NEWS

  • ECONOMY: Growth, Extractives investment, Coca production

    28 June 2014

    In common with most other Latin American countries, growth rates are dwindling in Peru. The government's reaction to the slowdown in the growth of the economy has been to propose a package of reforms to facilitate investment in extractives.

    Annual figures produced by the UNODC (the UN Office on Drugs and Crime) suggest that there was a substantial (17.5%) decrease in the number of hectares planted with coca in 2013.

  • POLITICS: New Cabinet appointments, Lima mayor elections, Santos arrested

    28 June 2014

    On June 23 three new cabinet members were sworn in: José Gallardo, minister of transport and communications; Gonzalo Gutiérez, minister of foreign affairs; Daniel Urresti, minister of the interior.

    July 7 is the last date by which candidates for regional presidents and mayors must present themselves. There are a growing number of aspirants to the mayoralty of Lima, by far the biggest prize in the October electoral contests.

    On June 25, Gregorio Santos, the regional president of Cajamarca, was arrested and jailed on corruption charges.

  • HUMAN RIGHTS: Bagua 5 years on; Lugar de la Memoria opens

    28 June 2014

    On 5 June 2009, 10 demonstrators and 23 police were killed and hundreds were wounded when police clashed with indigenous people protesting against the imposition of two legislative decrees – 1090 and 1064 – that authorised exploitation of natural resources on ancestral land.

    Nearly five years after German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered to donate funds to build a Museum of Memory for those killed in the 20-year war against Sendero Luminoso, the Lugar de la Memoria, Tolerancia e Inclusión has partially opened with a three-day cultural festival ‘ILUMina’ held on the 5, 6 and 7 June.

     

  • Judicial Clash: Constitutional Tribunal v National Magistrates Council etc

    27 May 2014

    The fallout from the controversial election of Carlos Ramos Heredia as the new National Prosecutor General in April continues to rumble on. It has revealed itself in a high-profile clash between two of Peru's most powerful judicial bodies: the Constitutional Tribunal (TC) and the National Magistrates Council (CNM).

    Congess approved election of six new members of the TC.

  • Extractives: IACHR rejects petition; Peru and Colombia collaborate etc

    27 May 2014

    The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has rejected the petition asking for the revocation of the Newmont Mining Company's licence to build a further gold mine in Cajamarca.

    Peru and Colombia to collaborate in combating Illegal gold mining

    Ancash farmers protest water appropriation for mining 

    Business suffers from community conflict

  • Abortion guidelines to be published soon

    27 May 2014

    The Ministry of Health has now produced a ‘technical guide for the interruption of pregnancies with informed consent before the 22 weeks in the cases when they endanger the life of the mother’ but it has yet to be implemented.

  • Anti-trust rules proposed

    27 May 2014

    José Távara, a senior economist from the Catholic University (PUCP) has argued forcefully for the passage of legislation to prevent mergers and acquisitions creating virtual monopolies

  • Controversial appointment of new Fiscal

    29 April 2014

    On April 9, Peru’s Supreme Board of Public Prosecutors (fiscales) elected Carlos Ramos Heredia, a cousin of the first lady Nadine Heredia, to a term of three years as the new National Prosecutor General (Fiscal de la Nación).  The vote passed by four votes with one against.

  • Debate over civil union gathers strength

    29 April 2014

    Over the past month the debate over possible legislation allowing for the civil union of people of the same sex has prompted wide public discussion of a topic that has for long remained taboo in Peruvian politics.

  • Niño in sight

    29 April 2014

    The likelihood of Peru being hit by the Niño phenomenon this year appears to be in the ascendant.

  • 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.

  • PSG MineWatch

    There are numerous social conflicts related to extractive concessions operated by British firms in Peru. This PSG database shows which firms and which projects have proved the most contentious this month.

  • Why join the PSG?

    • Keep up to date with latest news and developments in Peru
    • Learn about key issues of poverty, development and human rights in Peru
    • Support the work of the Peru Support Group

    Become a member