Articles

  • Elections 2016, the race begins

    19 October 2015

    With six months to go to the general elections on 10 April next, the race is formally on to see who will replace Ollanta Humala as Peru’s president. The elections promise to be more a contest between the presidential candidates that voters reject, rather than those who they admire most.

  • Discrepant views on Peru - is Alice in Wonderland?

    11 October 2015

    The challenges for the Peruvian population as the election draws nearer are highlighted by the kaleidoscope of news as the IMF/World Bank annual meeting ends in Lima.

  • TPP: what does it mean for Peru?

    11 October 2015

    The approval on October 5 in Atlanta of the Trans-pacific Partnership (TPP) was greeted as a major victory by the presidents of the three Latin American countries (Peru, Chile and Mexico) that had signed up to it.

  • Forest laws, paper laws?

    11 October 2015

    The approval of four items for the regulation of the Forestry and Fauna Law (297663) is a source of optimism.

  • Frente Amplio selects candidate

    2 October 2015

    On 4 October the Frente Amplio will select a candidate for the presidential campaign through a primary in which any Peruvian citizen (with an identity card) can take part.

  • Communities protest at Las Bambas

    2 October 2015

    At the Las Bambas mine in Apurímac region on 28 September, there were protests against the operating plans of MMG, the Chinese owners of the mine. Roads were blocked, a truck and properties were burned, and an indefinite strike declared. Clashes with police brought three deaths.

  • Economic downturn poses questions for the future

    2 October 2015

    This year’s downturn in commodity prices, especially for minerals like copper, has taken the lustre off Peru’s recent economic achievements. This year growth will still be positive but it will be a far cry from the stellar rates of the past.

  • Freed MRTA leader causes stir

    26 September 2015

    After serving his 25-year prison sentence, Peter Cárdenas Schulte was freed on 22 September. He was first convicted following his capture in Lima in 1992 for being a leading member of the MRTA.

  • Private companies and the police: recent events in Espinar

    26 September 2015

    The issue of contracts between private companies and the police for security services has been a cause of grave concern now for several years, particularly with regard to the management of protest in the mining sector. The issue has arisen again in Espinar.

  • New poverty map

    26 September 2015

    The National Statistic Institute has recently published a new Poverty Map that reveals some interesting changes in the distribution of poverty since the last one in 2009.

  • Historical Overview

    Over the past century Peru has suffered a series of autocratic governments and a civil war in which nearly 70,000 people died. Many of the country's ongoing political and social problems are a legacy of its somewhat turbulent past. 

  • Society and Conflict

    Peru’s indigenous and peasant communities continue to suffer political marginalisation and discrimination. Insufficient consultation with such groups over political and developmental decisions has fostered feelings of disenfranchisement and led to elevated levels of social conflict.

  • Climate Change

    Two important reports on the impacts of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC ) Special Report on Emissions Scenarios and the Stern Review, place Peru as one of the countries that will be most affected by the effects of climate change.

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