Peruvia

UPDATED: APRA/China, Buses Kill, Sofia Surfs

Toledo Keeps Ad Hoc Prosecutors: The Miami Herald reports that "President Alejandro Toledo's government has extended the life of a special prosecutors' office that is investigating graft, ending speculation that it would eliminate the office after the prosecutors turned their sights on Toledo's administration," according to Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero. (The New York Times (last item), which pushed the story earlier in the week, includes a short followup and includes a December 31 cut off date for the prosecutor.) Toledo’s government "decided to prolong the contracts of three assistant prosecutors, 18 lawyers and their support staff to continue investigating corruption during the overnment of former President Alberto Fujimori, from 1990 to 2000." CITED: Assistant Special Prosecutor Ronald Gamarra Herrera and head prosecutor Luis Vargas Valdivia. NOTE: In addition to these troubles, "In the past two weeks, the president has lost two of the founders of his political party, Congressman Luis Solari de la Fuente and Rogelio Canchez Guzmán, president of the Callao region." Solari has been Toledo’s Prime Minister and Canchez, "who is from Toledo's hometown, is the only member of Toledo's Perú Possible to win one of 25 regional presidencies for the party in elections two years ago. Perú Possible has lost 11 lawmakers since 2001." See Also: ‘Ad Prosecutors To Close?’ in September 27’s Peruvia.

Toledo’s Brother Can’t Leave Peru: The Associated Press offers a stand-alone, (and the Miami Herald includes), story on Judge Saul Pena, "an anti-corruption judge, has ordered President Alejandro Toledo's younger brother, Pedro Toledo, to stay in the country while prosecutors investigate allegations he used his family name to win a lucrative telephone concession," according to the Attorney General's office. NOTE: "In July the Telecommunications Ministry suspended a 20-year telephone concession in Lima after it was awarded to Telecomunicaciones Hemisfericas, a virtually unknown company, which reportedly listed only S/. 5,000 soles of capital on its application, while the law required a minimum of S/. 6.12 million."

USA May Extradite Colina Member: The Washington Post reports that Wilmer Yarleque Ordinola, an alleged member of the Vladimiro Montesino’s Colina group, who last year was arrested while working on a construction site in the Washington DC area, may be extradited to Peru. The 44-year-old construction worker has been "found guilty of immigration fraud in Alexandria is wanted in Peru in connection with at least 26 killings," according to the USA’s attorney's office in Alexandria. He is charged with "aggravated homicide, aggravated kidnapping and forced disappearance ... and in the killings of college students, a radio personality and an 8-year-old boy." CITED: Rodolfo Pereira, (press counselor for Peru's embassy in Washington); Allan Doody (special agent in charge of the ICE Washington field office); and Michael Lieberman (Ordinola's attorney). See Also: Yarleque’s arrest was cited in this February 2004 report on human rights by the USA State Department.

Free Trade?, cont.: Reuters reports that "Ecuador conceded on Thursday that long-running legal disputes could keep it from sealing a free-trade deal with the United States, although Peru, facing similar issues, insisted they would not derail its negotiations." USA Dep. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier declared that, "both South American nations could be dropped from a proposed Andean trade agreement, and Washington would go ahead with Colombia alone, if legal problems involving millions of dollars in back taxes were not resolved." (The USA State Department’s Washington File offers the complete text of Allgeier’s September 29 speech to the Colombia Investor Conference). NOTE: "Allgeier said that while there is "much unrealized potential for U.S. exports to the region," the benefits of the U.S.-Andean FTA will extend beyond bolstering already significant economic ties between Andean nations and the United States." CITED by Reuters: Minister of Foreign Relations Manuel Rodriguez said, "I think we're going to resolve these issues and have a clean slate for the free trade agreement to be approved in the U.S. Congress." Jose Chlimper (President of Peru's foreign trade society) who declared that "from the U.S. they're pushing us, but in the end, we both have greater interests at stake" and noted that the ATPDEA deals was reached despite the problems. ALSO: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce this year estimated the total value of the string of disputes between U.S. companies and Lima at more than $300 million." See Also: ‘Free Trade?’ in yesterday’s Peruvia.

APRA Welcomes China's Leader: Xinhua Net reports that among other foreign leaders, Mauricio Mulder Bedoya, General Secretary of the Partido Aprista Del Peru sent congratulatory messages to Hu Jintao "for taking over the chairmanship of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Communist Party of China."

Buses Kill: Reuters offers a review of "alarmingly frequent bus crashes in Peru. "More than 100 people were killed in bus crashes in July and August, including at least one foreign tourist," according to police. "In Lima alone, 715 people died in bus crashes between January and August this year, 6% more than in the same period last year." NOTE: "The main victims are poor Peruvians, but travelers from Europe and the United States have also been injured in crashes this year, something that does not aid Peru's tourist industry, a key foreign exchange earner for the economy." CITED: Patrick Allemant (director of motor traffic, Ministry of Transportation and Communication); Joaquin Ormeno (Ormeno bus company); Gen. Cesar Marallano (head of Lima's transit police).

