Exactly 16 years after nine agrarian university students and a professor were brutally murdered and their burnt remains buried in shallow graves by a paramilitary death squad, loved ones and students held a wake for the victims of the La Cantuta massacre Friday. The memorial service is to be held on Saturday.
“It’s important to us […]

Peru’s ombudswoman has warned the government that the Rimac River, the most important source of potable water for Peru’s desert capital city, Lima, is threatened by possible  arsenic, lead and cadmium contamination from a mining operation upriver in the Andes.
Beatriz Merino, in an open letter to President Alan Garcia’s top Cabinet minister, contended that the […]

A veteran International Monetary Fund economist, Luis Valdivieso, was sworn in by President Alan Garcia Monday as Peru’s new finance minister. He succeeds Luis Carranza, who has headed the finance ministry since Garcia’s administration began in July 2006.
The news spawned satisfaction in Washington and Wall Street. Peru’s most traded dollar-denominated bond, the <PERUGLB27=RR>, rose 0.500 […]

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee requested reinforced monitoring Thursday for Peru’s Inca citadel of Machu Picchu — the country’s top tourist attraction — expressing grave concern over the governance of the site and imminent risks of landslides, fires and deforestation.
The ruins, which narrowly escaped being added to the list of endangered World Heritage sites after environmental […]

Peru President Alan Garcia faced nationwide mass protests Wednesday against his political and economic policies as thousands of Peruvians, including construction workers, teachers, miners and merchants went on strike, organized marches and blocked highways under the watchful eye of police and military.
The mostly peaceful demonstrations failed, however, to halt business as usual in the capital […]

Lady Bardales, the ex-police lieutenant and bodyguard to former President Alejandro Toledo, was escorted Thursday to Peru’s Justice Palace under heavy guard to face charges of illegal enrichment after eluding authorities for more than seven months.
Dubbed “Lady Bi” by Peru’s tabloid press — an allusion to Britain’s Princess Diana — Bardales was thrust into the […]

A day after recalling his ambassador from Bolivia, President Alan Garcia on Monday sharply told his Bolivian counterpart, Evo Morales, to butt out of Peru’s domestic affairs in reply to the Bolivian leader’s call for Peruvians to protest the alleged establishment of United States military bases on Peruvian soil.
“Run your country, and don’t meddle with […]

Ex-President Alberto Fujimori’s once-feared intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, testified Monday that his former boss is innocent of charges he sanctioned the Colina group paramilitary death squad.
Fujimori, 69, could hardly contain a grin as his former spy chief depicted him as a “courageous” hero who defeated a bloody leftist insurgency and lifted Peru from its knees. […]

The head of Peru’s military Joint Chiefs of staff said it would be a mistake to start eradication of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, in the Apurímac and Ene river valleys, VRAE, because of the social chaos it would cause among the majority of the poor inhabitants who eek out their living on […]

Thirty-four thousand vehicles in Peru’s capital, Lima, have converted their engines to natural gas and the Peruvian Natural Gas Vehicle Association predicts that 30,000 more will make the switch by the end of the year.
“This market is growing at an accelerated pace, especially in Lima. And if we maintain a good rhythm, we could convert […]