Peruvia

Sánchez Is New Mining Minister: Reuters reports that President Alejandro Toledo made Pasco Congressman Glodomiro Sánchez Mejía his new Minister of Energy and Mines replacing Jaime Quijandria who will take on a two-year post on the board at the World Bank. (See 'Quijandria To Leave Cabinet' in Sept. 28's Peruvia.) NOTE: "Sanchez, 52, is an experienced mining and energy expert who has promoted more than 50 laws on environmental and mining issues. He also worked on developing Peru's $1.6 billion gas Camisea project, which began pumping in August." CITED: Jose Miguel Morales, president of the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy, which represents mining companies operating in Peru, called Sanchez "a magnificent choice." ALSO: Sanchez' first challenge will be averting a strike set for Wednesday at Southern Peru Copper Corp. SEE ALSO: Sánchez Mejía's curriculum vitae.

Strike at Southern? Reuters reports that Southern Peru Copper Corp. "offered to go to arbitration to resolve the case of a fired worker who unions demand be reinstated, hoping to avert a strike at Peru's top copper producer on Nov. 3," according to Alberto Giles, director of human resources at Southern Peru. NOTE: "The company had also offered to pay workers a one-time, 3,600 soles ($1,084) bonus to avoid the strike."

ReTrying AGuzman: Reuters reports that Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman faces "a retrial 12 years after his conviction as the mastermind of a bloody rebel war [and] remains unrepentant and has shown no signs he expects to be freed in the case to begin next week." The new, civilian, trial, which begins Friday, "was made necessary by the repeal of draconian anti-terror laws under which Guzman was convicted by a hooded military tribunal operating in secret." NOTE: "It will also put 17 other top Shining Path leaders in the dock, including Guzman's longtime lover, Elena Iparraguirre, and Oscar Ramirez, dubbed Feliciano." ALSO: "A few hundred rebel die-hards remain at large and Washington still considers Shining Path a terror group. Rebels have killed several soldiers on patrol in the Andes this year and are believed to be taxing drug trafficking and illegal logging. They killed 10 in a car bomb in Lima in 2002 and briefly kidnapped 71 gas pipeline workers last year." CITED: Nelson Manrique, a consultant to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and who took part in 15 interviews with Guzman, says that "he recognizes there were excesses, but he does not repent; he sees the dead as a necessary cost." The article finishes abruptly with "Ruben Corrilla, 42, who was forced to flee his Andean village of Canchocerca after refusing to join Shining Path and being put on a rebel blacklist."

New JDFlórez Reviewed: The Guardian's Anthony Holden proffers a brief review of Juan Diego Flórez' new album, 'Great Tenor Arias' with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano. "After two mainstream bel canto discs, the Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez braves pastures new with French and Italian repertoire from Gluck to Puccini. Such standards as 'La donna e mobile' and 'Che faro senza Euridice' mingle with less familiar items from Halevy's La Juive and Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto, plus rareties from Donizetti's Figlia del Reggimento and Lucrezia Borgia. All are thrillingly sung."

Tragedy in Apurímac: The Los Angeles Times has a wire piece (likely from the Associated Press) about a passenger bus that "plunged more than 650 feet off an isolated mountain highway in the Andes, killing at least 28 people and injuring 28 others" late Friday near the town of Chuquibambilla. Cited: Dr. Jose Altamirano Rojas and Radioprogramas radio. NOTE: The article adds that "Authorities said no foreign tourists were on the vehicle." The Washington Post has a shorter summary. Reuters reports that "at least 23 people were killed and 27 injured when a bus hurtled into a deep gorge ... The bus was carrying local farmers and traders along a winding, potholed road."

The Miami Herald includes this on books: "Peruvian bad-boy novelist Jaime Bayly, a fair favorite, returns with his new novel, El huracán lleva tu nombre (The Hurricane Carries Your Name, Planeta), at 11 a.m. Nov. 14 in Room 3208-09."