Peru’s Ministers Resign Over Fight With Shining Path Rebels

Peru’s Defense and Interior ministers, a mere six months since being appointed to their posts, resigned on Thursday amid a political uproar over an operation to rescue hostages and capture Shining Path rebels who had kidnapped the 36 natural gas workers last month.

The ministers faced a censure in Congress to be voted on Saturday. Opposition lawmakers had said they had enough votes to pass the non-confidence vote, which would have been a major blow to President Ollanta Humala’s administration.

The prime minister’s office confirmed that Defense Minister Alberto Otarola and Read more…

Prime Minister Rejects Calls To Remove Ministers Over VRAE Strategy

Prime Minister Oscar Valdes rejected Friday that Peru’s Interior and Defense ministers could be removed from their posts for their handling of a conflict with Shining Path remnants in the coca-growing Apurimac and Ene river valleys, or VRAE.

Valdes said that removing Defense Minister Alberto Otarola or Interior Minister Daniel Lozada would not be favorable for the government, daily El Comercio reported.

Valdes’ comments come as a number of lawmakers are calling for the ministers to resign following recent events in the VRAE that show the state has practically no Read more…

Sunat Chief Says Gov’t To Implement Mechanisms In June To Combat Illegal Mining

The head of Peru’s tax agency Sunat, Tania Quispe, said the government plans to establish by June mechanisms to halt the supply of chemical inputs and machinery that are used by illegal gold miners, state news agency Andina reported.

“We are talking about May or June at the latest,” Quispe said. “We plan to pull out all the stops in the  regulation process.”

Quispe said that Sunat, which also governs the customs superintendency Sunad, plays an important role in the government’s efforts to stem illegal mining by detecting Read more…

Heavy Rains Cause More Than 50 Deaths Since November

Flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in Peru have caused the deaths of 53 people over the past six months, according to the country’s National Civil Defense Institute, Indeci.

Since November, some 267,000 people have been affected by the rains, daily El Comercio reported.

The rains have affected all of Peru’s 25 regions, according to the report, in a rainy season that has continued beyond the usual November-March season, with losses recorded in urban and rural areas, Read more…

UNICEF Says Shining Path Remnants Violating Convention On Child Rights

Recent reports and photographs of Shining Path rebels in Peru’s southeast jungle have shown that the rebel group holds dozens of young children, kidnapped or born to kidnapped women, to train them as rebel soldiers.

UNICEF’s office in Peru said Tuesday that the use of children by remnant groups of the Shining Path rebels is a violation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

UNICEF said it “rejects the direct and indirect participation, forced or voluntary of boys, girls and adolescents in any situation of armed violence.”

“The utilization of children and adolescents on the part of the Shining Path Read more…

Peru Prepares Major Offensive Against Shining Path In VRAE – Report

President Ollanta Humala’s government is preparing a large-scale offensive against remnants of the Shining Path insurgency in the isolated coca-growing Apurimac and Ene river valleys, or VRAE, daily El Comercio reported, citing Reuters.

The report said the offensive is the biggest in almost two decades, and seeks to deliver a major blow to the Shining Path.

The initiative follows the kidnapping of 36 natural gas workers earlier this month Read more…

Peru To Send Inexperienced Soldiers To Dangerous Coca-Growing Region

Peru’s Defense Ministry plans to send a number of young soldiers into a dangerous coca-growing region as part of efforts to track down narco-terrorists that kidnapped 36 natural gas workers earlier this month, according to the  National Ombudsman’s office.

The office, known as the Defensoria del Pueblo, said the troops have only completed between 28 days and seven months of service. Four of the soldiers are younger than 21-years-old, daily El Comercio reported.

The soldiers were sent to a counter-terrorism base in the city of Satipo, located in Junin region, from April 11 to 13. Family members say, however, that the group is now being sent to the zone of Vilcabamba, in Cusco, which is where remnants of the Read more…

Gov’t Confirms Informal Miner Trapped In New Cave-In

An informal miner in Peru’s southern Ayacucho region has been trapped underground, the government confirmed, in another case that highlights the dangers of wildcat mining in the Andean country.

The Mines and Energy Ministry confirmed that the miner, Medardo Gutierrez, was trapped when there was a cave-in at the informal Luicho mine, in the district of Colta, in Ayacucho.

Felipe Paico, the head of the health office in Colta, said Thursday that Gutierrez has been trapped for more than 36 hours. He said he is “healthy” and is receiving food, Read more…

Consultants Hand In Review On Newmont’s Minas Conga

Three international consultants charged with reviewing Newmont Mining’s multi-billion dollar Minas Conga copper-gold project have turned over their findings to the Peruvian government.

Cabinet Chief Oscar Valdes and top government officials received the report during a press conference on Tuesday. Authorities and the consultants did not provide many details about the findings, adding that the full report will be published on government websites within 24 hours.

“It has been totally unbiased and transparent,” Valdes said, according to daily El Comercio. “The consultants have been working to evaluate all of the environmental and technical aspects of the Conga project. It has been a very intense job, they Read more…

Humala: Gov’t Aiming For “Zero Cost” To Shining Path Kidnapping

President Ollanta Humala said Thursday that Peru’s security forces are looking to resolve the kidnapping of up to 40 natural gas workers by suspected Shining Path rebels with “zero cost” to the hostages.

“We are taking into account the life of the workers,” said Humala, according to daily El Comercio.

Humala’s comments were his first since the 36 to 40 workers were kidnapped early Read more…

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