Puno official says 27 children have died from cold

The regional health office in Southern Peru’s Puno region has reported that 27 children under the age of five  have died in recent weeks in the department from respiratory infections due to a sharp drop in temperature. Children in Puno are one of the most vulnerable groups to the cold that hits the region during [...]

UN indigenous rights expert calls on Peru to improve dialogue

The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, urged Peru’s government on Wednesday to improve dialogue with indigenous peoples involved in recent anti-mining protests in Puno. Aymara communities began protests in early May calling for the cancellation of a silver project owned by Canadian firm Bear Creek Mining and the suspension [...]

Ex-PM Simon urges Humala to focus on conflicts in central, southern Peru

The incoming government of President-elect Ollanta Humala will need to provide more attention to central and southern Peru in order to reduce social conflicts, said former Prime Minister Yehude Simon. Simon recommends Humala form a team aimed at preventing protests, state news agency Andina reported. Over the past few months, social conflicts have led to numerous [...]

Tourists leave Puno amid escalating protests

More than 200 tourists who were stranded in southern Peru’s Puno department due to protests against mining activities have managed to leave the area, according to the president of the Regional Chamber of Tourism (Caretur), Manuel Quiñones. The tourists were able to leave the region through the airport at Juliaca, state news agency Andina reported. [...]

Puno residents protest Inambari hydroelectric project

Conditions in Peru’s southern Puno department are reportedly returning to normal as a 48-hour protest against a multi-billion dollar hydroelectric project winds down on Friday, according to state-run news agency Andina. More than 600 people from the district of San Gabán arrived in the city of Puno on Thursday to protest the construction of the [...]

Lake Titicaca water level drops 2.6 ft this year

Water levels on the world’s highest navigable lake have dropped 81 cm (2.6 ft) in just seven months, since April this year, according to the Binational Lake Titicaca Authority, ALT. The lake’s water level rises and falls frequently, as can be seen in the graph. The sharper fluctuations are caused by heavy rains, and by [...]

Climate change: intense cold front has killed 20,000 alpaca in Puno so far this year

Climate change continues to wreck havoc in Peru’s southern Altiplano, where the arrival of freezing temperatures since March — almost three months earlier than usual — have killed at least 20,000 alpaca, reported Peru’s National Agriculture and Sanitation Service, or Senasa. Since January, approximately 20,000 alpaca – a number that still remains within normal limits – [...]

54 children dead in Puno because of extreme cold front

Climate change continues to wreck havoc in Peru’s southern Altiplano, where the arrival of freezing temperatures since March — almost three months earlier than usual — have killed more than 237 children. The extreme cold – which has brought snow, hail, low temperatures and strong winds – has claimed the lives of 237 children so [...]

Bus collision leaves 23 dead and 30 injured near Peru’s Lake Titicaca

Two buses speeding along a highway in the southeastern Andean region of Puno violently crashed into each other, killing both drivers and at least 21 other people upon impact. The head-on collision – which killed 23 and left more than 30 people injured – occurred Thursday morning on a mountainous roadway linking the cities of Juliaca and [...]

Peru gives army green light to intervene in Puno protests

Just weeks after a deadly intervention in Bagua, the Peruvian government authorized the army to send troops to Puno, where residents have launched a 72-hour strike to protest the recently enacted Water Law, reported daily El Comercio. The authorization, valid for 10 days as of June 24, aims to provide back-up for police, “and guarantee the [...]

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