National Water March Arrives In Lima

Participants in a national water march, which is aimed mainly at rejecting Newmont Mining’s Minas Conga copper-gold project, began to approach Lima on Thursday, the head of the march’s organizing committee said.

Environmentalist Marco Arana told Ideeleradio that over 2,000 participants are beginning to arrive in Peru’s capital eight days after the march began in the northern region of Cajamarca.   The leaders of the march have planned a rally in the Plaza San Martin and will present a bill to Congress to protect the headwaters of  river basins and “highly vulnerable ecosystems.”

The participants have passed through Cajamarca, Lambayeque, La Libertad and Read more…

China Finishes 2011 As Peru’s Main Exports Market

China closed 2011 as Peru’s top destination for exports, a year that saw a record in the value of the Andean nation’s shipments abroad, the government said Tuesday.

In 2011, Peruvian exports totalled $45.7 billion, up 28 percent from 2010, Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Jose Luis Silva said, according to state news agency Andina.

Traditional exports increased 27 percent to $35.6 billion, while non-traditional Read more…

Scotiabank: Private Sector Investments To Rise 8% In 2012

Private sector investments in Peru are expected to grow eight percent in 2012 amid uncertainty in the global economy, Scotiabank Peru said, according to state news agency Andina.

Scotiabank said that companies are planning “relatively aggressive” investment plans in 2012 and 2013 in a number of sectors, including retail, banks, construction and real estate, as well as mining and hydrocarbons.

Scotiabank said that while social conflicts could affect some mining investment plans, it does not seem to be affecting the sector in general. The latest project to be Read more…

Environmentalists Begin National Water March

Environmentalists and civil society groups in three Peruvian regions began on Wednesday a national water march, aimed mainly at rejecting Newmont Mining’s Minas Conga project.  The marchers plan to converge in Lima by next week.

In Cajamarca region, where Conga is located, about 500 people began the march at the Cortada lake, Ideeleradio reported.

Supporters of the march also participated in Peru’s southern Arequipa region, which has also seen a number of conflicts over plans by mining companies to use Read more…

Report: Environment Minister Held Talks For Job With Gold Miner

Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal held talks with gold miner Minera Yanacocha about a job offer in mid-2011, only months before his appointment to the Cabinet, according to a report by IDL-Reporteros.

Pulgar-Vidal took over the ministry in early December, after protests against Yanacocha’s $4.8 billion Minas Conga project led President Ollanta Humala to reshuffle his cabinet. The cabinet change came only five months into Humala’s term, and is seen by many analysts as a sign the President Read more…

Barclays: Peru Needs Systematic Solution to Social Conflicts

Barclays Capital said Peru’s government needs a systematic solution to social demands in the mining sector, rather than “putting out fires” amid opposition to individual projects.

“The issue is political since we have seen social demands that need to be resolved systematically or structurally and not necessarily by putting out fires,” said Barclays Capital’s Roberto Melzi, state news agency Andina reported.

Melzi recommended that the government bring together residents that live near Read more…

Ombudsman’s Office Calls for Social Conflict Strategy

Peru’s national ombudsman’s office has called for a technical debate to discuss social conflicts in the Andean nation, state news agency Andina reported.

Rolando Luque, deputy ombudsman for Social Conflict Resolution,  said that Peru should debate strategies to resolve social conflicts that will undoubtedly arise in the coming year.

“The government should initiate a discussion among specialists regarding the best strategy that the state Read more…

Garcia Backs Humala’s Approach to Conga Protests

Ex-President Alan Garcia, in one of his first interviews since leaving office in July, told Radio Programas this week that he backs the government’s efforts to advance the Minas Conga gold and copper project.

Garcia said that President Ollanta Humala’s cabinet chief, Oscar Valdes, was responsible and serious in seeking to restart a dialogue with the project’s opponents on Monday.

Valdes traveled with a team of ministers to Cajamarca where they met with Read more…

Poll: Humala’s Approval Rating Down to 48 Percent

President Ollanta Humala’s approval rating has slipped below 50 percent for the first time since taking office, according to a recent poll released in the Gestion business daily on Friday.

The polling company, Datum, said that Humala has a 48 percent approval rating in December, down nine points from November and the high of 70 percent in September.

Datum said that in southern Peru, where Humala had some of the strongest Read more…

Peru to Invest 2.17 Billion Soles in Cajamarca’s Roads

The Minister of Transport and Communications, Carlos Paredes, said this week that the government will invest 2.17 billion soles (approximately $805 million) on roads in the Cajamarca region.

Paredes described the investment decision, which followed talks with regional authorities in Cajamarca, as “unprecedented,” daily El Comercio reported.

Paredes said that 1.78 billion soles will be for the repair and upgrading of roads and 384 million soles will be for maintenance. Read more…

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