Peruvia

UPDATE: The USA Department of Defense has released a transcript of the press conference between President Alejandro Toledo and Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. You can watch portions of the press conference on Peru.com. Highlights include:
- Toledo: "I want to thank you especially for your support in the fight against drug trafficking expressed in the donation of these two C-26 aircrafts. We, coca producer countries --which is later transformed into drug trafficking products-- need to get together to develop a strategy and immediately after meet with you, the consumer countries."
- Rumsfeld: "This press conference would be remiss if I do not mention the contribution that your country has made to the peacekeeping effort in Haiti. It is important, your troops and forces there have conducted themselves and told with great skill and success and it is an important contribution by Peru and the people of Peru to the stability and the goal of having stability dealt with in peaceful ways as we’re seeing take place there, so we thank you for that as well."

Rumsfeld in Lima: The New York Times offers an analysis piece (David St. Cloud reporting from Lima) ("Like Old Times: U.S. Warns Latin Americans Against Leftists") on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's visit this week which "had the throwback feel of a mission during the cold war, when American officials saw their main job as bolstering the hemisphere's governments against leftist insurgencies and Communist infiltration." USA Perspective: "The American officials said they had some concern that the continuing strife made Peru vulnerable to destabilization by other countries or drug traffickers." Peruvian Perspective: "But Mr. Toledo appeared more interested in obtaining a free trade agreement with the United States to bolster his sagging political fortunes. Peruvian officials are also concerned about a resurgence in coca production in the last year and are worried about proposals in Congress to cut their anti-drug aid. Mr. Toledo and Mr. Rumsfeld said that the narcotics issue had been discussed in their meetings."
See Also:
"Rumsfeld in Peru Just Days After Shake-Up" (Associated Press, Liz Sidoti)
"Rumsfeld in Peru to Discuss Mutual Security Interests" (American Forces Press Service, Donna Miles)
"Peru urges US to sign trade pact to aid drug fight" (Reuters, Alistair Scrutton)
"Peru, US to strengthen anti-drug cooperation" (Xinhua News)
"US warns Castro and oil-rich ally" (Telegraph UK, Francis Harris)
See photographs by Agence France Press, the Associated Press, Associated Press, Reuters, Reuters, and the Associated Press (Rumsfeld with an ‘unidentified man’), the Agence France Press (Rumsfeld with huaco.)
[Editorial Note: There was some confusion but this was the first trip by a USA Defence Secretary to Peru though it was not the first time Rumsfeld has been there. Also, Reuters continues in error about who was at fault in shooting down the missionary plane.]

USA Cuts Aid: Separately, the New York Times runs a story (Juan Forero, still in Bogota) and an accompanying graphic that includes Peru being among the two dozen countries that have had their US aid cut because of a refusal to sign agreements to shield American citizens from any prosecution at the new International Criminal Court in The Hague. "The cuts are generating strong resentment at what many see as heavy-handed diplomacy." The academic challenging opinion comes from Bruce Broomhall (University of Quebec in Montreal) who "noted that for the court to act against a suspected war criminal, the prosecutor must satisfy the judges that the host country was ‘shielding the individual concerned from criminal responsibility’." NOTE: "Peru, a close Bush administration ally, has lost about $4 million. ‘You feel the cuts, yes,’ said Congressman Luis Ibérico, president of the committee that oversees military spending and the antidrug campaign. ‘These are small amounts, but nevertheless, they're necessary to support our military personnel.’ "

Trans Amazon Highway: The Engineering News-Record (CJ Schexnayder) reports that the "consortium of companies led by Brazilian construction giant Construtora Norberto Odebrecht has been awarded $892 million in contracts to build the Peruvian portion of a highway that will connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in South America." The article provides a full review of the projects: it will require the "operation and maintenance of more than 1,000 kilometers of new asphalt roadways. The project will also require the construction of 22 new bridges including the $15-million, 2,360-foot Guillermo Billingurst Bridge that will span the Madre de Dios River at the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado." NOTE: "Consorcio Concesionario Interoceanica Inambari-Azangaro composed of Odebrecht Peru and the Peruvian companies Grana y Montero and JJ Camet won Section Three and Section Four. ConstortiumIntersur composed of Peruvian companies Construtora Andrade Gutierrez, Consructora Queiroz Galvao and Construcoe E. Comercio Camargo Correa won Section Two. The final two portions, Section One and Section Five, will include the revitalization of more than 1,575 kilometers of existing road are slated to be awarded in November." ALSO: "The entire project will include more than 2,600 kilometers of road and is expected to take two years to finish. Upon completion, the highway will create a passageway to three of Peru’s southern ports, San Juan de Marcoa in the Department of Ica, the Port of Matarani in the Department of Arequipa and the Port of Ilo in the Department of Moquega." See Also: 'Trans Amazon Highway' in August 12, 2004's Peruvia.

