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Peru: Air Force Officer Charged with Spying for Chile

Juan Arellano — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:13:11 +0000

On November 12th, news broke that Victor Ariza Mendoza, a member of the Peruvian Air Force was taken into custody for the alleged spying for Chile within the Peruvian Armed Forces. This incident, which takes place during the ongoing tense relationship with its southern neighbor, caused Peruvian President Alan García to cancel a meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting being held in Singapore, as well as his subsequent return to Peru to evaluate the situation. In addition, the Peruvian Ambassador in Santiago was called back to Peru for consultation, and the Prime Minister requested that the Production Minister, Mercedes Aráoz suspend her planned trip to Chile.

The official Chilean response has been a denial that it had anything to do with the matter, first regretting the incident, and then saying that Peru's reaction was hasty [es]. A Chilean deputy stated that due to “Peru's constant aggressive attitude” that “it should serve so that we do not continue to turn the other cheek to Peru.” Some of the Chilean press has been calling this one of the worst crises between the two countries [es].

Tensions between the two countries comes at a time when Peru is pushing for disarmament in the region [es]. The scheduled trip by Minister Aráoz was to discuss the initiative in Chile. General Ricardo Ortega, head of the Chilean Armed Forces stated that “it is no coincidence” that the spy's arrest took place just when the United States announced that they would authorize Chile to purchase additional missiles. He adds that the Peruvian government has “an interest in provoking” the Chilean government.

As the facts are being revealed, such as the information revealed to Chile includes the Armed Forces Strategic Plan, as well as the Basic Core Defense [es], public opinion and bloggers showed their anger and rejection. Carlos Yancul of the blog Cortina de Humo [es] was surprised:

Lo último que un ciudadano peruano podría esperar, es que un militar traicionara a su patria por unos cuantos miles de dólares. Y más aún, si es espía de nuestro vecino país del sur, con quienes las relaciones políticas y diplomáticas no están en su cause normal. … Según las informaciones que surgieron desde la fecha, el militar ya habría confesado su grave falta, por lo que sólo estaría esperando el término de los interrogatorios para ingresar por largos años al penal de máxima seguridad Piedras Gordas en Ancón.

The last thing that a Peruvian citizen could hope for, is that a member of the military would betray his or her country for thousands of dollars. Even more, if he or she is a spy for our neighbor to the South, with whom political and diplomatic relations are not normal. … According to the information that has come out since, the member of the military had already confessed to the serious action, and is only waiting to finish the questioning in order to enter the maximum security prison of Piedras Gordas in Ancón for many years.

Others are more drastic and are calling for the death penalty for the alleged spy. This Facebook note [es], for example, already contains more than 180 comments, including those that include the terms “traitor,” as well as calls for the firing squad. There has also been the creation of a campaign against buying Chilean products. In the discussions taking place in Foros Perú [es], one can see the diverse opinions about the issue, and related to this, Gustavo Alayza of the blog Marcamasi [es] writes:

Y así los peruanos firman TLCs y demás cosas con el enemigo histórico?, ahora se confirma lo que varios veniamos diciendo que no se puede tener politica de cuerdas separadas con un país que en 130 años no ha dejado de ser el mismo. Todos los que ahora trabajan para negocios chilenos apenas abran empresas homólogas de capitales nacionales y extranjeros deben migrar a trabajar en estas nuevas empresas como Oeschle o Peruvian Airlines y facilmente podamos todos los peruanos reducir al minimo posible el consumo de productos y servicios chilenos, a por nuestra dignidad nacional.

And the Peruvians sign Free Trade Agreements with the historical enemy? And now it has been confirmed what many of us have been saying that there cannot be politics separated by a string with a country that in 130 years has remained the same. All who are working for Chilean businesses open similar businesses with national and foreign capital should move towards working with these new companies like Oeschle or Peruvian Airlines and all Peruvians can easily reduce to the minimal possible consumption of Chilean products and services, for our national dignity.

Arturo of the blog Crónicas del Basurero [es] was in Chile when the news broke, and writes that initially he saw a “little coverage of the news in the Chilean press, which was briefly limited to what was published in the newspapers of Lima,” but changed the next day. Later, he adds his thoughts on the campaign to boycott Chilean products:

si esta gente manipulada es consecuente con lo que dice, en primer lugar - aparte de no comprar en Wong, Ripley o Falabella - deberían dejar de usar luz eléctrica en sus casas y volver a usar velas, ya que las compañías que la suministran como EDELNOR y Luz del Sur, pertenecen a capitales chilenos. Y por otro lado, a quien deberían reclamar con mayor razón es a Alan García Pérez, más interesado en proteger las millonarias inversiones de ese país que nuestras fronteras ¿a que te enteras? :(

if these manipulated people are consequent of what they say, then in the first place - apart from not buying from (Chilean companies) Wong, Ripley or Falabella - they should stop using electricity in their homes and return to using candles, because the companies that supply electricity like EDELNOR and Luz del Sur are owned by Chilean companies. On the other hand, the one who should complained to the most is Alan García Pérez, who is more interested in protecting that country's million-dollar investments than our own borders. Do you understand?

