Thursday, October 04, 2007
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS:
Peru was included in front-page articles in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal this morning:
FREE TRADE?
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Peru was included in front-page articles in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal this morning:
- The Wall Street Journal (John Harwood) has a story on A1 on increasing resistance to free trade by the USA public - though the Peru deal has "a strong chance of passing in the current congressional term."
- The Canadian CanWest News Service and the New York Times include the shooting down of a Protestant missionary plane near Iquitos in 2001 in stories about the CIA. (See related articles from that time.)
- Reuters reports that US Defence Secretary Gates will not bring up the possibility of opening a new military base when he visits Peru later this week.
- The bio-pic film on Sofia Mulanovich will be screened at the Mt Shasta International Film Festival; you can watch the trailer here.
- Somehow the only item on Peru in the Council on Foreign Relation's 'Daily Brief' is a dated Newsweek article on Fujimori's extradition.
FREE TRADE?
- 'Bush Administration Boosts Pressure To Pass Colombian Trade Pact' (Bloomberg, Mark Drajem)
- 'Schwab: Congress Has Limited Time To Pass Trade Deals' (Christian Science Monitor, David Cook) re: United States trade representative, Ambassador Susan Schwab "The US trade representative hopes to seal agreements with Peru, Columbia, Panama, and South Korea before run-up to '08 election."
- 'Bush Administration Bullish On Host Of Trade Pacts Despite Hill Uncertainty' (Congressional Quarterly Today, Victoria McGrane) "The Senate Finance Committee plans to formally mark up implementation legislation (
S 2113 ) for the Peru pact Thursday. Action by the House Ways and Means Committee is expected within weeks." - 'Hoyer Seeks Bipartisanship On Trade' (The Hill, Ian Swanson) "Hoyer expressed confidence that a less controversial agreement with Peru would pass the House soon with bipartisan support."
- 'US Electronics Companies Press Free Trade Deals' (Reuters, Doug Palmer)
- 'USA Swinging Against Free Trade' (Tax-News, UK, Jeremy Hetherington-Gore) "Then there is the weasel wording on labour rights and environmental protection measures which has been inserted into the US-Peru free trade agreement in order to get it through Congress."
- 'Republicans Grow Skeptical On Free Trade' (Wall Street Journal, John Harwood) placed on A1; "Even relatively small deals are facing resistance. While trade pacts with Peru and Panama have a strong chance of passing in the current congressional term, deals with South Korea and Colombia are in serious jeopardy."
- OPINION: 'The Democratic Economist' (Washington Post, George Will) "Democrats need to hear from a Democratic economist as they resist trade agreements with South Korea and such minor economic powers as Peru."
- 'Peru Sol Gains Most In 16 Months On Rate-Increase Expectations' (Bloomberg, Andrea Jaramillo) "The sol jumped 1 percent, the most since June 1, 2006, to 3.0275 per dollar. It earlier reached 3.022 per dollar, its strongest since September 1998."
- 'Peru Central Bank May Raise Reference Rate On Higher Inflation' (Bloomberg, Alex Emery) "Peru's central bank will probably increase its overnight lending rate today to the highest since May 2001 after inflation surged last month."
- 'Petrobras Reaffirms Partnership In Peru' (EuroPetrole)
- 'Peruvian Wood Exports Rise In First Semester' (IHB, Germany) During the first semester of 2007, Peru’s manufactured solidwood products exports amounted to USD102.9 million, rising 13.49% compared to the same period in 2006."
- 'APEC Confident In Stronger Ties With LatAm' (Prensa Latina) re: 2008 meetings in Lima; interview with APEC Executive and Peruvian Diplomat Juan Carlos Capuñay
- 'iPod Cheap in Hong Kong, But a Brazil Bank-Breaker' (Reuters, Rob Taylor) A $194 iPod in the USA is $294.08 in Peru
- 'Bear Creek Corani Project' (Bear Creek Mining, press release)
- 'Strike In Peru Sends Copper Higher' (Bloomberg, Millie Munshi) "Any labor dispute that actually cuts into production levels is going to be significant," said Eric Wittenauer, an industrial-metals analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis, Missouri. "This is happening in a market where we continue to see producers having trouble increasing supply."
- 'A Cry From The Top Of The World' (Counter Punch, Brenda Norrell) Miguel Palacin at Western Mining Action Network Conference in Tucson, hosted by MineWatch Canada
- 'Update On Progress Of Trujillo Gold Project' (Mineweb)
- 'Grupo Mexico's Woes Grow As Southern Copper Peruvian Miners Strike' (MineWeb, Dorothy Kosich) "Unions at Southern Copper's three Peruvian operations went on strike Tuesday, sending copper prices to their highest level in nearly five months. Meanwhile, traders are worried about a threatened November 5 nationwide strike in Peru, called by the country's National Federation of Mining, Metallurgy, and Steel Workers Union (FNTMMSP). Business News Americas reported that 38 unions have agreed to participate in the national strike."
