History of Peru Special: FIESTAS PATRIAS 2010 – 200 years ago this week in London, Simón Bolivar “declares” independence for Hispanic America

Peru’s government has declared an emergency in 16 of the country’s 24 departments on Friday as a result of a cold wave, with an emphasis on areas located at least 3,000 meters above sea level, state news agency Andina reported.

Peru’s minister of Women, Nidia Vilchez, said the emergency was for Ancash, Apurimac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cuzco, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Junin, Moquegua, Pasco, Puno, Lima and Tacna as well as the three departments in Peru’s jungle region, Madre de Dios, Ucayali and Loreto. Read more…

Peru’s government has purchased eight Russian helicopters to be used for to combat drug traffickers in the country’s Apurimac and Ene River Valleys (VRAE), daily La República reported.

The purchase includes two MI-35P helicopters and six MI-171Sh helicopters, which will be acquired in January 2011 and May 2011, respectively. Read more…

Peru’s government has called on Colombia and Venezuela to open up dialogue after President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela severed diplomatic ties with Colombia, state news agency Andina reported.

“We appeal for the two brotherly countries to recuperate the level of dialogue and understanding that they should have,” Peru’s Foreign Affairs Minister José Antonio García Belaunde was quoted as saying. Read more…

Peru’s Central Bank chief estimates that the country’s economy could grow by approximately least 10 percent in June, state news agency Andina reported.

“In June, we expect a spectacular figure,” Central Bank President Julio Velarde said. “I won’t say how much it will be but, since growth in June last year was not so good, this year the growth could be close to two digits.” Read more…

President Alan García ratified a law on Wednesday that will create Peru’s first Ministry of Culture, local media reported.

“Ths ministry is an extraordinary work, promoted by committed people. No people can live without culture, so rich as in Peru,” daily El Comercio reported García as saying. He added that it will be an important contribution for national development. Read more…

Temperatures in Lima fell to 8.8C degrees on Wednesday, their lowest in more than 40 years, according to daily El Comercio.

The temperature was registered early Wednesday morning in La Molina, Ate and other Lima districts and was influenced by La Niña weather phenomenon, said Raquel Loayza, a meteorologist at the national meteorological and hydrological service, Senamhi.

“From our station at La Molina’s National Agrarian University we reported the temperature today at 8.8C degrees, exactly one month after winter began,” Loayza said. “In 1964, we had similar drops that reached 10.2C degrees, but that was in Callao.”

“To feel the cold it is necessary to have humidity and cold winds. We have a cold sea and as well we have had winds from the south with cold air that reach speeds of 24 kilometers/hour, but the average minimum temperature is 13C degrees.” Read more…

The cocama indigenous community is planning a series of demonstrations this week to protest Argentinean oil company Pluspetrol’s response following an oil spill last month in the Marañón river in Peru’s north-eastern Loreto department, CNR radio station reported.

Alfonso López, a cocama leader, said the company had agreed to provide medicine, food and water after their community was hit by the toxic aftermath of the spill. According to López, the oil company has failed to fulfill its commitments following the spill, which he says has now affected some 21,000 people in the Saramuro area. Read more…

President Alan García launched a national plan on Tuesday aimed at curbing drug trafficking with a focus on money laundering, state news agency Andina reported.

The key to overcoming the drug trade is to prevent money laundering from the illicit activity, according to García. He called on “rich countries” to do more to stop the flow of money into their economies from drug profits. Read more…

The United States Department of State has placed the leaders of two Shining Path factions on its narcotics rewards program, which offers compensation of $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the targets.

The announcement comes only weeks after a UN Office on Drug Control and Crime (UNODC) report, questioned by the Peruvian government,  indicated that Peru’s coca production increased 6.8% in 2009 to overtake Colombia’s production.   Read more…