On Vladi: The Associated Press (Rick Vecchio?), the BBC (Hannah Hennessy), and Knight Ridder papers (like the San Jose Mercury News, Jack Chang) write on Montesinos, the "the balding, beak-nosed figure behind the country's feared intelligence network" whose trial "began Wednesday with a session devoted to arguments from his attorneys for a delay. It then adjourned until next week." (The Kansas City Star headlines the same story, ‘Trial raises specter of Peru executions.’) The Los Angeles Times offers a short snippet of this in their ‘In Brief’ column with ‘Ex-Spy Chief Goes on Trial on Rights Charges.’ The San Jose Mercury News adds a sidebar (from the BBC): "Just Who Is Vladimiro Montesinos?" And the BBC offers video of the protestors outside the court.

On Fuji: The Miami Herald (Tyler Bridges) leans away from the Vladi story and offers a piece on Alberto Fujimori launching his presidential candidacy from "the basement of a Tokyo hotel that doubles as the candidate's residence." NOTE: "Fujimori is now as popular as any of the other candidates, with polls showing him garnering about 20 percent of the vote." ALSO: "Peru's elections office is expected to settle whether Fujimori can run by Jan. 8, the final date in which presidential candidates can register for office. Fujimori declined to answer questions The Herald e-mailed to him." CITED: Fujimori supporters María Luisa Cruzado, José Chlimper, and Congressman Martha Moyano as well as pollster Manuel Torrado and special anti-corruption prosecutor Antonio Maldonado.

Filming Fuji: Knight Ridder’s story above reports that Fujimori’s "picture dominates magazine covers and movie marquees throughout Lima in response to a new documentary, ‘The Fall of Fujimori,’ by U.S. filmmaker Ellen Perry, that has renewed debate about his administration." (On the film, see IMDB, Variety, and festival coverage.)

On Grupo Colina: Nobody above peg their stories on the start of the trial of Santiago Martin Rivas, the head of the Grupo Colina death-squad, in a naval base in Callao. Instead, Reuters has several photographs as does the Associated Press of anti-Fujimori protestors as well of Martin Rivas. The BBC offers video of the protestors.

On Toledo: The Economist and the Economist Intelligence Unit offer analyses. The Economist takes Toledo to task with an article on the Olivera scandal with "Peru’s President, The Masochist: How not to reshuffle a cabinet" which begins, "If shooting oneself in the foot were an Olympic sport, Alejandro Toledo would win the gold medal. ... Pundits expected the president's popularity to carry on rising in the run-up to an election next April. All Mr Toledo had to do was nothing. That proved too much for him." NOTE: Mr Kuczynski "has presidential ambitions. Polls give him less than 5% support, and Peruvians tend not to vote for members of the country's white financial elite." The EIU concludes: "The public perception of Mr Toledo as bereft of political judgement will have been strengthened by the crisis. Mr Olivera's political hopes--which may have included a tilt at the presidency--will also have been severely damaged by the reaction to his cabinet appointment." (Earlier: IPS Services offers a slightly more nuanced analysis.)

On PPK: The Angus Reid Global Scan reviews the latest CPI poll and concludes that "Kuczynski Was First PM Choice for Peruvians" even though he was in a statistical tie with VP Waisman. The poll suggests that 41% of respondents in Metropolitan Lima say Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is qualified to take over as prime minister. Vice-president David Waisman is second on the list with 41%, followed by congressman Henry Pease with 26%, and labour minister Juan Sheput with 15%. NOTE: "Since taking office in July 2001, Toledo has had five different prime ministers: Roberto Dañino, Luis Solari, Beatriz Merino, Ferrero and Kuczynski."