- 'Gates Says No South America Base Proposals Made' (Reuters) "U.S. officials previously said Colombia and Peru had offered to discuss alternative sites [to Manta Base in Ecuador], though both countries denied this. ... He said he did not plan to raise the issue during his other stops, which include Peru."
- 'Relief For Quake Victims' (The Star, Malaysia) "Peruvian ambassodor Alejandro A. Gordillo and his wife Mare Z de Gordillo came forward to seek help in the shape of food supplies to alleviate some of the distress the thousands of victims continue to suffer. “I am seeking help from any organisation in Malaysia to provide some relief,” the ambassador said."
- 'Nine Roads Through The Virgin Wilderness' (InterPress Service, Marcela Valente) re: Congreso Latinoamericano de Parques Nacionales y Otras Areas Protegidas in Bariloche, Argentina "Ernesto Raez Luna, of Conservation International Peru, said the highway that stretches from the border with Brazil to Peru’s Pacific coast crosses areas of high biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest, and affects eight protected areas. "62% of the Tambopata National Reserve was deforested to make way for this project," he said. Alberto Barandiarán, of the Peruvian non-governmental organisation Law, Environment and Natural Resources (DAR), said that 68% of Peru’s Amazon region is zoned for oil and gas exploration and extraction."
- 'Carleton University To Sign Agreement With Board Of Universities Of Peru' (Carleton University, Canada, press release) includes: Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica; Ambassador Guillermo José Miguel Russo Checa represented Peru
- Carleton University Links To Peru (Ottowa Sun, Laura Czekaj) "Carleton University has inked a deal that will increase its collaboration with universities in Peru and its co-operation with institutions working in the areas of electrical engineering and trade policy and law."
- 'Vargas Llosa Supports Catalan Radio Host' (Agence France Press)
- 'Venezuela Offers Collaboration To Peruvian Firms' (Prensa Latina, Cuba) re: ALBA "Venezuela offered Peruvian entrepreneurs its experience on promotion of the development of small and medium industry, to face the battering of capitalism."
- Toledo In Chile (Santiago Times) at forthcoming Biarritz Forum
- 'Accident Victim's Father Reaches Out To Community' (Stamford Times, Connecticut, A. J. O'Connell) "Leonardo Sanchez wishes to send body of his son, Reynaldo Sanchez, 23, back to Peru. Sanchez's son were both killed in auto crash. Lucas Romero, the president of the Stamford Peruvian American Community Center, is a friend of the Sanchez family. He and Carolina Osorio-Ruiz, president of the Hispanic Advisory Council of Greater Stamford, are reaching out to both the Peruvian and Hispanic communities in Stamford on Sanchez's behalf."
- 'Researchers Suspect Indigenous Tribe Spotted In Peruvian Jungle Lived In Isolation' (Associated Press)
- ' 'Unknown' Peru Amazon Tribe Seen' (BBC)
- OPINION: 'The Remodeler's Dilemma' (Huffington Post, Carl Pope) "If I hadn't had that face-to-face encounter with activists like Julio Cusurichi, would I still have persevered in the search for sustainable, legal, options?"
- 'Few Immediate Curbs Expected On Private Soldiers In Iraq' (CanWest News Service, David Pugliese) "Previous attempts to bring private contractors to court have also been blocked by the U.S. government or the companies themselves. In April 2001, a CIA surveillance plane, operated by employees of Aviation Development Corp., directed Peruvian air force jets to shoot down what was thought to be a drug-smuggling aircraft. In reality, the plane was carrying an American missionary family and the attack killed one woman and her baby. No charges were ever brought against the ADC employees."
- 'Secret US Endorsement Of Severe Interrogations' (New York Times, Scott Shane, David Johnston, James Risen) placed on A1; "Some veteran C.I.A. officers came under scrutiny because they were advisers to Peruvian officers who in early 2001 shot down a missionary flight they had mistaken for a drug-running aircraft. The Americans were not charged with crimes, but they endured three years of investigation, saw their careers derailed and ran up big legal bills." Read other articles about the shooting down of a US missionary Cessna in April, 2001.
- 'Peru Slaying Suspect Fights Sentence In USA' (Patriot News, Pennsylvania, Pete Shellem) "The judge ordered the jail time after learning Smith had traveled to Peru on at least 11 occasions when he wasn’t supposed to be more than 50 miles outside the county without permission."
