Andean Future Cities and the Modern Machu Picchu-ish Metropolis

A scandal in Peru over the purchase of two expensive properties by the mother-in-law of former President Alejandro Toledo could end any future plans in his political career in the Andean nation, according to political analyst Fernando Rospigliosi.

Rospigliosi, a well-known analyst and Interior Minister in Toledo’s administration, said that the former president has been politically “ruined.”

“I think that he’s drowned,” Rospigliosi said, according to daily La Republica. “He has become involved in absurd, unnecessary trouble.”

Toledo, who governed from 2001 to 2006, has come under fire this week after it was Read more…

Canada has pledged to provide support to Peru in developing its natural resources and improving education, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in Lima on Wednesday.

Harper met with Peru’s President Ollanta Humala in his first state visit to Peru.

While Canadian companies have a strong presence in Peru, particularly in its mining sector, the two countries have been looking to increase ties over recent years. In 2008, Canada and Peru signed a bilateral trade agreement. Since coming into force, trade has increased about 70 percent between Peru and Canada, Harper said.

In addition, Canada has named Peru as a focus country for development cooperation, providing the Andean country with support totaling $28 Read more…

Peru’s Attorney General’s office has opened an investigation into accusations of illicit enrichment by ex-president Alejandro Toledo in relation to the purchase of two properties that his Belgian mother-in-law has purchased in Lima.

Jose Pelaez, the attorney general, said that his office will start a preliminary investigation that will involve a court order to lift banking secrecy on Toledo’s accounts, state news agency Andina reported.  Politicians who oppose Toledo were also demanding that banking secrecy be lifted on accounts held by Toledo’s mother-in-law, Eva Fernenburg.

The court order will no longer be necessary, however, since Toledo gave authorization Read more…

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is to meet President Ollanta Humala at the government palace on Wednesday, in the Canadian official’s first official visit to Peru.

Harper is traveling with Canada’s Foreign Relations Minister for the Americas, Diane Ablonczy, Canadian legislators and a group of executives.

The officials are expected to discuss economic, education and defense ties, according to a statement from the Canadian Embassy in Peru.

Harper’s visit to Peru is part of a three-day trip to South America that also includes a Read more…

Junior mining companies in Peru are feeling the pinch of falling metal prices and a lack of financing to fund exploration projects.

A shortage of financing has hit mining companies hard on the Lima Stock Exchange. The bourse is down more than 15 percent so far this year, with the mining sector down 37 percent and the junior mining subsector down 40 percent.

Vancouver-based Candente Copper Corp. said it would temporarily halt drilling at its Read more…

Expectations that Peru’s economy will expand by more than 6 percent this year are unrealistic, as the global economy struggles and business confidence in the Andean country weakens, according to Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

The well-known economist, who has served as Peru’s prime minister, minister of economy, and mines and energy minister, said that Peru’s gross domestic product is not likely to grow more than 4 percent in 2013.

Kuczynksi’s forecast is far lower than the consensus. A recent Central Bank poll of 21 Read more…

President Ollanta Humala signed into law Thursday legislation to promote healthy eating and curb the advertising of junk food.

The law specifically targets children and youth under the age of 16. It prohibits the advertising of junk food and fast food that targets children and youth. It also aims to progressively limit the amount of trans fats used in industrial foods.

“We want to create a pact to defend the good nutrition of our children, to defend healthy Read more…

The average monthly salary for individuals in Peru’s capital of Lima rose 4.1 percent in the latest three-month period, although it declined for those individuals over the age of 45, daily Gestion reported.

The National Information and Statistics Agency said the average salary in Lima rose to 1,373.6 soles (approximately $530) in the February to April period, which is up 57.2 soles compared to the same three-month period in 2012.

In terms of age, the average salary increased for all groups, except those of people who are Read more…

Peru’s economic activity is not slowing down, Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla said following the release of the weakest monthly economic growth since 2009.

On Wednesday, the National Statistics Institute said that Peru’s gross domestic product expanded just 3.01 percent in March compared to the same month last year. The growth in March was the slowest rate since October 2009, when Peru and other countries around the world were hit by the global financial crisis.

Economists had forecast weak growth in March due to fewer working days, but the data Read more…