Peruvian To Africa: The Ethiopian Herald and the African Union offered a press release on Peruvian Ambassador Harold Forsyth Mejía’s visit to the Assembly of the African Union and with Commissioner for Political Affairs Julia Dolly Joiner. "They held talks specifically concerning support of Africa for Peru's candidature to one of the Non-Permanent seats at the UN Security Council for the period 2006-2007." Forsyth is Ambassador to Italy and a special envoy.

Africans To Peru: Gambia’s Daily Observer reports that "President Yahya Jammeh has dispatched a fact-finding mission to Peru, ahead of his plan to sponsor Gambian fans to the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Lima next month." NOTE: "The President’s envoy, Lt Col Lang Tombong Tamba, the GFA security chief and Gambia Armed Forces chief of staff, who left for Lima last week, will work out logistics and prepare the ground for more than hundred fans to be sponsored by the president to cheer the Gambian team throughout their stay in the competition."

Rocking MPicchu: La Raza magazine reports on Chilean new wave musical group Los Jaivos and their adventures in Peru including a Mario Vargas Llosa twist. "In the beginning of 1981, Daniel Caminos, a Peruvian friend and film producer in exile in France suggested to adapt ‘Alturas de Macchu Picchu’ from Pablo Neruda not only as an epic rock opera but also to perform it on TV on the village in the mountains itself. [On September 6] they travelled to Peru to finish the score. Chanel 13 of the Catholic University in Chile and Canal 7 in Peru participated, under direction of the Chilean Reinaldo Sepúlveda. Also the Peruvian government cooperated and the Air Force brought over the grand piano and instruments with helicopters. The group restored some instruments like the trutruca, a traditional instrument which resembles an Alpine horn." MVLl was a narrarator for the DVD.

Rocking Incas: The Washington Post and the Washington Blade review ‘The Royal Hunt of the Sun’ performed by the Washington Shakespeare Company. "Peter Shaffer's 1964 epic about the conquest of Peru finds the Washington Shakespeare Company in vintage form. Shaffer's vision is Shakespearean in pitch and scale, with Spanish conquistadors and Inca warriors squaring off in a play that shakes its fist at God." NOTE: "The original music by Mariano Vales, rich with mournful Peruvian flavor and sometimes sung by three women who form a kind of wandering chorus, adds to the sense of cinematic sweep."

Macro/Micro Business:

• Zavala Dancing: While the Associated Press has a photograph of a Zavala/Toledo dance, Dow Jones and Reuters (and an earlier Dow Jones) report on the new finance minister (and Kuczynski acolyte) Fernando Zavala, who said Thursday that privatizing state-owned enterprises - especially the port of Callao - remain a priority in the final year of the Alejandro Toledo government. "The theme of concessions is essential. It is a priority," he told CPN radio. Reuters leads this way: "First the good news: Peru is officially raising its 2005 growth goal to 5.5% and fully expects to beat that, new Economy Minister Fernando Zavala said on Thursday. Now for the bad news: soaring oil prices have cast "a big storm cloud" over the economy in oil importing Peru and the government is working on urgent tax measures, to be presented to Congress at the end of the month, to mitigate their effect." Dow Jones and Reuters also focus on Zavala saying that Peru's gross domestic product is forecast to grow by 5.5% in 2005, up from a previous official forecast of 4.8%.
• Loans Fall: Dow Jones reports that "Peru's past-due bank loan ratio fell to 2.93% in July, as banks continue to clean up their portfolios," according to the Peruvian Banking Association, Asbanc.
• Loans Fall, Cont: The UK’s Export Credits Guarantee Department reported that "Peru has paid off £50 million (GBP) of the total £110 million debt owed to the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), according to the UK Minister for Trade Ian Pearson. NOTE: "The interest saved by Peru from this £50 million early debt payment will contribute to the country's prudent debt management strategy."
• Mining 1: Bear Creek Mining offers a press release on the start of drilling at its Pichacani Norte gold-silver prospect located 150 kilometers southeast of Bear Creek's Corani project.
• Mining 2: Reuters reports that Barrick Gold Corp.'s new Lagunas Norte gold mine in northern Peru should produce 800,000 ounces of gold a year in each of its first full three years, after 545,000 to 550,000 this year, according to senior company officials.
• Mining 3: Vena Resources issues a press release that it has purchased airborne geophysical data relating to the Las Princesas project from Cambior Inc.
• Mining 4: Andresmin Gold Corporation offers a press release to announce it has completed its drilling campaign on the Winicocha Project in Peru.

