Report: Shining Path Seeks $10 Million Ransom For Kidnapped Workers

Shining Path rebels, suspected of kidnapping natural gas workers on Monday, have reportedly demanded a $10 million ransom, explosives, and clothes in exchange for the hostages, daily El Comercio reported.

The workers —between 36 and 40— were kidnapped early Monday morning in Kepashiato, a town located in the province of La Convencion in Cusco region.

Peru’s government has maintained military-like silence about the incident. On Monday, the Interior Ministry confirmed the kidnapping of the workers and that it was taking actions to rescue them, however it did not provide further information.

According to local news reports, a combined military-police force of 1,500 troops Read more…

Minas Conga Opponents Hold Protest Awaiting Environmental Review

Opponents of the huge Minas Conga copper and gold project in Cajamarca region held a 24-hour protest on Wednesday, only days ahead of when the government is expected to make public a review by three independent consultants on the project’s environmental viability.  The review was handed in to the government at the end of last week.

Premier Oscar Valdes said the government would respect the right to protest, but that acts of violence would not be tolerated. “What we aren’t going to allow are acts of violence that threaten the freedom of transit for other Peruvians who are not participating in the demonstration,” Radio Programas reported Valdes as saying.

The Minas Conga project was suspended in November amid protests against the project. Opponents, who include the regional president of Cajamarca, Gregorio Read more…

Indigenous Communities Reject Prior Consultation Law Rules

Indigenous leaders on Wednesday came out against the regulations of the Prior Consultation Law, enacted Tuesday, daily El Comercio reported.

One of the main reasons why some indigenous community organizations are against the law, which is intended to provide the communities with better consultation rights on natural resource projects, is that the legislation is not binding.

Instead, the government has reserved the right to make the final decision on whether a project will be developed if the indigenous communities reject it in the consultation process. The law is intended to prevent social conflicts by improving Read more…

Gov’t Accepts Resignation Of Official Connected To Illegal Mining

Peru’s government has accepted the resignation of a high-ranking government official who was linked in a media report to illegal gold mining.

Luis Zavaleta, the former director general of hydrocarbons, submitted his resignation to the Ministry of Energy and Mines on Friday, daily Peru.21 reported.

The resignation followed an investigative report published in newspaper El Comercio on the same day that said Zavaleta owned a company called Universal Metal Trading SAC.

Universal Metal Trading was founded in 1999 and describes itself as a company Read more…

Humala: Peru To Start Development Of Southern Andean Gas Pipeline

President Ollanta Humala, dressed in a south Amazon-style tunic or cushma and a feathered headdress, announced in the Cusco town of Quillabamba the plans to begin construction of the Southern Andean Gas Pipeline.

The pipeline, which will be more than 1,000 kilometers long, is to transport gas from the Camisea fields in the Amazonian jungle in southeastern Peru to the cities in the southern departments of Cusco, Puno and Arequipa in the Andean highlands and Moquegua and Tacna on the coast.

Humala, who took office last July, said during a televised ceremony that the pipeline will provide significant development to southern Peru.

“This is a massive, but real, project. A project that is going to change not only life Read more…

Humala To Launch Cuna Mas Social Program

President Ollanta Humala said Friday that the government will launch the Cuna Mas social program during the weekend.

“Cuna Mas will be a reality tomorrow,” Humala said by Twitter. “We will provide comprehensive attention to the boys and girls who are at risk.”

The government says that by 2016 the program will be providing support to some 240,000 babies between three and six months old who have been born into poverty and extreme poverty, state news agency Andina said.    This year, the Read more…

Peru’s Pulgar-Vidal Proposes Greater Regional Cooperation On Illegal Mining

Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal proposed that nations in the Amazon basin share experiences on confronting illegal mining, which has been blamed for causing serious environmental damage in the world’s most bio-diverse rainforests.

“It (illegal mining) is not a problem that is exclusive to Peru, but also countries like Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and Brazil,” Pulgar-Vidal said, according to state news agency Andina.

“We are going to see how we can exchange experiences to confront this problem,” Read more…

South American Environment Ministers Meet On Amazon Environment

Environment Ministers from eight South American countries are meeting for a two day summit, starting Tuesday, to discuss actions to protect the Amazon rain forest, Peru’s state news agency Andina reported.

The summit, which was inaugurated by Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Rafael Roncagliolo, aims to create projects to ensure sustainable development in the Amazon.

The topics include monitoring deforestation, defining criteria for sustainable forest management, tackling forest fires, managing water resources, and a number of Read more…

Illegal Mining Should be Paying Government 500 M Soles A Year – Sunat

Illegal mining in Peru is costing the country more than 500 million soles (about $190 million) a year, according to tax agency Sunat.

Sunat said Friday that illegal mining produces some 18,000 kilograms of gold per year, which has a value of more than 2.2 billion soles, daily El Comercio reported.

If taxes were paid by the illegal miners, it would be equivalent to more than 500 million soles, or almost 0.1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

About 85 percent of informal gold mining in Peru is centered in the south-eastern Read more…

Madre de Dios Authorities Call for State of Emergency to Push Back Violent Mining Protests

Amid calls for a state of emergency among regional leaders, Interior Minister Daniel Lozada said late Wednesday that police will push back against the informal miners who have escalated deadly protests in the region of Madre de Dios, located in Peru’s south-eastern Amazon basin.

Lozada said that more than 40 people have been arrested in the city of Puerto Maldonado, where informal miners have been protesting for the past 10 days. By the end of Wednesday, three people were reported killed and some 38 injured during clashes between protesters and police. Among the wounded are nine police.

“We are in a position to say that we are retaking control of the city and we aren’t Read more…

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