Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Monday, October 04, 2004
UPDATED: Mulanovich Loses; Gonzalez Viaña in Academia; Helping Araypallpa
Print Today's Peruvia Here
Toledo Offers Emotion to TV Shows: The China Daily and Reuters report that President Alejandro Toledo “phoned the Cuarto Poder program on America Television after it aired a video it said supported allegations signatures were forged to register his party for 2000 elections. He quickly lost his temper and hung up after insulting the presenter.” China Daily notes that “an audibly furious Toledo accused the show of peddling manipulative journalism as anchor Carlos Espá tried and failed to get a word in edgeways and both men battled to be heard” and quotes Toledo concluding: "A half truth is worse than a lie. That's enough of trying to stain people's honor ... I won't permit it, I haven't anything more to say. You are a coward," after which he hung up and “the line went dead on air.” Anaylsts then stated that this “showed the Peruvian leader as hot-headed and intolerant of press freedom.” Toledo later called PanAmericana Television to say “he was only human and has a right to get angry when faced with lies and manipulation.” This became the lead story in most Lima dailies this morning. CITED: Ernesto Velit Granda (analyst); Alvaro Rojas Samanez (analyst); Juan Sheput (Ministry of the Interior) In Spanish: El Comercio reports that Toledo exclaimed, “El periodismo que Ud. acaba de hacer es canallesco y no se lo permito. No tengo nada más que decir. Es Ud. un cobarde", gritó el jefe de Estado antes de colgar abruptamente la comunicación telefónica.” Also: ‘Cuarto Poder’ debuts from this 2002 story in La Republica.
Fujimori Denies Millions, cont.: The Associated Press and Kyodo News report that Fujimori released a statement in Tokyo in which he “totally den[ies] the accusations” by Peruvian Supreme Court Judge Jose Lecaros Cornejo that he embezzled funds and suggested that “the accusations follow a poll showing he is the front-runner in the next presidential elections.” He did not cite the name of the poll. Judge Lecaros made the accusation on Saturday on CPN radio but “did not say where the accounts were located or how much they contained.” Kyodo adds that Fujimori declared, “It is completely false that I diverted donations by Japanese charities,” saying that investigations of Apenkai and Aken, which are both nongovernmental organizations in Peru, “have proven that ‘every penny’ of the donations were used to build schools.” See Also: ‘Fujimori’s Millions’ in yesterday’s Peruvia.
Tax Receipts Climb: Reuters reports that “Peru's September tax revenues rose 12.8% to 2.05 billion soles (US$613 million) in inflation-adjusted terms, higher than the 1.95 billion soles generated in August,” according to the state tax agency SUNAT. NOTE: “Tax revenues, which have been steadily increasing over the past two years, are seen as key in helping the government of President Alejandro Toledo meet a fiscal deficit goal of 1.4% of gross domestic product this year.”
Free Trade? Dow Jones reports from Quito on the trade disputes between the United States and Peru and Ecuador with a focus on the latter’s perspective. “Ecuador's ambassador to the U.S., Raul Gangotena, will meet Tuesday with U.S. government officials … and Minister of Trade Ivone Baki and her trade negotiator, Cristian Espinosa, said Monday the government in Quito is willing ‘to resolve all the pending problems with U.S. companies and organizations’.” NOTE: “On Wednesday, the InterAmerican Affairs Committee of the U.S. Congress will meet with officials from the State Department, the United States Trade Representative office and officials from U.S. companies with investments in Ecuador and Peru.” See Also: ‘Free Trade?’ in October 1’s Peruvia.
Helping Araypallpa: The University of California’s Santa Barbara Daily Nexus reports that the university’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), worked with the residents of Araypallpa (in Paruro, Cuzco), population 450, to install “solar panels that provide a source of electricity for lighting used in classrooms.” CITED: Kaitlin Ergun (university student) NOTE: “Members of EWB spent significant time with the people of Araypallpa to get an idea of their needs. The EWB team surveyed locals on everything from their heath and hygiene to education and economic information.” ALSO: “The people [in Peru] were amazing. We made great friendships with the people of Araypallpa," Ergun said. “We were the first group of people to go into their community [to help] and I had never received such a welcome in my entire life.” See Also: The project summary from Engineers Without Borders and EWB’s work in other locations in Peru.