Israeli Killed, cont.: Ha’aretz (second item) reports that "the body of Mordechai Nir of Rehovot, who was killed during an armed robbery in Peru on Tuesday, will arrive in Israel today. The Israeli embassy in Lima persuaded Peru's chief prosecutor not to perform an autopsy, although local law requires it." ALSO: "The other three Israelis wounded, whose condition is improving, will remain in hospital for a few more days. Peruvian police told the embassy they view the incident as serious, and will make every effort to apprehend the perpetrators." NOTE: "Peru's government fears the robbery will harm its image and deter tourists from visiting the country." See Also: ‘Israeli Killed’ in September 29’s Peruvia.

Newmont Gives Up, Cont.: The Associated Press follows up on yesterday’s Denver Post and reports that the Newmont Mining Corporation "is dropping an effort to keep an international legal battle over a mercury spill out of USA courts. The move avoids a deeper look into accusations that the Denver-based company fixed a 1998 Peruvian court decision that gave it control of a huge South American gold mine." NOTE: "For a time, the company's attorneys argued that the lawsuit be heard in Peru. But attorneys for the villagers say Peru's judicial system is corrupt and Newmont has a history of influencing court cases." See Also: ‘Newmont Gives Up’ in yesterday’s Peruvia.

Koreans Buy into Chariot: Reuters and a Chariot Resources press release report that South Korea's LG Nikko Copper Inc. and state-run Korea Resources Corporation "have struck a $281 million Peruvian mining deal with Canada's Chariot Resources, securing copper supplies for South Korea from 2008." ALSO: "KORES said the three companies would sign a contract in Canada later on Friday that seals a tentative deal agreed in June to develop the Marcona project near the coast of southern Peru. Chariot would own 70%, while KORES and LG would take 15% each." NOTE: "Chariot said in August it had agreed to buy the Marcona site from Rio Tinto Plc and Chinese-owned iron miner Shougang Hierro Peru S.A." See Also: ‘More Mining’ in September 23’s Peruvia.

Gitennes’s Gold/Silver: Gitennes Exploration announced in a press release that "drilling at the Urumalqui project in north-central Peru is under way and should continue for the next five to eight weeks. Three holes of an anticipated 24-hole program are complete. This is the second year of drilling at the project where volcanic-hosted, epithermal gold-silver veins occur within broad zones of potentially bulk-minable low-grade gold mineralization."

EAyllón on USA Tour: The Washington Post reviews Eva Ayllon’s new ‘Eva! Leyenda Peruana’ CD. NOTE: "Her voice is an instrument of enchantment, sensuous and soulful, and her repertoire, colored by native rhythms as well African and Spanish influences, is seductive in its own right, insinuating and invigorating by turns." She preforms at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington DC tomorrow. See Also: ‘EAyllón on USA Tour’ in September 21’s Peruvia and her tour schedule on her web site.

SMulanovich Set to Win: The Australian, Surfers Village, and the Sydney Morning Herald all report on this weekend's Rip Curl Malibu Pro world surfing event in California where "Peru's Sofia Mulanovich closes in on a record fourth consecutive tour victory." Mulanovich is currently ranked first on 3960 points. NOTE: "Victory for Mulanovich would make her the first female surfer to win four consecutive events in 26 years of pro surfing." Mulanovich tells the SMH that she is "enjoying surfing so much, taking every heat and surfing every wave as if I was free surfing." Mulanovich says to Surfers Village, "I'm not thinking about the world title or the records at all." NOTE: "After this event in Malibu, a new stop on the tour, the championship concludes with two competitions in Hawaii - at Haleiwa and Honolua Bay." See Also: ‘Sofia #1’ in June 8’s Peruvia.

SPORTS:

Learning Peru: The Library Journal reviews ProQuest Information & Learning, "a web-based reference product is a set of reports describing cultural, geographical, statistical, and social information about countries and regions worldwide." The reviewer "select[ed] ‘Peru’ from the list produced a colorful screen with a map of Peru, a list of interesting facts ( "Peru's average workweek is slightly more than 48 hours, one of the longest in the world"), a picture and history of the Peruvian flag, Country and Developmental Data (Capital City, Life Expectancy, etc.), links to a recording of the national anthem and time and currency converters, Peruvian recipes, and the picture gallery for Peru. But that was just the fluffier stuff."

Aveda Saves Peru’s Forests: The re-vamped Fast Company magazine has an article on Aveda, the high-end organic-cosmetics brand, and its founder, Horst Rechelbacher, who believed, ‘By changing the world of hairdressing, we could change the world.’ NOTE: Today, "there are rain forests still standing in Peru that probably would not be if not for Aveda," says Glenn Prickett (Center for Environmental Leadership in Business). See Also: This note on from Aveda’s website that states, "In partnership with Conservation International (CI), a nonprofit environmental organization, we are helping local communities in the Madre de Dios territory develop environmentally friendly businesses that encourage the conservation of their natural resources."

More On Zalia: The Dallas/Fort Worth’s NBC channel reports interviews Mónica Ramírez about her new makeup company, Zalia Cosmetics and how "Latinas' skin tones come in various shades. Before she took matters into her own hands, she also knew all too well that makeup products for Latinas typically came in one shade: wrong." NOTE: Ramírez, a Peruvian-American, says, "Latinas have a more yellow and olive undertone, and most of the mainstream cosmetics had a pink tone to them." See Also: ‘Business Venture’ in August 18’s Peruvia.