Sunday, October 03, 2004
UPDATED: Travel to Huancayo; new JDFlorez; SMulanovich Advances
Print Today's Peruvia Here
Fujimori's Millions: Agence France Press, the BBC, Reuters, the UPI, and the Washington Times (using UPI) report that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori's "bank accounts contain millions of dollars, much more than he could earn and potential proof that he stole large sums of state money during his 10-year rule," according to Supreme Court Judge Jose Luis Lecaros. NOTE: Judge Lecaros said "foreign and Peruvian bank accounts declared by Fujimori, who denies any wrongdoing, contain 'hundreds of millions of soles,' far more than the former president could have earned during his time in government or via the property he owns."
Al Qaeda in Peru or Not?, cont.: The Associated Press (second story) reports that "Peru has handed over to US authorities a Jordanian citizen accused of running a smuggling ring to transport more than 200 illegal aliens from the Middle East to the United States." NOTE: Peru Immigration Director Diogenes Diaz said, "the Jordanians entered Peru with seemingly authentic passports and visas, apparently obtained illegally." ALSO: "A US official familiar with the case the The Associated Press: ‘The visas purportedly bore the stamp and signature of the Peruvian honorary consul in Amman, Jordan’." See Also: 'Al Qaeda in Peru' in yesterday's Peruvia.
Whose Pisco? The Associated Press runs a story on the "trade dispute" between Peru and Chile over Pisco. "With a port, valley and river named Pisco, Peruvians say the liquor is to Peru as scotch is to Scotland and port is to Portugal — and they want exclusive rights to the name overseas. Chile argues it has as much right to the name, noting it has a town named Pisco Elqui in its pisco-producing Elqui valley. But Peruvians say that town, the birthplace of Nobel laureate poet Gabriela Mistral, was called Unión until the Chilean government renamed it in the 1930s during a previous campaign to promote pisco." NOTE: When the Chilean’s left Peru after the War of the Pacific, "Peruvians say, they took the name pisco with them and slapped it on a liquor that Peruvians deride as second-rate swill. ‘They took the name, but they didn't take the recipe,’ says Johnny Schuler, a professional wine and spirits taster and government pitchman. CITED: Luis Gonzales' family and their Quebranta grapes. ALSO: "The Peruvian technique requires 15 pounds of fresh grapes to make a bottle of Peruvian pisco." NOTE: "Chile exports about 130,000 gallons, an amount about equal to Peru's entire production. Peru sells around 18,200 gallons abroad. That includes 2,340 gallons shipped to Chile, where the law requires that it be labeled "grape firewater" instead of pisco." The article includes three recipes for ‘taste-testing’: pisco sour, chilcano, and piscola. See Also: Pisco Rights’ in May 7’s Peruvia; and ‘Pisco: La Fórmula Nacional’ in Sept. 2002 Caretas.
Peruvian Energy: The Miami Herald publishes an opinion piece by Thomas F. McLarty, III and Richard Klein president and director, respectively, of Kissinger McLarty Associates, who write that "as world oil prices have crossed the US$50-per-barrel threshold .... Latin America may be source of energy relief." NOTE: "Some eight trillion cubic feet of natural gas sits beneath the grounds and off the shores of Latin America, awaiting investments to develop, commoditize, commercialize, export and capitalize on it. Right now Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, and Trinidad & Tobago all stand poised to join the energy producer club if -- and this is a big if -- the natural gas they sit on can be efficiently moved as a viable, mass-market resource." ALSO: Bolivia's fierce rivalry with neighboring Chile and out-of-control nationalism has undone plans for a $7.5 billion pipeline project to export natural gas to Mexico."
Israeli Killed, cont.: Ha’aretz Nir Mordechai "who was murdered last Monday in an apparent robbery in Peru, was buried on Friday in his hometown of Rehovot. Mordechai's body arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport at noon on Friday." NOTE: "His brother, Eran, said the family was still checking the circumstances of the incident in which Nir was killed." See Also: ‘Israeli Killed’ in October 1’s Peruvia.
