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Saturday, August 20, 2005

Editorial: Today's Peruvia leads with the two most-widely published stories in today’s news on Peru around the world: articles on the death of Edgar Vera at the hands of police in Texas and a lethal bus accident in Huanuco.

Death in Texas: The Associated Press (see longer version here) and the Dallas Morning News follow up on the death of Edgar A. Vera Morante in Arlington, Texas after being pepper-sprayed by Allen police. (The USA Embassy in Lima offered condolences through a short press release, though not on their English-language site.) "The FBI is conducting a civil-rights investigation. The Texas Rangers are looking at whether there was criminal misconduct. And the Allen police are performing an internal investigation. The officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave." NOTE: "Peruvian government officials met with Allen police and the Vera family last week to discuss the internal investigation." ALSO: "The father of two boys was in Allen on August 4, waiting outside another family member's house and minding his own business, relatives said. Police, however, say they responded to a suspicious person call and, after arriving, learned that Vera had an outstanding warrant for a seatbelt violation." NOTE: "The incident drew international attention last week when Eduardo Rivoldi Nicolini, Peru's Houston-based general consul, visited family and authorities in Texas." ALSO: "About 50 protesters stood outside the U.S. Embassy in Lima on August 12 to protest Vera's treatment. ... Jorge Lazaro, secretary of Peruvian Communities Abroad in the Foreign Ministry, said that Peru had sent letters to Texas police and the mayor of Allen reiterating the Andean nation's concern about Vera's death." See Also: For more information see yesterday’s Peruvia in the ‘People’ section.

Tragedy in Huanuco: The Associated Australian Press and agencies in South Africa and China report that "fourteen people were killed and nine injured when a bus plunged off a mountain road in [Huacaybamba, Huanuco] after its steering column broke, police said." NOTE: "Passengers were "returning home from visiting relatives and attending a local religious festival."

Rumsfeld in Lima: MecroPress reports on the two "drug control aircraft" that Secretary Rumsfeld left with the Peruvian government. The story includes some of Toledo’s interview with Radio Programas del Peru where he said Rumsfeld's visit was "extraordinarily productive because we examined the situation of Peru and Latin America with regard to democratic stability, governance and prospects for economic growth." NOTE: "Mr. Rumfeld’s visit has been linked to Washington’s increasing concern with Venezuelan ‘interference’ it neighbouring countries affairs." The Washington File (official State Department, USA) posts a story on Rumfeld’s Lima visit and offers another version of the transcript of the Toledo/Rumsfeld press conference. See Also: 'Rumfeld in Lima' in yesterday's Peruvia.

Rumsfeld in Lima Analyzed: The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (Washington) offers an essay "prepared" by Hampden Macbeth titled ‘Rumsfeld and Rice on Chávez: But Where’s the Beef?’ which includes commentary on the Lima visit. "Rumsfeld traveled to Peru yesterday where the current issue, unlike in Bolivia, is not the destabilizing of the political system but the instability of the political system after four years of failed political leadership by the country’s hapless president, Alejandro Toledo." The piece concludes that "the successive presidencies of Fujimori and Toledo raise serious questions about the future of democracy in Peru. ... Furthermore, given that current polls for next year’s presidential election indicate that no candidate is supported by more than 25 percent of the public, it is questionable whether any of the contenders will win a backing wide enough to effectively represent all stratum of the population ..." See Also: For other analyses, see "On Toledo" in yesterday’s Peruvia.

Rumsfelds Lima Secret: The Baraboo News Republic (Wisconsin, USA) has a columnist who thinks he has the inside scoop on Rumsfeld: "Don Rumsfeld visited Peru Wednesday just days after a government shakeup down there. He said he wants to strengthen U.S. ties with Latin America. He thinks we don't know that former Nixon aides always make sure they have a safe place to retire."

Business:

Sports:

People:

OTHER: The (North) Korean Central News Agency reports that "President Kim Il Sung's work ‘Let the North and the South Open the Way to Peace and the Reunification of the Country in a United Effort’ was brought out in pamphlet by a Peruvian publishing house to mark the 60th anniversary of Korea's liberation. The work is the talk with the delegates of the two sides to the Inter-Korean High-Level Talks on Feb. 20, Juche 81(1992). Read earlier KCNA press releases in Peruvia.


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