Thursday, January 29, 2004
Peru #1: Knight Ridder's Tyler Bridges (of late Starbucks Fame) reports on how Peru became the "giant asparagus exporter:" Labor costs and ideal climate. (The article is about to be put out by the Miami Herald.) The piece revolves around Agrokasa and Jose Chlimper. "Most of Agrokasa's 2,300 workers earn little more than subsistence wages, averaging 25 soles per day, or about $7.20." Peru is now the world's biggest exporter of asparagus. An important detail: Peru has received "a special exemption from U.S. import duties" for this crop which is based primarily in La Libertad, Ancash, Lima and Ica and employs 50,000 workers. (See Chlimper's recent power point presentation on fresh produce here.)
Titicaca Floods: Reuters' Monica Vargas reports that Lake Titicaca is "rising nearly an inch (2 cm) a day for over a week because of unusually heavy rain," and the rainy season has only just begun. "Two of the main rivers feeding the lake have already burst their banks, damaging 500 homes and 12,350 acres (5,000 hectares) of farm land, and killing about 15 percent of livestock in the area, according to official estimates." Last week, Reuters filed a piece on water rationing in Lima.
Good/Bad Taxes: Dow Jones is reporting that "miners and legislators continue to lock horns over a proposed 3% royalty tax on gross mining sales." Tax Naysayers include Barrick Gold Corp.'s Igor Gonzales; Tax Supporters include Huancavelica Congressman Alejandro Ore Mora, who says the 3% tax would generate "some $250 million annually for state coffers." Others who are quoted include Jose Miguel Morales (National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy), Hans Flury (Energy and Mines Minister), Jaime Quijandria (Finance Minister), Oscar Gonzalez Rocha (Southern Peru Copper Corp). Also: a report written by James Otto on the royalties at the request of the Peruvian government. (See also Otto's "Mining Taxation in Developing Countries.")
Highway Robbery 1: Bloomberg reports on a La Republica piece about 493 people being robbed by "masked bandits armed with rifles, pistols and machetes" over a three-hour period yesterday somewhere between Ayacucho and Lima.
Highway Robbery 2: An El Comercio piece has Repsol's Jose Manuel Prieto "complaining that the prices for gasoline offered to the public in Peru do not reflect the current high international price for the fuel." He says that Peruvian retail prices are "13% lower than they should be because the state petroleum company, Petroperu, has not raised its prices."
Trials/Strikes:
- the Associated Press sets up a few photographs for VMontesinos' trial which resumes today.
- Reuters offers a photo on Peruvian transit workers on their "one-day strike demanding traffic fines be reduced and that they be granted amnesty for past traffic violations."
People:
- the Associated Press puts up a photograph of Comunidad Andina General Secretary Alan Wagner visiting with Bolivian President Carlos Mesa in downtown La Paz today.
- ESPN and others tell the (un)expected: "Solano joins Villa." For 1.5 million BPS/year, Nolberto Solano will be at Villa Park until 2006. "Solano became the first player from Peru to play in England when he joined Newcastle from Boca Juniors for 2.7million pounds in August 1997." Agence France Press offers a Nobby photo.
- the Japan Times headlines Former Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda's obituary like this: "Ikeda, known for work in Peru hostage standoff, dies."
- the BBC reports that Marco Kleefeld, German tourist, has been arrested in Lima "after police found some 400 live miniature toads and dozens of insects in his luggage." Kleefeld claimed he only "wanted to exhibit them in a Frankfurt private zoo."
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Titicaca Floods: Reuters' Monica Vargas reports that Lake Titicaca is "rising nearly an inch (2 cm) a day for over a week because of unusually heavy rain," and the rainy season has only just begun. "Two of the main rivers feeding the lake have already burst their banks, damaging 500 homes and 12,350 acres (5,000 hectares) of farm land, and killing about 15 percent of livestock in the area, according to official estimates." Last week, Reuters filed a piece on water rationing in Lima.
Good/Bad Taxes: Dow Jones is reporting that "miners and legislators continue to lock horns over a proposed 3% royalty tax on gross mining sales." Tax Naysayers include Barrick Gold Corp.'s Igor Gonzales; Tax Supporters include Huancavelica Congressman Alejandro Ore Mora, who says the 3% tax would generate "some $250 million annually for state coffers." Others who are quoted include Jose Miguel Morales (National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy), Hans Flury (Energy and Mines Minister), Jaime Quijandria (Finance Minister), Oscar Gonzalez Rocha (Southern Peru Copper Corp). Also: a report written by James Otto on the royalties at the request of the Peruvian government. (See also Otto's "Mining Taxation in Developing Countries.")
Highway Robbery 1: Bloomberg reports on a La Republica piece about 493 people being robbed by "masked bandits armed with rifles, pistols and machetes" over a three-hour period yesterday somewhere between Ayacucho and Lima.
Highway Robbery 2: An El Comercio piece has Repsol's Jose Manuel Prieto "complaining that the prices for gasoline offered to the public in Peru do not reflect the current high international price for the fuel." He says that Peruvian retail prices are "13% lower than they should be because the state petroleum company, Petroperu, has not raised its prices."
Trials/Strikes:
- the Associated Press sets up a few photographs for VMontesinos' trial which resumes today.
- Reuters offers a photo on Peruvian transit workers on their "one-day strike demanding traffic fines be reduced and that they be granted amnesty for past traffic violations."
People:
- the Associated Press puts up a photograph of Comunidad Andina General Secretary Alan Wagner visiting with Bolivian President Carlos Mesa in downtown La Paz today.
- ESPN and others tell the (un)expected: "Solano joins Villa." For 1.5 million BPS/year, Nolberto Solano will be at Villa Park until 2006. "Solano became the first player from Peru to play in England when he joined Newcastle from Boca Juniors for 2.7million pounds in August 1997." Agence France Press offers a Nobby photo.
- the Japan Times headlines Former Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda's obituary like this: "Ikeda, known for work in Peru hostage standoff, dies."
- the BBC reports that Marco Kleefeld, German tourist, has been arrested in Lima "after police found some 400 live miniature toads and dozens of insects in his luggage." Kleefeld claimed he only "wanted to exhibit them in a Frankfurt private zoo."
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