Corrected: Gov’t does not see economy overheating as June GDP soars

Peru’s national statistic and technology bureau INEI ruled out that the country’s economy is overheating following a red hot 11.9 jump in the gross domestic product in June compared to same month last year, state news agency Andina reported.

“The overheating of an economy happens when demand exceeds the productive capacity,” INEI chief Renán Quispe said. “It is a process that can take numerous months, it can take at times one or two years.”

Peru’s economy expanded for the eleventh month in a row and reached a 21-month high in June. Read more…

Peru’s indigenous to launch political party

Indigenous groups in Peru’s Amazon region will launch a political party to compete in the country’s 2011 elections, Spanish news agency Efe reported the head of the Interethnic Association for the Development of Peru’s Jungle (Aidesep), Alberto Pizango, as saying.

The party will be called the Alliance for an Alternative for Humanity, or APHU, Pizango said. They are currently collecting signatures and plan to officially register the party in September. Read more…

Peru’s executive repeals state of emergency in district following natural gas protests

Peru’s executive has repealed a state of emergency that was declared in early August in Echarate district in Cusco department, state news agency Andina reported.

President Alan Garcia signed the supreme decree on Wednesday to void the state of emergency, which suspends some constitutional rights including the freedom to hold meetings and of movement. Read more…

Residents suspend protests over natural gas exports

Residents in the towns of Kiteni and Kepashiato in Cuzco deparmtent’s La Convención province have suspended protests over natural gas exports, according to reports in Peruvian media.

The decision to halt the demonstrations was made in order to establish a negotiating table on Monday, Aug. 9, newspaper La Republica reported.

The president of Cuzco department, Hugo Gonzales, said the protesters also want Peru’s government to repeal a state of emergency in the district of Echarate, which suspends some constitutional rights including the freedom to hold meetings and of movement.

The negotiating table will be created by the office of Prime Minister Javier Velásquez and include representatives from Peru’s ombudsman – the Defensoria del Pueblo – as well as the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. Read more…

Eighteen injured, 25 arrested in Cusco natural gas protests

At least 18 people have been injured and 25 arrested in southern Peru’s Cusco department during protests to export natural gas,  Peru’s ombudswoman Beatriz Merino said.

Merino told Radioprogramas that she received the information from the director of the Kiteni hospital, in Echarate district where there was a clash between demonstrators and police on Wednesday.

Local authorities and residents oppose exporting of natural gas, arguing that it should be used for internal demand. Read more…

Gov’t declares state of emergency in Echarate, Cuzco department

Peru’s government has declared a state of emergency for 60 days in Echarate district, located in Cuzco department’s La Convencion province where residents are protesting exports of natural gas.

According to state news agency Andina, the state of emergency was declared due to vandalism during a demonstration and as a result of protesters trying to take over part of a plant owned by the Transportadora de Gas del Peru. Read more…

Indigenous community plans demonstrations over promises following oil spill

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…

García administration should end offensive against British missionary

Editorial:

Where is the middle ground for the impoverished inhabitants of Peru’s Amazon region to stand up against the threats encroaching in on them? What is their best option for action in Peru’s fragile democracy? Who do they turn to?

Cocaine traffickers offer them a pittance, which they accept at the barrel of a gun, to cultivate coca. In the bargain, their land is decimated by erosion and their water poisoned with acetone, kerosene and sulfuric acid that leaches from clandestine maceration pits.

The administration of President Alan García, while impotent in its efforts to put a meaningful dent in Peru’s growing cocaine trade, opens the Amazon to unprecedented mining and oil exploration and drilling — eroding the land and poisoning the water with lead, cadmium and hundreds of barrels of raw crude dumped directly into the rivers. Read more…

McAuley one of five priests in the government’s line of fire for defending indigenous rights and the environment

British missionary Paul McAuley has filed an appeal in the court of Maynas this week against the government’s decision to deport him from the country. This step effectively suspends his deportation, and he has 15 days to prepare his rebuttal of the charges made by the Ministry of the Interior, of violating regulations governing foreign residents by instigating social unrest.

McAuley’s legal defense is provided by attorney Rita Ruck, in Iquitos, and the lawyers of the three vicariates in the Maynas province. He has received the full support of leading institutions, including the Legal Defense Institute, IDL, the Peruvian Environmental Law Society, SPDA, the Instituto Bartolomé de las Casas, the National Evangelical Council, and the Human Rights Association, Aprodeh. Read more…

Marañón oil spill has affected some 4,000 people in local communities

Some 4,000 people living in communities on the banks of the Marañón river in Peru’s north-eastern Loreto department have been affected by an oil spill that occurred last Saturday (June 19), daily El Comercio reported.

Lilia Reyes, the Loreto representative for Peru’s ombudsman, the Defensoría del Pueblo, said there are approximately 7,000 people living on the banks of the Marañón.

There are at least six communities that have been affected by the spill, including Santa Rita de Castilla, Ollanta, and Alfonso Ugarte.

A researcher at the Loreto-based Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP), Victor Sotero, has said there are high levels of contamination in the river as a result of the spill. Read more…

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