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Wednesday, January 21, 2004

VMontesinos: A few more join the chorus of Montesinos stories today (see "A Man With Two Valdivias" in Peruvia, Jan. 20 below). The New York Times offers its own Montesinos piece today with a piece by Juan Forero, reporting from Bogota. Fortunately, the Times reporter was able to get Ronald Gamarra, the special prosecutor in the case, on the telephone last night for some quotes. Gamarra "said the tribunal would seek additional testimony from the director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet, and the C.I.A. officer in Lima at the time, Robert Gorelick." (Updated stories in Lima say these conversations are unlikely.) The NYTimes' piece has additional details as to what the CIA does and does not assume responsibility for. The United Press International also has a new piece and while today's Washington Post and the Miami Herald print editions include brief versions of the AP story.
Note: Some photographs of the VMontesinos trial are posted by several news wire organizations.

"We're Worried.": Reuters has an ominous piece on Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi who warns "that unnamed troublemakers could use a coca growers conference next month [Feb. 18-20] to spark a violent uprising like the ['Bolivianazo']." Reuters attributes Canal N, El Correo, and CPN Radio as sources for the story. Said Rospigliosi: "We're worried." (Reuters' had a similar angle yesterday. See "Poll Ratings" in Peruvia, Jan 20 below.)

De Soto: #1: At the World Economic Forum, presently underway in Davos, Switzerland, former USA President Bill Clinton stated that development initiatives that deserve to 'systematized' include a campaign led by Hernando de Soto to guarantee property rights to the poor. Said Clinton, "De Soto is probably the most important living economist."

Macro/Micro Econ:
- Dow Jones reports that "Peruvian negotiators for a free-trade deal with the U.S. will meet with their Colombian counterparts in Bogota this week." Included in the talks wil be 'observers' from Ecuador; formal negotiations with the U.S. will "start in the second quarter of the year."
- Business News Americas reports on the call for bids for "water utilities EPS Grau in northern Piura department and Emfapa in neighboring Tumbes department." Concessions will be for 30 years.
- Business Newswire updates the announcement by Embonor that it has reached an agreement to sell its 60.45% stake to Jose R. Lindley S.A. for US$130 million.

BolPeChi, Cont.: The Knight Ridder news service offers this headline from Arica: "Bolivians want ocean access lost in war with Chile." (The Knight-Ridder story is accompanied by several photos the first of which is a delightful highway sign.) The piece offers quotes from both sides (Chile: "This cost us blood, sweat and tears, and we will not give it back." Bolivia: Someone singing 'La Cancion Litoral'.), as wells as notes from "secret negotiations with four Bolivian presidents since 2000." The story suggest that there is "global sympathy for Bolivia" but ends on an odd note: "If Chile gives land back to Bolivia, why wouldn't Mexico seek a return of land lost to the United States?" Meanwhile, United Press International has a story about "Bolivian lawmakers are adamant about regaining territorial access to the Pacific Ocean from neighboring Chile" with a seemingly clear Chilean bias.

Films:
- Seattle Weekly reviews 'Touching the Void' and declares that "the aerial photography over Peru is quite breathtaking." (See "The Mountain" in Peruvia, Jan 18 and "Touching the Void" in Peruvia, Dec 18 for more reviews, clips, etc.)
- Dias de Santiago is one of the 16 films selected for a competition at Rotterdam's 33rd International Film Festival today, says the Bangladeshi Daily Star.

LDiCaprio in Peru, II: The Washington Post's new gossip columnist catches up with Leonardo DiCaprio "[s]omewhere in the Peruvian Andes." (See "Leonardo Siting" in Peruvia, Dec 30 for more details of his visit.)

Tragedy, Again: A wire story reports: "Twenty killed as bus plunges off cliff" on a road between Cuzco and Abancay. Abancay is "only 62 miles west of Cuzco, [but] the winding route takes about six hours."


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