Toledo Offers Emotion to TV Shows: The China Daily and Reuters report that President Alejandro Toledo “phoned the Cuarto Poder program on America Television after it aired a video it said supported allegations signatures were forged to register his party for 2000 elections. He quickly lost his temper and hung up after insulting the presenter.” China Daily notes that “an audibly furious Toledo accused the show of peddling manipulative journalism as anchor Carlos Espá tried and failed to get a word in edgeways and both men battled to be heard” and quotes Toledo concluding: "A half truth is worse than a lie. That's enough of trying to stain people's honor ... I won't permit it, I haven't anything more to say. You are a coward," after which he hung up and “the line went dead on air.” Anaylsts then stated that this “showed the Peruvian leader as hot-headed and intolerant of press freedom.” Toledo later called PanAmericana Television to say “he was only human and has a right to get angry when faced with lies and manipulation.” This became the lead story in most Lima dailies this morning. CITED: Ernesto Velit Granda (analyst); Alvaro Rojas Samanez (analyst); Juan Sheput (Ministry of the Interior) In Spanish: El Comercio reports that Toledo exclaimed, “El periodismo que Ud. acaba de hacer es canallesco y no se lo permito. No tengo nada más que decir. Es Ud. un cobarde", gritó el jefe de Estado antes de colgar abruptamente la comunicación telefónica.” Also: ‘Cuarto Poder’ debuts from this 2002 story in La Republica.
Fujimori Denies Millions, cont.: The Associated Press and Kyodo News report that Fujimori released a statement in Tokyo in which he “totally den[ies] the accusations” by Peruvian Supreme Court Judge Jose Lecaros Cornejo that he embezzled funds and suggested that “the accusations follow a poll showing he is the front-runner in the next presidential elections.” He did not cite the name of the poll. Judge Lecaros made the accusation on Saturday on CPN radio but “did not say where the accounts were located or how much they contained.” Kyodo adds that Fujimori declared, “It is completely false that I diverted donations by Japanese charities,” saying that investigations of Apenkai and Aken, which are both nongovernmental organizations in Peru, “have proven that ‘every penny’ of the donations were used to build schools.” See Also: ‘Fujimori’s Millions’ in yesterday’s Peruvia.
Tax Receipts Climb: Reuters reports that “Peru's September tax revenues rose 12.8% to 2.05 billion soles (US$613 million) in inflation-adjusted terms, higher than the 1.95 billion soles generated in August,” according to the state tax agency SUNAT. NOTE: “Tax revenues, which have been steadily increasing over the past two years, are seen as key in helping the government of President Alejandro Toledo meet a fiscal deficit goal of 1.4% of gross domestic product this year.”
Free Trade? Dow Jones reports from Quito on the trade disputes between the United States and Peru and Ecuador with a focus on the latter’s perspective. “Ecuador's ambassador to the U.S., Raul Gangotena, will meet Tuesday with U.S. government officials … and Minister of Trade Ivone Baki and her trade negotiator, Cristian Espinosa, said Monday the government in Quito is willing ‘to resolve all the pending problems with U.S. companies and organizations’.” NOTE: “On Wednesday, the InterAmerican Affairs Committee of the U.S. Congress will meet with officials from the State Department, the United States Trade Representative office and officials from U.S. companies with investments in Ecuador and Peru.” See Also: ‘Free Trade?’ in October 1’s Peruvia.
Helping Araypallpa: The University of California’s Santa Barbara Daily Nexus reports that the university’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), worked with the residents of Araypallpa (in Paruro, Cuzco), population 450, to install “solar panels that provide a source of electricity for lighting used in classrooms.” CITED: Kaitlin Ergun (university student) NOTE: “Members of EWB spent significant time with the people of Araypallpa to get an idea of their needs. The EWB team surveyed locals on everything from their heath and hygiene to education and economic information.” ALSO: “The people [in Peru] were amazing. We made great friendships with the people of Araypallpa," Ergun said. “We were the first group of people to go into their community [to help] and I had never received such a welcome in my entire life.” See Also: The project summary from Engineers Without Borders and EWB’s work in other locations in Peru.
