friday, january 13, 2006
Peruvian Procurements
Peru has become a bit of an economic paradox.The government is viewed with almost complete disdain - evidenced by the abysmal approval ratings of President Alejandro Toledo, which are among the lowest in the western hemisphere. Yet, since Toledo took office in 2001, the economy has grown almost constantly.
One thing pushing that growth has been an initiative by the government to make more purchases from the private sector. It started during the 1990s, when the administration of Alberto Fujimori privatized a great deal of the industries that had been under government control. But many more mundane expenses - such as office supplies and fabrics - were still in house. The Toledo administration has worked to move these into the private sector as well.
The trend is driven by the need to lower the costs and to promote growth among independent businesses. But the system is changing slowly due to the lack of information on the part of possible participants as well as the ever-present danger of corruption. read more
saturday, december 10, 2005
Colombia Anti-Drug Funding
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has long had a rosy perspective on the "War on Drugs" - which is somewhat understandable given the Bush Administration's political and economic commitment to fighting it in South America and in Colombia in particular.But the numbers are notoriously difficult to pin down and the situation on the ground is painfully difficult to understand. And after spending several billion dollars on the effort since 2000, many are beginning to ask questions about if the current course of action is the most advisable.
Recently, the Government Accountability Office, which is the auditing agency for the US government, examined the outcomes of the policy and had serious concerns with the results of the effort as well as the standards the White House uses for examining the results. read more
wednesday, october 12, 2005
Looking for Justice in the Face of Fear
Luis Alberto Ramirez has lived more than half his life in fear. As a teenager, Ramierez was abducted by the military while playing soccer near his aunt’s home in the mountains of Central Peru. He was held for two weeks at a nearby military barracks and tortured by officials who suspected him of being a terrorist.He is now the key witness against the retired general who commanded the department of Junin in the 1990s, Luis Perez Documet. The case is slated to begin oral arguments later this year and will be one of the first public trials against members of the police and armed forces for crimes committed during the 1980’s and 1990’s.
And Ramirez is now a target. In the past two years there have been three attempts on Ramirez’s life and dozens of threats.
A brutal conflict started by Maoist rebels – most notably the notorious Shining Path – engulfed Peru during the 1980s and 1990s and claimed almost 70,000 lives. A truth commission found that the majority of these deaths were attributed to insurgent forces but more than a third were at the hands of the police or members of the armed forces. read more
thursday, august 11, 2005
Snail farmers in Peru
A couple of months ago I spent an unusual day touring one of the snail farms that have popped here around Lima. After years of hearing my grandmother rant about the rampage these little buggers would wreck on her tomato plants it was a little weird seeing hundreds of them clustered on perfectly good greenery.But snails are big business and this little niche industry in Peru that is preparing to take the steps of becoming a major player in the world of snail trading. I penned the story for Latin Trade Magazine who have it in their August issue.
thursday, december 02, 2004
The Lori Berenson Affair
In 1995, an American woman in her late 20's was arrested by Peruvian police as she stepped off a bus in Lima. Since that day she has been imprisoned on charges of assisting terrorists and her plight has become the center of a political firestorm over human rights.Yesterday, Lori Berenson's final appeal before an international human rights court was turned down. She now will not be released from prison until the end of her 20-year sentence in 2015.
The decision (the last entry on the page) by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights brings to an end the judicial options open to Berenson but it is almost certain that her family and supporters will continue to push for her release through political means. read more
friday, november 05, 2004
King Kong - A Peruvian sweet
King Kong is a uniquely Peruvian sweet. It is a cake (or, more precisely, a brick) of milk and fruits that are reduced to a stiff syrup and then slathered sandwich-style between a sweet cookie-like crust.It hails from the northern city of Lambayeque where Victoria Mej�a is credited with creating the dish in the 1920's. Originally it was made to be a snack for men who worked in the sugar cane and cotton fields. According to legend, it received it's unique name due to the popularity of the then recently released movie King Kong.
Today Mej�a's family still makes the leading - and best - brand of the sweet, San Roque. And they are planning on it's popularity is growing beyond the borders of Peru. More than 18 tons were exported abroad last year and the factory has been refitted to increase that amount exponentially. read more
thursday, november 04, 2004
The Revolution Continues
Peru's nightmare has returned.Today, Abimael Guzman made his first appearance in court as part of his trial for leading the Communist terrorist organization Shining Path into a bloody revolution that paralyzed Peru.
Approximately 70,000 people died during the two decades of conflict of which slightly more than half were directly attributed to his guerrilla army. The total cost of the conflict has been estimated at more than $25 billion.
At 69 years of age, Guzman looks more like a kindly grandfather than the leader of fanatical band known as "President Gonzalo" who once promised his revolution would cost a million deaths and a "quota of blood."
I have written a story for The Dallas Morning News about the trial and the fears that Guzman may be using the proceedings to continue his war.(Enter "peruvia@peruvia.com" and password "peruvia") read more
monday, september 13, 2004
The Sticking Point
The desert of northern Peru is cut into swaths of green by the rivers that bring the runoff from the high Andes to the Pacific Ocean. This is incredibly fertile land - if you can get water to it. Since the arrival of the Spanish in the 15th century, sugar cane has been a hallmark of the country's agricultural output. No history of the country can ignore the effect of this crop and the industry that supports it.Today, that industry is hanging on for its survival and it looks to markets in the United States to survive. That is a dim hope since there is strong resistance on the part of the industry in the U.S. to allow free trade of the product. To them, it is a fight for survival as well.
In an interview this month, one official in the U.S. sugar industry put the relationship with Peru in this way - "We are both facing the same set of problems but we are looking at them from opposite sides of the fence." read more