NEWS

  • P/T Research Intern Vacancy

    28 September 2011

    The Peru Support Group is currently seeking a part-time intern to assist with research on a variety of human rights and development-related projects. The intern will make a real contribution to our organisation and gain valuable experience of working in the third sector.

    Click here for more details

  • 'New Directions in Peruvian Politics' with Javier Diez Canseco

    19 September 2011

    Date: 14th October 2011
    Time:     14:00 - 16:00
    Venue:     Senate House, Room 102, London, WC1E 7HU

    The Peru Support Group is proud to announce that JAVIER DIEZ CANSECO, a Gana Perú congressman and long-standing human rights advocate, will be coming to the UK in October to give a talk on the new government's policy initiatives. During the discussion, kindly hosted by the Institute for the Study of the Americas, Javier will highlight key areas for reform over the next five years and provide an insight into political dynamics within the Humala administration.

    About the speaker:

    Javier is a Peruvian politician, political analyst, human rights advocate and anti corruption activist. He has been elected to Congress on seven occasions, once serving as the institution's vice-president. In 2006 he stood as candidate for the presidency with Peru's Socialist Party. He is currently a Congressman for the ruling Gana Perú party.

    Read more

  • European NGOs Congratulate Government on Prior Consultation Law

    09 September 2011

    The Peru Europe Platform, a network of approximately 15 European NGOs that work in Peru, yesterday sent an open letter to Congress and the Humala administration congratulating them on passing the Prior Consultation Law. The letter highlights the importance of this step, which enshrines in law the rights of Peru’s traditionally marginalised indigenous communities. It also urges Congress and the government to ensure the full and rapid implementation of the legislation.

    Click here to read the letter [Spanish Only]

  • Peru News Summary: August 2011

    Peru News 068. 31 August 2011

    The Peru Support Group's monthly summary of the major news stories from Peru is now available.

    This month: Congress approves 'historic' consultation law, new cabinet receives congressional vote of confidence, coca eradication programmes are temporarily suspended, civil war victims' remains are found, Fujimori mistrial plea is rejected and endemic corruption at state agency is alleged.

    Click here to view the newsletter

  • Extraordinary General Meeting and Social

    17 August 2011

    On Tuesday 6th September 2011 the Peru Support Group (PSG) will be holding an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to vote on constitutional changes which would facilitate our registration as a charitable association. The meeting will be held from 6pm in Jack’s Lounge and Kitchen, near Waterloo and Southwark tube stations, and will be followed by a social event in the same venue. 

    The PSG is seeking to register as a charity as a means of ensuring our survival over the long-term. Charitable status would enable us to forge closer relationships with partner organisations, provide external recognition that the organisation is competently run, and confer modest financial benefits through schemes such as Gift Aid. The move to apply for charitable status was approved in principle by our members at two previous AGMs.

    Please click here for more information

  • ISA Event: Is American Anthropology returning to fiction?

    11 August 2011

    Time: 17:00 - 19:30, 22nd September
    Speaker: Billie Jean Isbell, Cornell University
    Venue : Room G37, Senate House, Ground Floor, London, WC1E 7HU

    Outline: Discussion and reading from Finding Cholita, (2009 Univ. of Illinois Press) a fictionalized ethnography set in the Ayacucho region of Peru covering a thirty-year period beginning in the 1970s. It is a story of human tragedy resulting from the region's long history of discrimination, class oppression, and the rise and fall of the communist organization Shining Path. The story is told through the voice of an American anthropologist, Dr. Alice Woodsley, who becomes obsessed with "finding Cholita", her goddaughter, who is known to have joined Shining Path.

    For more details please contact: americas@sas.ac.uk

  • Peru News Summary: July 2011

    Peru News 067. 31 July 2011

    The Peru Support Group's monthly summary of the major news stories from Peru is now available. 

    This month: Humala becomes president, new government's transition team highlights upcoming challenges, the ‘Butcher of the Andes’ returns to Peru to face trial, Canadian mining firm Bear Creek appeals against cancelled concession and Supreme Courts rejects Fujimori appeal.

    Click here to view the newsletter

  • Legal Proceedings Against Monterrico Metals Settled

    20 July 2011

    Legal proceedings against UK-based Monterrico Metals PLC by 33 members of a peasant community in northern Peru were settled earlier today by compensation payments, without admission of liability. The claimants allege torture by the Peruvian police after protesting at Monterrico's Rio Blanco copper mine in Piura in August 2005. The events at Rio Blanco have been a key focus for the Peru Support Group in recent years and we welcome the payment of compensation to those who allegedly suffered mistreatment.

  • Peru News Summary: June 2011

    Peru News 066. 30 June 2011

    The Peru Support Group's monthly summary of the major news stories from Peru is now available. 

    This month: Humala prepares to assume office, social conflict escalates in Puno; Ayacucho’s government proposes model for conflict management; new legislation jeopardises corruption prosecutions; and congressmen come to blows over official’s election. 

    Click here to view the newsletter

  • Event Summary: Peru After the Elections

    24 June 2011

    On Wednesday 22 June, the Peru Support Group, CAFOD and Christian Aid hosted a panel discussion in the UK parliament to analyse the implications of Peru’s recent presidential election results. For a summary of the main points made by the speakers please click here.

    Click here to view our event handout

  • PSG Aims

    The Peru Support Group exists to promote social inclusion, sustainable development and the observance of human rights in Peru. To that end the PSG highlights shortcomings in observance of established norms, whether international or local in nature, in its research, advocacy and publications. In so doing, it underscores the relationships that exist within the political system, how institutions work, and the effectiveness of policies that aim to reduce poverty and inequality within the context of sustainable development.

  • 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. 

  • Human Rights

    Human rights violations were widespread during the twenty years after the initiation of armed conflict in 1980. Efforts to convict perpetrators since the war's end have made only limited progress. Today, concerns remain over the treatment of those engaged in social protest, particularly against strategically important investment projects.

  • 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