Archive for February, 2008
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, IFC, approved a $300 million loan on Tuesday for Peru LNG, the second phase of the Camisea natural gas export project requiring a total investment of $3.8 billion, the largest foreign direct investment in Peru’s history. The project has already received funding from the U.S. Export – Import Bank, which approved $250 million, and the Inter-American Development Bank, which was the first bank to brush off environmental and social concerns by authorizing $400 million in December 2007.
The project will create a 253-mile pipeline and a natural gas liquefaction plant and marine loading terminal some 105-miles south of Lima on Peru’s pacific coast. The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Camisea gas fields through an existing pipeline network to the LNG plant. It is expected to generate $230 million a year in incremental royalties and $90 million in income tax revenue for Peru’s government. Most of the natural gas will be exported with markets in Mexico and possibly Chile and the United States. (more…)
Posted in Business, Energy, Environment | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Attorney General Adelaida Bolívar and three other prosecutors will be questioned by the National Magistrates Council, CNM, over their handling of two drug trafficking investigations, daily El Comercio reported. The CNM’s disciplinary commission, led by Francisco Delgado, will later rule on opening disciplinary procedures against Bolívar and prosecutors Luis Muñoz, from Loreto Department, José Luis Castillo, from Cajamarca Department, and María Milian, from Trujillo, capital of La Libertad Department. (more…)
Posted in Cocaine, Corruption, Criminal Justice | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
The oil spill caused by explosions on a tanker off Peru’s northern coast last week is spreading south-west and affecting popular tourist sites, according to the head of Natural Resources and Environmental Management in the Tumbes Department, Augusto Zegarra.
Zegarra told Agencia Andina that the oil has spread to Piura Department and is seen off the coast of Mancora, a small fishing village with popular, picturesque beaches and well-known surf point, located about 650-miles north of Lima.
The oil spill was caused after explosions on a 1400-ton, Class C tanker, on lease from the Peruvian navy to the oil company BPZ Energy, caused a fire. At the time of the fire, the tanker was stationed at an oil platform offshore from Zorritos, Tumbes Department.The accident resulted in one death and numerous injuries. (more…)
Posted in Energy, Environment | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
Flooding in the eastern province of Padre Abad, in Ucayali Department, has affected 1,500 homes and some 7,500 people after three days of heavy rains caused the overflow of the Aguaytía River.
Ucayali’s civil defense director, Federico Pezo, told daily El Comercio most of the damage is in the Miguel Grau and Barrio Unido districts located about 800 kilometers east of Lima. “The last time we suffered similar damage was seven-years-ago, but this time it seems like the situation is even worse,” said Pezo. (more…)
Posted in Environment, Natural Disasters | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
State prosecutor Luz Loayza’s lawyer said he will appeal a decision by Peru’s Supreme Council of Prosecutors ordering Loayza’s return to her post in the city of Iquitos, where she would be at the mercy of drug traffickers. Aníbal Quiroga told daily La República they will appeal the decision in the judiciary and are prepared to bring the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with support from the Lima Bar Association.
In November 2005, Loayza, 47, brought charges against Peru’s cocaine kingpin, Fernando Zevallos, who is currently serving a 20 year sentence for money laundering and drug trafficking. She reportedly received numerous death threats and escaped an assassination attempt in Iquitos during the year and a half trial against Zevallos.
Loayza has argued her life would be at risk if she returns to her post in the jungle city, capital of Loreto department, where drug traffickers have promised revenge.
However, the Supreme Council ordered Loayza’s return to Iquitos on Friday, arguing she failed to report death threats to her superiors. According to daily El Comercio, the Supreme Council echoed earlier comments by Attorney General Adelaida Bolívar saying prosecutors are inherently at risk. (more…)
Posted in Cocaine, Criminal Justice, Politics, Regional Politics, Women | No Comments »
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
A team of Peruvian and American archeologists has uncovered a 2,000-year-old mine in the foothills of Peru’s Andes in the southern department of Ica. The leader of the expedition and assistant professor at Purdue University, Dr. Kevin Vaughn, says the Mina Primavera is the only pre-Hispanic hematite mine registered in South America and the first evidence of iron ore mining in the Andes.
According to a report by the archeologists, the mine was used by at least two pre-Inca civilizations, the Nazca and Wari, in order to extract hematite, the mineral form of iron oxide which was likely used as a pigment for painting pottery. The study finds some 3,710 tonnes of hematite was excavated from the mine, “suggesting regular and extensive mining prior to Spanish conquest.”
Inside the 500-square-meter mine, archeologists found pottery fragments, stone and shell beads, botanical remains, cotton textiles suitable for storing and transporting ground pigment and fragments of spondylus shells, suggesting the site was also used to make offerings linked to agricultural fertility and water. (more…)
Posted in Archaeology, Mining | No Comments »
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
Justice Minister Rosario Fernández announced the commission that will evaluate and make recommendations on a privatization plan for Peru’s future prisons, in an attempt to address problems such as overcrowding. The commission, which has 30 days to produce its report, is led by Gonzalo Prialé Cevallos, who is accompanied by penal and public management specialists as well as engineers and fellow economists. Prialé, an economist and agro-exporter, is president of AFIN, the association for development of national infrastructure formed by members of Confiep, the confederation of national private businesses.
Peru’s prisons are currently managed by the National Penitentiary Institute, INPE. Under the new system, prison administration would be controlled by private companies under INPE’s supervision.
“Basically, we aren’t trying to resolve or correct the existing penitentiary problems, but rather find a formula so the future prison system will be more humane,” said Prialé. (more…)
Posted in Business, Criminal Justice | No Comments »
Friday, February 1st, 2008
Peru’s first biodiesel plant was inaugurated in Lima’s Lurín district on Thursday with an investment of $25 million. The general manager of the Peruvian company Heaven Petroleum Operations, Samir Abudayeh, said the plant will have an initial daily production of 120,000 gallons of biodiesel with a later production at 240,000 gallons a day, Radio Programas radio reported.
“With this plant, using Peruvian technology, we begin the era of biofuels in our country,” said Abudayeh. “Biodiesel will create a series of development poles at the national level in the agriculture and agro-industrial sectors”
Made from fat or vegetable oil, biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel compared to conventional diesel. With little or no modifications, it easily replaces petroleum diesel in compression-ignition engines, which includes cars, heavy equipment and boats. (more…)
Posted in Business, Energy, Environment | No Comments »
Friday, February 1st, 2008
Police have seized 200 kilograms, about 440 pounds, of cocaine in the port city of Callao in the largest cocaine seizure in Peru so far this year. The cocaine was hidden in a crate among replicas of Inca ceramics aboard the Elqui, which is owned by the Chilean CSAV shipping company, the largest in Latin America, according to daily La República. The cocaine was reportedly bound for Spain, with an estimated street value of eight million euros, or almost $12 million.
According to the daily, Peru’s anti-drug unit, Dirandro, arrested three employees from the port who were allegedly involved in the trafficking. The employees are suspected of being in the employ of a Colombian drug cartel that traffics to Spain, France and the United Kingdom. (more…)
Posted in Cocaine, Criminal Justice | No Comments »