New JD Flórez: The Chicago Sun-Times reviews Juan Diego Flórez’ "Great Tenor Arias," declaring that "after the great success of his first two recital discs, which explored the bel canto canon, the Peruvian tenor moves into the heavier territory of Verdi and other later composers. It's not exactly a good fit; Florez's light lyric tenor sounds somewhat adrift in ‘La donna e mobile,’ the quintessential tenor showpiece from Verdi's ‘Rigoletto.’
ACabrera, Mask Maker: Connecticut’s Republican-American notes that Augusto Cabrera, the Peruvian mask maker, will be at at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury to "teach the fine arts students intricacies of 'commedia dell'arte,' or conveying emotion from behind a facade." Cabrera, affiliated with Commediagillet in Sweden, will give a lecture and interactive workshop on commedia dell'arte, the comic theater born of the Italian Renaissance. NOTE: "The genre, while improvisational, centers around a set of stock characters who usually wear masks. Plots are common and known to the actors in advance -- often centering on ‘disgraceful love intrigues’ or ‘tricks to get money or outwit some simpleton’."
SMulanovich Advances to QFinals: SeaSailSurf reports on the Rip Curl Pro WCT at California’s legendary Malibu Beach. "Current world number one, Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich, was lucky to survive her third round clash today with 16-year-old American sensation and wildcard Karina Petroni." Said Mulanovich, "I’m really happy to get through today and I can only thank God," as she prepared for the quarter finals. The Austrailan reports that Sofia Mulanovich is "the runaway leader" as she "chas[es] her fourth consecutive win on the WCT tour." See Also: ‘SMulanovich Set to Win’ in October 1’s Peruvia.
Ancient Brewery: Science News offers a report on ancient microbreweries in Peru and Egypt. "Archaeologists in Peru are now optimistic that they're on the track of an ancient, large-scale brewery. They've unearthed and identified tantalizing signs that rival those pieced together at other sites around the world. Because Peruvians have long consumed an unusual type of beer, the scientists expect to determine the site's use conclusively by looking for chemical signatures of that beer that are not available for the usual malt brew." NOTE: "Archaeologist Patrick Ryan Williams and his team from the Field Museum in Chicago are excavating Cerro Baul, a 1,400-year-old city occupied by the Wari Empire before the time of the Inca. "We found what may be the oldest large-scale brewery in the Andes," says Williams. "It's very exciting." ALSO: "The pepper-berry-based chicha presumably brewed by the Wari was much different from what most people think of as beer. However, it has a long history in the area near Cerro Baul. A local man told the scientists that he remembered his grandmother brewing pepper-berry chicha." See Also: 'Ancient Brewery' in August 2's Peruvia.
Staying In Huancayo: University of Chicago’s Chicago Maroon offers "reflections on a summer in rural Peru" in Cochas Grande in Huancayo’s Mantaro Valley. NOTE: "My business in Cochas was mainly volunteer work. For three months, I taught English to children ages 8 to 18 who were mostly bilingual in Spanish and Quechua." ALSO: "A common question I encountered during my stay was: "What do they think of us in the United States?" Puzzled as to how to reply, I responded as honestly as I knew: ‘Don’t be offended, but the average American probably doesn’t think a lot about Peru’."
More Travel:
- Texas’ San Antonio Express News announces that "an all-women tour group is being organized to visit a remote part of the Amazon rain forest March 20 through April 2. The destination is Tahuayo Lodge, next to the Tamshiyaco-Tahuayo Reserve, 90 miles upriver from Iquitos." The co-sponsors are Women in the Wilderness and Amazonia Expeditions.
- Massachusetts’ Standard-Times runs a travel piece on "the fabled Inca city of Machu Picchu."
- The Arizona Republic offers a hike up Wayna Picchu.
More LBozzo: The Miami Herald publishes an older AP story on Laura Bozzo. See the same stories run in ‘Laura Bozzo’s Troubles’ in September 26’s Peruvia.
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