garcia affirmed that hundreds of thousands of workers would be protected. He added that now there existed contracting laws that could not be avoided or evaded by companies.

Garcia explained that many contracting companies in Peru had not been paying workers fair wages and had been hiring people without providing them with social security or a pension fund.

"We want Peru to grow for everyone, to advance for its workers, and to eradicate and eliminate slavery in the 21st century," said Garcia, explaining that employees of contractors would now have more rights.

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Peru's President Alan Garcia drops in polls

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

President Alan Garcia’s approval rating dropped even further in June after citizens in Peru held the government responsible for mining protests in the country’s southern region of Moquegua.

Garcia dropped another five percentage points to 30 percent in the nationwide survey by polling firm Ipsos Apoyo.

Many considered that his administration did not do enough to end the 10-day strike, which saw everything from riots to Moqueguans taking 59 police officers and a police general hostage.

Garcia’s disapproval rating showed that he was even more unpopular in Peru’s southern regions.

Polls showed that 90 percent of Peru’s citizens in the Andean country’s southern regions did not approve of the Head of State.

Inflation was another main factor which contributed to Garcia’s unpopularity. 64 percent of those polled affirmed that they disapproved of Peru’s president because of rising prices.

41 percent of survey participants stated Garcia was a liar and did not keep his word while 38 percent stated the country’s employment situation had not improved.

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Bolivia keeps Peru from implementing free trade deal with the U.S.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Mercedes Araoz announced on Tuesday that Bolivia had not been willing to make changes to an Andean Community document that would permit Peru to implement a free trade deal with the United States.

As one of the final steps in implementing the free trade agreement signed with the U.S., Peru must modify Decision Nº 486, a decision made by the Andean Community (CAN) - a trade bloc comprising the South American countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The article that is to be modified of Decision Nº 486, which is a common intellectual property regime, has to do with the use of patents.

A meeting was held from June 15 - 17 in Lima with the Andean Community's Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to deal with the issue.

"It was a difficult meeting," assured Araoz, stating Peru had Colombia and Ecuador's support but did not have Bolivia's approval.

"For political reasons, Bolivia has rejected the Peruvian proposal to modify Decision Nº 486," said Araoz.

She affirmed this had strongly bothered Peruvian delegates because changing Decision Nº 486 was an essential step in implementing the free trade deal with the U.S.

"Peru will continue insisting," said the tourism minister. "We've asked Bolivia to consider the mutual respect that should exist between the two nations, especially in decisions that affect the country's development."

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Obama for free trade deal with Peru, but against FTA with Colombia

US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said today he supports the signing of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States and Peru, but is against signing a trade deal with Colombia.

“I approved the Free Trade Agreement with Peru, but I’m against an agreement with Colombia”, said Obama in an interview published by the Chilean journal “El Mercurio”.

He stated that he will maintain this position until he is sure that “no union leaders are being murdered in Colombia” and added that “we need to stop these types of paramilitary activities”.

The presidential candidate said that the FTA between his country and Peru is the type of agreement needed because it respects workers' rights and the environment.

On the other hand, Obama regards Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez, as a “manageable threat” for his country’s security and he will be open for dialogue with Venezuela and Cuba if elected president.

Furthermore, Obama acknowledged that he had not been to Latin America, but said he would like to visit the region before the elections.

News source: ANDINA

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President Alan Garcia: Peru needs $10 billion in investments per year

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

In a speech on Tuesday, Peru's President Alan Garcia noted the importance of investments in Peru, stating it was necessary that $10 billion instead of $2 billion be invested in the Andean country per year.

"What we need in Peru is that there be a lot of investments. Despite what is seen, it is little to what there could be. If we receive $2 billion (in investments) we really need $10 billion," said Garcia.

The President affirmed that the two principle ways in which his administration was going to attract more capital was by creating a safe and stable country.

When addressing comments made by union leaders that the government should raise taxes on mining companies Garcia stated, "By taking more from those that are currently investing, by taking more of their profit, we could scare away another nine (companies) that may want to invest".

He affirmed that his goal was for bigger investments in Peru to create more jobs, better roads, improved health services, education and programs that would reduce poverty.

The Head of State explained that to increase investments in the country and make many things possible it was necessary to "establish good regulations that were generous and interesting".

This will bring much more money into the country, said Garcia, explaining that investments could be ten or one hundred times greater.

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Legislators in Peru could be fired for missing work

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Congressional representatives in Peru are to discuss, debate and vote on a series of constitutional changes throughout this week.

Among the topics to be discussed is whether members of congress will be fired if they do not have a valid excuse for not attending congressional sessions.

On Monday evening, the Congressional Constitution Commission approved a bill that proposes to punish legislators that do not show up for plenary sessions.

If the bill is signed into law, representatives that are absent to six plenary sessions will be removed from their position as lawmakers.

The bill was approved by the Constitution Commission with six votes in favor, two against and two abstentions.

"This is a positive measure," said the President of Congress Luis Gonzales Posada, explaining that the new law would ensure that the majority of lawmakers were present during congressional sessions.

Furthermore, there are representatives that have asked that the bill apply to all meetings and not just plenary sessions.