Whose Pisco?, cont.: The Taipei Times puts out a slightly modified and abbreviated Associated Press from over the weekend and this one begins, “When ships sailed out of this port some 150 years ago, it wasn't the guano fertilizer in the holds that high-flying California miners were waiting for -- it was the Peruvian firewater also stowed on board. The bird-dropping boom has been over for more than a century, but Peru now is hoping to rekindle foreign interest in pisco, a clear grape brandy bearing the name of this rundown town 205km down the Pacific coast from Lima.”
Newmont Review: The Associated Press reports from Cajamarca on “Yanacocha, 51% owned by Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp., [which] still has a serious image problem to overcome.” The story is pegged largely on a half dozen interviews, though none from the government. Gerardo de la Cruz, a 42-year-old farmer, is one of thousands who spent two weeks blockading the mine. Segundo Briones, a community leader says, “the frogs, ducks and trout we used to have in the Rio Grande are gone. We won't be fooled anymore.” ALSO: Doug Hock (Newmont) said Yanacocha “underestimated water concerns but was eager to work more closely with the community on the new water study.” And Antonio Brack, a leading Peruvian ecologist, “blames Yanacocha and the government in distant Lima, which he says gives short shrift to the region's traditions and water needs and thinks of its people as ‘poor peasants, period’.” See Also: ‘Newmont Gives Up’ in October 2’s Peruvia.
More Mining:
- BNAmericas reports and Chariot Resources announces in a press release (with a photograph at bottom) that the company “signed an historic joint venture agreement with two of the largest mineral industry players in Asia: Korea Resources Corporation (KORES) and LG-Nikko Copper Inc. on Friday, October 1. The signing of the agreement between Alex Black, Chairman of the Board of Chariot Resources, Park Yang-Soo, President of KORES and Lee Beom-soon, President of LG-Nikko was the final act in negotiations which will lead to the development in Peru of the Marcona Copper Project, one of the largest copper deposits in the Americas.” BNAmericas reports that "Korean industries consume 900,000t/y of copper.”
- Barrick Gold announced in a press release that “the Tax Court of Peru has decided in favor of Barrick's Peruvian subsidiary in its case with SUNAT, the tax agency. The appeal of the tax assessment was previously announced in January 2003.”
Baggage on Delta: Delta Air Lines announced in a press release its annual baggage policy for flights to select Latin American cities during the holiday travel season. “From Nov. 15, 2004, through Jan. 15, 2005, Delta is limiting the total number of both checked and carry-on items, as well as the size and weight parameters for these items.” Details for travel to Lima are offered in the press release.
Kon-Tiki Falling Apart: The Norway Post reports that the Kon-Tiki Museum has warned the Ministry of Environment that “Thor Heyerdahl's ‘Kon-Tiki’ raft made from balsawood logs is cracking up and disintegrating. It says that the reed boat "Ra II" is also in danger of falling apart. NOTE: “The Kon-Tiki expedition drifted across the Pasific Ocean, from Peru to Polynesia in 1947.”
PEOPLE:
- Gonzalez Viaña into Spanish Academy: Oregon’s Statesman Journal reports that Western Oregon University professor Eduardo Gonzalez Viaña has been elected a member of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language. NOTE: “The professor also has received Peru’s National Literary Prize, the country’s highest literary award, and the Juan Rulfo Award, an international prize for short stories and novels written in Spanish. Three years ago, he added the Latino Literature Prize from the Latin American Writers Institute of New York to his collection.” He is the author of “Los Sueños de America,” and writes a weekly column, “Correo de Salem.” ALSO: “Gonzalez holds a doctorate degree in Spanish language and literature and a law degree, all from the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo.”
- VLl’s Nobel? The Associated Press gets underway with their annual Nobel-Prize-winners speculation and quotes Svante Weyler, head of Norstedts Publishing House, saying Mario Vargas is a “prime candidate.” See Also: ‘No Nobel’ in October 11, 2001’s Peruvia.
