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…

Survival International Releases Photos Of Uncontacted Tribe

Survival International, the London-based indigenous rights group, has released up-close pictures of a family of the uncontacted Mashco-Piro tribe, known to live in the Manu National Park in in the Amazonian basin in south-east Peru.

The Mashco-Piro are one of about 100 uncontacted tribes in the world, according to Survival.

“Today’s photos are the most detailed sightings of uncontacted Indians ever recorded on camera,” Survival says.

Survival says sightings of the Mashco-Piro have increased in recent months. “Many Read more…

Haitians Blocked From Entering Brazil Stranded In Peru Town

About 200 Haitians in south-eastern Peru are being held back from crossing over to Brazil where a number of their fellow countrymen have migrated in recent weeks to seek jobs, according to newspaper El Comercio.

International media reported earlier this month that around 5,000 Haitians had entered Brazil since the devastating earthquake hit the Caribbean country in 2010. According to the reports, the Haitians often arrived in Ecuador before going to Peru where they would then enter Brazil.

Authorities in Brazil, Latin America’s biggest economy, had lax immigration Read more…

Truth Commission Report Could Be Added To Curricula In 2013 – Minister

Education Minister Patricia Salas said Monday that in 2013 the government may begin to include information in school curricula from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report on Peru’s bloody 1980-2000 internal conflict, newspaper El Comercio reported.

Salas said the violence perpetrated by the Maoist Shining Path insurgency is part of the country’s contemporary history, which should be known by all students.

“We need children to know history, so it is not repeated again,” Salas said. “That means the formation of citizen values, it means deepening the capacity for dialogue, to learn mutual respect, the rule of law, and those aspects are part of the current teaching agenda in Peru and we are going to strengthen them.”

Salas said that “all sources of information” on the conflict will be considered for Read more…

IADB Approves $25 Million Loan for Peru Education

The Inter-American Development Bank, IADB, has approved a $25 million loan to Peru to improve education for children in three departments.

The funds will be aimed at improving education for children between the ages of three and five in the departments of Ayacucho, Huancavelica and Huanuco, the IADB said in a release. The three departments were chosen because of their high 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…

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…

Cabinet Chief Valdes Says Development Needed for VRAE

Following an attack Monday by traffickers that claimed the life of one military officer and wounded four soldiers, Peru’s new cabinet chief, Oscar Valdes, said the government will tackle drug trafficking in the Apurimac and Ene river valley, or VRAE, by increasing development and state-presence in the isolated coca-growing region.  

Valdes, the former Interior Minister, said that development in the VRAE will include the construction of roads by military engineers, state news agency Andina reported.

“We are going to bring in the state first. We are going to bring the engineer battalions. We are going to build Read more…

Analysts Question Humala’s Possible Change in Resolving Conflicts

Expectations that President Ollanta Humala’s new cabinet will take a strong stand against protesters of mining and energy projects could backfire on the government, said political analyst Santiago Pedraglio.

Humala, a 49-year-old former army officer, replaced more than half of his 19-member cabinet on Sunday in what many analysts say was largely due to disagreements on how to resolve protests against Newmont Mining’s $4.8 billion Minas Conga project.

The shuffle included the resignation of Humala’s cabinet chief and close ally since 2004, businessman Read more…

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