• IBM in Peru: BNAmericas reports on IBM’s Peruvian unit work with portals developer Synergy Worldwide.

• Wire Transfer=Zero: The NY Daily News reports that HSBC Bank is "eliminating fees for transfers overseas." The twist: "Instead of paying the typical 4% to 10% in fees with Western Union or MoneyGram, people can now send money for free as long as they keep a minimum balance of $1,500 in their accounts." NOTE: "The large minimum, however, can be a tough pill for many immigrants to swallow. Victor Siles, 51, of Astoria, Queens used to send his two daughters in Lima, Peru money each week. He said the HSBC offering "is good, but the only thing is the base you have to put in the bank; that is a lot of money." NOTE: Peruvia Reader MR comments: "You can also avoid high Western Union fees by ..."

Sports:

• The Associated Press (with a photograph) reports Luis Horna lost 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 to Jose Acasuso of Argentina in the Cincinnati Masters semi-finals.
• The Associated Press and Reuters show Peru's Rodrigo Pacheco playing in men's singeles match in the second round of the IBF World Badminton Championships in Anaheim, California.
• ITV, Fox Sports and FansFC are reporting that Aston Villa's Nolberto Solano "has revealed he would jump at the chance of a move to Liverpool." Agence France Press offers a photograph of Nobby. Denials have already begun.
• The Associated Press and Reuters shows Peruvian Jhon Cusi winning the Silver Medal in the men's 5,000-m race at the XV Bolivarian Games in Pereira, Columbia. The Associated Press and Reuters also show the Peruvian women volley team celebrate after defeating Venezuela during the finals. The Associated Press shows Peru's Lizbeth Diez Canseco winning the silver in the women's under 47kg taekwondo. Reuters shows silver medal winner Nora Miro of Peru swim the women's 200 m breaststroke.
• The Associated Press and Reuters report that Walter Vilchez, Paolo Guerrero and Miguel Villalta each scored Wednesday to give Peru a 3-1 win over Chile in a pre-World Cup competition friendly match in Tacna. Photograph from Reuters.

People:

• Science News reports that professors at Cornell University (USA) have "discovered that many cords do represent numbers and arithmetical operations. One pendant strand, for example, may show the sum of numbers found on several strands hanging next to it. Sometimes, there are sums of sums."
• The St. Petersburg Times (Florida, USA) reports on Peruvian businessman Nacho Argiró’s company Empanadas to Go which opened its third store in July. "It's the first location outside its base in Miami Beach."
• The Associated Press and the Dallas Morning News report that Edgar A. Vera Morante, a Peruvian man and legal US resident, who was doused with pepper spray by Allen police two weeks ago -- has died. "Authorities have said Vera was injured when he tried to resist arrest on a 2003 outstanding ticket for not wearing a seat belt. … Vera's case has sparked outrage and protests in Lima."
• The Liverpool Daily Post reports on a teenager who returned home after a summer spent volunteering in Peru. He commented, "The houses were more like shacks and many did not have roofs. Despite all the obstacles that lie before them, they remain a truly hopeful people."
• The Wandsworth Guardian (UK) reports on David Wood, a Peruvian national who became "a sex attacker after he binged on a cocktail of drink and drugs before pursuing a woman after she left a nightclub then raping her in a Putney alleyway."
• The Catholic Telegraph (Cinncinati, USA) reports that Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Margaret (Meg) Walsh recently professed final vows at the Mount Notre Dame chapel here. She is a missionary and teacher in Lima.
• NBC 11 (Georgia, USA) reports on U.S. Navy Medic Manuel Arena who is "calling on protesters back home to be more patient with the progression of the ongoing, and increasingly bloody, war in Iraq. Arena is currently serving in Iraq as a dental tech and medic after being deployed about six months ago. NOTE: Arena and his family moved to Georgia from Peru about 30 years ago." (See Arena on this video.)
• The Mississauga News reports on a group of local firefighters doing volunteer work in a water project in Ventanilla through ‘Make Child Poverty History.’

Permalink; posted by Peruvia : 8/19/2005 07:51:00 AM