There will now be seven reasons for not being able to continue serving as a congressional representative in Peru.

Among them is death, resigning, being sentenced to prison time and the most recent, missing six plenary sessions of congress and not being able to provide a valid excuse.

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Kieko Fujimori assures she would pardon her father if elected president

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Congresswoman Keiko Fujimori affirmed Sunday evening that she would not hesitate in pardoning her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, if she were elected the president of Peru.

Alberto Fujimori, who recently underwent surgery to have a cancerous tongue lesion removed, is currently standing trial in Lima for a number of crimes related to corruption and human rights violations, allegedly committed during his administration.

The former president's daughter assured that her "hand will not tremble" in pardoning her father if she were elected president.

"I trust that my father will be found innocent, but if the time comes and if I were president of the Republic my hand will not tremble in pardoning any person that I believe is innocent as well as punishing those that are criminals," said Keiko on the Cuarto Poder television program.

Keiko explained that pardoning an individual required an extensive analysis of the person's case. She affirmed that it was necessary to open a specific investigation on each case.

She added that there had been several congressional representatives who had recently been found not guilty by Peru courts, e.g., Carmen Lozada and Luz Salgado, who were acquitted after having been accused of having received money from Fujimori's presidential aid, Vladimiro Montesinos.

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New bill could allow more car imports into Peru

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

APRA congressman Jorge Leon was immediately criticized when he proposed to pass a bill that would allow more used vehicles to be imported into Peru.

Many assured that the bill would in no way help the country's current transportation problem; instead, it would worsen the Andean nation's situation by allowing older vehicles into Peru.

The bill proposes to continue allowing the importation of used vehicles into Peru but would modify regulations by allowing the importation of vehicles that have been used for more than 180,000 kilometers (111,846 miles).

Only vehicles less than 5 years old and which have not been used for more than 80,000 kilometers (49,709 miles) are currently allowed into Peru.

Critics have claimed that if the bill were to be approved, it would only add more junk onto the country's roads, increasing pollution and possibly cause more accidents.

On the other hand, the bill does not intend to change how old a car can be when imported into Peru. The maximum age would remain at 5 years.

This fact has also raised concern.

It has been questioned if it would be a good idea to import vehicles which have been used over 180,000 kilometers (49,709 miles) in 5 years.

Furthermore, the bill proposes to allow vehicles that have been involved in accidents and that have not been repaired into the country.

Politicians disagreed and assured this did not fit into the government's plans to improve the country's transportation system.

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Peru calls home ambassador to Bolivia over Morales’s expressions

Peru recalled its ambassador to Bolivia, Frank Solano, due to Evo Morales's expressions about his Peruvian counterpart Alan García, informed today Peru’s Foreign Minister, José Antonio García Belaunde.

“Yes, I obviously called our ambassador to Bolivia”, said the Foreign Minister to a local radio program after being asked if Peru would take any actions after these expressions.

Morales questioned this week that some countries of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) –in reference to Peru- give preference to a FTA that “break the integration of the Andean region” instead of taking priority on the bloc unity, and added that he has seen president García overweight and “not much anti-imperialist”.

The Foreign Minister said today that the comments made by Bolivian president make difficult a fluid relationship with Bolivia; although he mentioned that his major concern is the Bolivian leader's arguments to oppose trade agreements.

“It is complicated to have fluent bilateral relations with a president (as Evo Morales) that expresses excessive comments”, said García Belaunde.

García Belaunde said that beyond the unfortunate remarks, he is concerned regarding the main arguments of Morales to object the association agreements that countries sign, alleging these ones include public services and water privatization.

“Possibly, he might not have had enough time to read the FTA between Peru and US or any other FTA, and he has believed in a lie that someone else told him”, stated Peru’s chancellor.

News source: ANDINA

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Peru's president Alan Garcia goes up in the polls - Humala drops drastically

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

The approval rating for Alan Garcia's administration has increased from 38.8 percent to 45 percent in June, reported on Thursday the University of Lima's polling firm, The Public Opinion Group.

According to a survey done this weekend, the information gathered showed that the president's approval rating had risen 6.2 percent while his administration's disapproval rating had dropped 7.5 percent to 48.7 percent.

Polls carried out last month registered that 56.2 percent of the population did not approve of Garcia's administration while this month's survey has revealed that less than half the people polled said they were not content.

Alan Garcia was not the only person that became a little more popular this month.

The survey also showed that the approval rating for the president of Peru's congress, Luis Gonzales Posada had increased from 38 to 41.8 percent.

On the other hand, Peru's Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo was not accepted well by those surveyed. The polling firm reported that only 32.6 percent of participants stated they were satisfied with Peru's Premier.

When asked about the cabinet of ministers, almost 60 percent of the people polled supported the Minister for Women while more than 55 percent of participants stated they were happy with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism.

Furthermore, it was reported that more than 54 percent of those surveyed said they agreed with the new Minister of the Environment, Antonio Brack.

The University of Lima found Ollanta Humala to be among one of the most unpopular politicians in Peru.

The polling firm reported that 73.8 percent of participants stated they did not approve of the head of the nationalist party.

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