Articles

  • Peru and the Persistence of Inequality

    Update 154. 19 December 2012

    The Peru Support Group’s annual conference this year saw Latin American and European academics and development professionals come together to discuss the causes and consequences of inequality in Peru. In this article we synthesise the main points made by the various speakers.

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  • Case Study Launch: Torture at the Río Blanco Mine

    23 November 2012

    The Peru Support Group (PSG) today launches an academic case study examining human rights violations and community resistance to a mining project in northern Peru. The initiative differs from previous analyses of the conflict in that it explains the dispute, and subsequent efforts to obtain justice for the victims, principally through primary source material, including court documents, diplomatic cables, videos, photos and victim testimony.

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  • PSG Annual Report 2011/2012

    05 October 2012

    As an election year, FY11/12 presented both opportunities and challenges for the Peru Support Group (PSG). The end of García’s term in office presented opportunities to advance measures like the Prior Consultation Law which had stagnated in the latter years of his administration. At the same time, the victory of a politically untested president backed by a fragile congressional coalition presented challenges in that it was, at times, difficult to discern what the precise priorities of the new government were.

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  • Editorial: All that Glitters...

    153. Aug - Sep 12

    The question who should administer or control the process by which Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are granted has long been contentious in Peru. Up until now, it has been the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM). The prime role of the MEM, up till now, has been to attract investment, particularly foreign investment, in the mining and hydrocarbons (oil and gas) industries. Having the same ministry regulate the environmental studies is hardly conducive to the protection of the environment.

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  • Minería aurífera artesanal y en pequeña escala en Perú

    26 September 2012

    Este nuevo informe de Peru Support Group, disponible tanto en inglés como en español, analiza a conciencia hasta qué punto puede señalarse a la minería artesanal y en pequeña escala (MAPE) como responsable de los perjuicios que se le atribuyen. El informe revela que el mayor de los errores de enfoque hasta el momento ha sido la ausencia de distinción en cuanto a dimensiones (artesanal, en pequeña escala, mediana o grande) y modos de explotación (ilegal, informal y formal) de esta actividad. Todo ello deriva con frecuencia en malentendidos sobre las características precisas de la MAPE.

  • Artisanal Gold Mining in Peru: Blessing or Curse?

    26 September 2012

    A new Peru Support Group report, available in both English and Spanish, critically examines the extent to which artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is responsible for the various problems often attributed to it. The report argues that a shortcoming of much analysis of the phenomenon thus far has been the failure to make a clear distinction between the size of mining (artisanal, small, medium or large-scale) and its mode of operation (illegal, informal or formal). This has often resulted in misconceptions about what the precise characteristics of ASM operations are.

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  • MineWatch Launch

    21 September 2012

    To track social conflicts involving British listed / part-owned firms the PSG is today launching its new MineWatch service. Updated monthly, this database lists all UK extractive firms with projects in Peru and details any disputes with nearby communities.

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  • Support the PSG and Get Free Entry to Music Festivals this Summer!

    07 August 2012

    The PSG is pleased to announce that it will again be cooperating with the Workers’ Beer Company to send volunteers this summer to Reading and Leeds Festivals as well as Proms in the Park. Competition for places is very intense so register your interest now!

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  • Humala: A Political Prisoner of the Right?

    152. Jun - Jul 12

    The removal of Oscar Valdés as prime minister and his replacement with Juan Jiménez represents a slight shift back towards the centre from the right, but by no means a return to the programme on which President Ollanta Humala was elected last year.

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  • Criminalisation of Human Rights Defenders

    09 July 2012

    The Inter-American Court of Human Rights recently warned: "[t]he increasingly systematic and recurring way in which baseless criminal actions are brought against human rights defenders [across Latin America] has caused this obstacle to gain visibility in the region and to become a problem that merits urgent attention". The following report - written by a series of international NGOs and networks -analyses this issue by drawing on examples from Peru, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Colombia.

    Read the report

  • 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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    • Keep up to date with latest news and developments in Peru
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