- EAyllón on USA Tour: The Washington Post reviews Eva Ayllón’s concert from over the weekend as an artist who “is a diva, but also a folkloric artist with a message about race, class and self-esteem in her home country. ... [On] Saturday night at the Lincoln Theatre, Ayllón and a nine-piece band turned traditionals and 20th-century poetry into contemporary vehicles for flirting, strutting and educating.” See Also: ‘Eayllon on Tour’ in October 1’s Peruvia.
- SMulanovich Loses in QFinals: Fox Sports (Australia), Rip Curl and SeaSailSurf reports that Sofia Mulanovich lost to Brazil’s Maria ’Tita’ Tavares who came in second behind Hawaii’s Megan Abubo in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Rip Curl Pro women’s professional World Championship Tour (WCT) surfing competition at California’s legendary Malibu Beach. NOTE: Mulanovich “is still the firm favourite for the 2004 world title after a sensational year. Mulanovich had the chance at Malibu to become the first woman surfer in 26 years of professional surfing to claim four successive WCT event wins, but while that wasn’t to be, her victories in the previous three WCT events this year mean she has joined an elite group populated only by five former world champions.” An earlier Surfers Village included a photo of Sofia surfing.
- CPizarro to Play for Peru: Reuters reports that “striker Claudio Pizarro has been recalled to the Peru squad for the first time since suffering a head injury during the Copa America last July. The Bayern Munich forward is set to return in Saturday's World Cup qualifier away to Bolivia as Peru try to make up lost ground after their 3-1 home defeat to Argentina last month. Peru, attempting to qualify for their first World Cup since 1982, then travel to Paraguay for another qualifier on October 13.” NOTE: “Peru are eighth in the 10-nation South American qualifying group with nine points from eight games.” See Also: 'Peru 3, Venezuela 1’ in July 10’s Peruvia.
- JOrihuela at Columbia: The Earth Institute at Columbia University announced in a press release that Jose Orihuela Calatayud is among the first six students in their Ph.D. program in Sustainable Development Program. Orihuela “holds a BA in Economics (PUCP-Peru, 1996) and a MPA in International Development (Harvard, 2002). He graduated with a paper on "Fiscal Rules for Municipal Decentralization in Peru." Previously, he served as economic analyst of Apoyo Comunicaciones (1997), consultant at the Ministry of Transportation - Office of Roads Concessions (1997-98), and consultant at the Ministry of Finance - Office of Public Investments (1999-00). His research interests include rules for decentralization; economics of institutions; development for the Andean poor, property rights and social cohesion.”
- USA Realtor Sees Deals in Lima: The Valley News Network reports a local realtor, Martha McKay, visited Lima and now believes, “Peru is a fascinating real estate market. New construction is driving its market. Rapid urbanization of the Peruvian capitol of Lima has resulted in explosive population growth in the surrounding metropolitan area.” NOTE: “She said modern high-rise buildings, shopping centers and parks overlook the Pacific Ocean with an ambiance similar to La Jolla or the French Riviera. What is not similar to La Jolla is the cost of real estate. A community of what would be called beachfront townhouses, in the 2,000-square-foot range, are selling for about $150,000.” ALSO: “She also said the weather is much like that in San Diego.”
- The Dallas Morning News reports on the impact of the hurricanes in Florida and includes Victor Pancorvo, owner of Viking Used Auto and Recycling, “one of the few thriving businesses right now in this central Florida town, which has been in the crosshairs of three hurricanes in six weeks.” NOTE: “The Peruvian-born businessman has met more people in the last six weeks than in the three years since he moved to Lake Wales from Miami. "Now, everybody here knows about my recycling center," he said.”
- Maine’s Press -Enterprise reports on weddings and ethnic traditions and includes architect Lis Zuloaga-Powl who “looked to her roots when she planned her 2002 Idyllwild wedding with Tracey Powl, 32, who is of Swedish heritage. It was Lis' Peruvian-born father who suggested their first dance be La Marinera. Peru's national dance is a flirtatious exchange between a man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and poncho and a woman dressed in lace and waving a handkerchief.”
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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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