Peruvia

Nuke Devices Stolen: The Associated Press reports on two nuclear measuring devices stolen from the Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy (Instituto Peruano de Energía Nuclear) on July 31, "most likely for sale to a scrap collector," according to the institute's president, Modesto Montoya Zavaleta. He said "the missing 44-pound industrial measurers each contain about 3.5 ounces of removable, encapsulated Cesium 137 ... used by miners [and] do not contain enough radioactive material to produce a 'dirty bomb.' NOTE: "It could cause serious burns if carried around in a pocket for several days." ALSO: "The devices are used to measure density flows of slurry being pumped from mines to determine how much of the liquefied ore is being processed and ensure pumps are not overloaded." Montoya also stated that "23 companies in Peru have 262 of the nuclear devices." NOTE: Dr. Montoya's personal web site, www.modestomontoya.org, is packed with information including video links.

War of the Pacific, cont.: MercoPress notes that former Presidents Alan García and Valentin Paniagua have "joined the maritime border controversy [with Chile] which is increasingly straining bilateral relations." They each declared that "Peru must stand strong and insist in demanding negotiations with Chile to find a solution to the issue." NOTE: "Peru insists in opening the issue since it was never 'discussed bilaterally' and Chile argues the maritime frontier zones differences were sealed by the 1952 accord that included Ecuador." And A Poll: "67% of Lima residents support their government’s position regarding the issue and the dispute with Chile." ALSO: "In a strong reply to Chilean President Ricardo Lagos who said the Peruvian government was playing the foreign affairs 'comics' card to shadow internal disputes, second Peruvian vice-president David Waisman replied 'Peruvians are not Mickey Mouse and I believe the Chilean president is looking at the wrong movie from the wrong seat'."

Camisea Spigot Turned On, cont.: Dow Jones reports that "Peru could start exporting natural gas liquids from the Camisea project as early as this week," according to the Minister of Energy and Mines Jaime Quijandria who declared, "We will likely be exporting propane and butane as of next week." NOTE: "Initially the key markets for the butane and propane will be Chile and Ecuador." CITED: Alberto Moons (Pluspetrol Corp.) and Minister of Trade and Tourism Alfredo Ferrero.

Peruvian Olympian Swimmers: The official Athens Olympic site reports on the two members of the Peruvian Olympic swim team. Valeria Silva will compete in the Women's 100m breaststroke while Juan Pablo Valdivieso will compete in the 100m and 200m Butterfly events. Both are coached by Australians. NOTE: "The swimming competition at the 2004 Games begins on Saturday, 14 August."

More Mining: Chariot Resources announced in a press release that they "formally executed sale and purchase agreements with Rio Tinto Mining & Exploration Sucursal del Peru, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto PLC, and with Shougang Hierro Peru SAA, as of Aug. 6, 2004, to acquire a 100% undivided working interest in the Marcona copper project located in Peru."

USA Returns Montesinos' Millions: Bloomberg reports on the Associated Press story from over the weekend about the USA returning Peru $20 million in Montesinos monies. SEE ALSO: 'USA Returns Montesinos' Millions' in yesterday's Peruvia.

Win A Trip to Peru! The Times of London offers a trip to Peru as a prize for their new Responsible Tourism Awards (with Responsible Travel) which "celebrate tourism organisations and their staff — wherever they are in the world — that work to benefit local people and to be eco-friendly." The contest is open only to UK residents (see more information here).