Peru will try to revoke Marinera trademark in Chile

Peru’s Foreign Relations Ministry announced Wednesday that it has begun legal action to revoke a Peruvian woman’s trademark registration of a popular Peruvian dance  in Chile. Cecilia Gurmendi, a former Marinera national champion in Peru, registered “Marinera” with Chile’s Trademark Registry in the Department of Industrial Property in November 2007. The Foreign Relations Ministry says [...]

U.S.-owned Doe Run smelter reportedly faces legal action for Peru contamination

The Missouri-based Doe Run Company is facing legal action in the United States for contamination at its poly-metallic smelter in the Peruvian town of La Oroya, in Junín department. According to daily La República, two American missionaries filed suit against Doe Run, citing a 2005 environmental study at the University of Missouri – St. Louis [...]

Law to remove deadly buses from Peru highways

Peru’s Congress has passed a law prohibiting the use of the country’s infamous ¨bus-trucks.¨ In a 77–10 vote, lawmakers also outlawed the future manufacture of the makeshift buses, which are grafted onto the chassis of flatbed trucks. Violators of the law could face up to 20 years in prison for crimes against public safety. According [...]

Peru ex-general held on human rights charges

The former commander of the Peruvian Army’s Special Forces Division, General Luis Pérez Document, will remain imprisoned as he awaits trial on first degree murder and forced disappearance charges. According to daily La República, the decision by the Third Anticorruption Court yesterday was based on the severity of the charges and the possibility Pérez would [...]

Peru’s Fujimori sentenced to six years in prison

Peru’s Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori to six years in prison for abusing his authority when he ordered an illegal search of his spy chief’s apartments — allegedly to ensure that incriminating videotapes would never see the light of day. Fujimori had earlier pleaded guilty to the charge, offering a “sincere [...]

Vigilante mob sets two men on fire in remote Peru jungle town

Residents in a mining town deep in Peru’s jungle set two men on fire for allegedly attacking three people yesterday. According to daily El Comercio, residents in Bajo Punkiri-Delta Uno-Boca Colorado, in Madre de Dios department, tied the two men to a tree trunk, sprayed them with gasoline and lit them on fire. One man [...]

Fujimori faces Dec. 11 verdict

Peru’s Supreme Magistrate, Pedro Guillermo Urbina, announced yesterday that jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori will face verdict for the first of seven human rights and corruption charges on December 11. Fujimori is accused of sending military officers who posed as judicial officials with a fake search warrant to seize videos from the apartment of former presidential [...]

Agencia Andina: Fujimori could face ¨self-coup¨ charges

Jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori could face charges for his 1992 ¨self-coup,¨ according to Agencia Andina. The head of Peru’s Extradition Unit, Omar Chehade, told Agencia Andina that officials are considering making a request to Chile to include ¨self-coup¨ charges as part of Fujimori’s extradition. Chile’s Supreme Court decided to extradite Fujimori on September 21, 2007. [...]

Activists launch national GLBT rights campaign

Human rights organizations launched Peru’s first national campaign against discrimination of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transvestites (GLBT) and sex workers on Monday. The campaign is organized by the GLBT and Sex Workers Round Table, the National System of Community Defense (SINDECO), the Platform for Vulnerable Communities and the Homosexual Movement of Lima (MHOL), according to the [...]