- 'Two Soldiers Jailed For Killing Journalist' (Reporters Without Borders; International Freedom of Expression eXchange) "Lt Col Amador Vidal Sambento and Major Víctor La Vera Hernández, were sentenced in Lima yesterday to 15 and 17 years imprisonment respectively for killing journalist Hugo Bustíos Saavedra. They were also accused of trying to kill another, Eduardo Rojas Arce."
- 'Effort Builds To Aid Illegal Peruvians' (The Record, New Jersey, Elizabeth Llorente) "Peruvian-American community leaders plan to hold a march Sunday to push for temporary legal status for undocumented immigrants from their homeland. ... Carlos A. Tello, the Paterson surgeon who organized the march. "We're hoping that the United States government will bestow this status upon Peruvians, who have been hardworking members of this society."
- 'Inca Son' (Argus Leader, South Dakota) "Inca Son, a music and dance group from Peru, will showcase the traditional music, dance and costumes of the Andes Tuesday night at 7 in the Washington Pavilion."
- 'Austin-Lima Sister Cities Committee' (Austin American, Texas) see http://www.austinlima.org/ and Sister Cities Information; "presents 'Patterns of Peru and Texas', featuring Peruvian and North American painters and sculptors."
- 'At Highest Risk' Film (Kansas City Star) "Doc looks at Peru’s volatile reproductive health-care situation and high maternal death rate." at Maple Woods Community College; see film schedule; purchase film
- 'Sofia' Winner Of X Dance Awards' (Mt Shasta Herald) Watch Trailer of Film
- 'Sofia' at Film Festival (Mt Shasta International Film Festival) screening October 14 "Sofia would become one of the biggest role models in Peruvian history, simply by doing what she loves, surfing. We follow her quest to her possible first World Title crown in Hawaii."
- REVIEW: 'Roots Of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru' (Orlando Weekly, Jason Ferguson) Purchase the album here; "Listening to the weird and thoroughly enveloping “Linda Muñequita” by Los Hijos del Sol – with its echoey choruses and overlays of cracked laughter – it’s clear that at least some of the musicians represented here were attempting to push these “traditional” approaches into something modern and radical."
- Patio Tapas Opens (Contra Costa Times, California) "Two young fathers, manager Christian Momberg of Chile and chef Marcelo Abusada of Peru, have opened a gutsy restaurant, tapping the tapas trend without sacrificing their South American heritage."
- 'Inka Heritage Fails To Serve Up Distinct Flavors' (Daily Cardinal, Univ of Wisconsin, Jeff Grimyser) "Park Street's Peruvian restaurant brings a new type of ethnic cuisine to Madison, but its dishes leave something to be desired."
- 'Lima Has Become The Gastronomic Capital Of South America' (Toronto Star, Jeremy Fegurson) "You'd think Lima chef Gaston Ucurio [sic - Acurio] is a man in a hurry. At 39, he has 20 restaurants – 10 in Peru and another 10 from Mexico City to Madrid – 22 cookbooks, a hit TV show and a non-profit cooking school.This guy makes Emeril look like an escargot on Valium. ... "I want to take Peruvian all over the world." [Note: Jeremy Ferguson is a freelance writer based in Victoria, BC. His trip was subsidized by Cox & Kings USA.]
- 'English Differs Greatly Between Americans, British' (News-Press, Alessia Leathers) writer confuses 'trousers' with 'treasure'
- 'Fujimori Returns' (LatinAmerica Press, Benjamin Witte and Leslie Josephs)
- 'Peru May Take Spain To The Heights' (Sports Ya) "Jaime Yzaga, Davis Cup Peruvian team coach, mentioned the possibility of playing the series against Nadal & company in Cusco, 3,399 meters above the sea level. ... Edmundo Jaramillo, head of the Tennis Peruvian Federation, said that players will have the last word, though he said that there are chances of changing of surface. (Peru has always played on clay)."
- Alianza Lima Coach Possible Argentina Nacional Coach' (Sports Ya)
- Travelling With Peru's National Team (Star Ledger, New Jersey, Diego Diaz) "On traveling last summer with the Peruvian national team:"I felt proud to be there and practice with all the best players from my native Peru. My dad (Rubin Diaz) was an assistant with the national team. It was a super experience."
- 'Che Guevara Still Inspires, Four Decades After Death' (Agence France Press) "Che Guevara had a daughter with a Peruvian revolutionary, both of whom are dead."
- 'Still A Messiah?' (New Statesman, Isabel Hilton) "In Peru, Fidelistas and Guevarists are in opposing camps."
- 'Seremos Como El Che' (Sun Star, Philippines, George Aguilar) "Che continued on a quest for meaning that brought him to Chile, then onto Peru, Mexico, and eventually to Cuba."
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