The blog Renatto Real Politik [es] also criticizes the government for allowing for these things to happen:

Después de leer tantas cosas que, como peruano, joden y amargan la vida, uno se pone a pensar en las causas y consecuencias de tal acontecimiento tan nefasto para la nación. ¿Qué pasó con el SIN? Al parecer, en el Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional ya no existe mayor movimiento después de la salida de Vladimiro Montesinos … Mi indignación como peruano llega a niveles sotánicos. Hace falta que el gobierno se ponga una mano al pecho y la otra en el bolsillo derecho para comprender que no vivimos en un barrio de amigos, que nuestros vecinos son cualquier cosa menos pacíficos, que estamos descuidando nuestras fuerzas armadas, y que nuestro discurso pacifista está cayendo en tierra infértil.

After reading so many things that, as a Peruvian, bother and sour one's life, one begins to think about the causes and consequences of such a nefarious occurrence. What happened with the SIN (Peruvian Intelligence Service)? It appears that in the SIN, there has not been much movement since Vladimiro Montesinos' exit … My indignation as a Peruvian has reached basement levels. We need the government to put a hand on its chest and the other one in its right pocket to understand that we do not live in a neighborhood of friends, and that our neighbors are anything but peaceful, that we are neglecting our armed forces, and that our peaceful rhetoric is falling on infertile ground.

Additional facts are emerging about the investigation into the alleged spying that began in 2007 [es], including the evidence of an increase in bank deposits originating in Chile, as well as the ownership of numerous properties that are not justified according to his salary as a member of the military.

Finally, Javier Fernández of the blog Javi270270: ¿Qué pasa? [es] writes about other cases of espionage in Peru, and Francisco Canaza of Apuntes Peruanos [es] provides three important things from his point of view regarding the case, one of them has to do with the legal issues:

¿Cómo y por qué el espía chileno estaba siendo procesado en el fuero común? La distinción es importante. El fuero militar acoge causas tipificadas en la normatividad propia de la justicia militar. El agente encubierto (el suboficial de la fuerza aérea que trabajaba para Chile) en su condición de militar en ejercicio, función sobre la que ejercía su papel de espía (sin la cual su acceso a la información era imposible) debió ser procesado oportunamente en el fuero militar y no bajo tribunales comunes.

How and why is the Chilean spy being tried in civilian courts? The distinction is important. The military court receives cases in the legislative powers of the military justice system. The undecover agent (the Air Force official who worked for Chile) in his condition as active member of the military, which helped him in his role as spy (it would be impossible without access to the information) should be tried in military court and not in civilian court.

Translation by Eduardo Ávila

Peru: Blind Lawyer Strives to Be Judge

Gabriela García Calderón — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:35:14 +0000

Edwin Béjar Rojas is a 30 year-old lawyer, and resident of the city of Cusco, Perú. Since the age of 17, Mr. Béjar has been dealing with visual impairment, yet that has not been an obstacle for him to achieve important goals in his professional life.

He graduated first of his class from San Antonio Abad University Law School [es]. He has also successfully completed a Master's Degree in Civil and Procedural Civil Law, a Master's Degree in Criminal and Procedural Criminal Law, a Doctorate Degree in Law and Investigation, as well as additional specialized studies in Human Rights, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Municipal Law, Tax Law, Labor Law, and Procedural Constitutional Law. In addition, he has worked as college professor.

As the blog Discapacidad en Acción [es] points out:

Cabe indicar, que el Abog. Edwin Bejar Rojas, es un profesional conocido en la ciudad del Cusco, por ser ejemplo de superación y su trabajo a favor de las personas con discapacidad visual, como profesor y especialista en nuevas tecnologías para personas con discapacidad visual (proyecto REDSOCIAL); y por su constante apoyo a las Organizaciones de Personas con Discapacidad.

It should be noted that lawyer Edwin Bejar Rojas is a well know professional in the city of Cusco, due to his willigness to overcome [his impairment], and his work on behalf of other people with visual handicaps, and he specializes in new technologies for visually impaired people (REDSOCIAL Project), and his constant support to various organizations for handicapped people.

Last July, he attempted to run for a post as Deputy Provincial Prosecutor in Cusco, but the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM of its initials in Spanish) rejected his nomination because of his disability, as reported by the blog of Law School Federated Center of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru [SP]:

El 12 de junio, postuló a la plaza de Fiscal Adjunto Provincial en la ciudad de Cusco, cumpliendo con los requisitos establecidos por ley e indicando su discapacidad. Inicialmente, fue declarado postulante apto para dar el examen escrito el 19 de julio. No obstante, por decisión del Pleno del CNM, fue excluido de la postulación por motivo de su discapacidad visual e impedido de rendir su examen, [aunque] hoy no existe impedimento [legal] para que personas con discapacidad sean magistrados.

On July 12th, he ran as candidate for the post of Deputy Provincial Prosecutor in Cusco, as he fulfilled the legal requirements, pointing out his impairment. At first, he was found to be a suitable candidate, suitable to take the written test on July 19th. Nevertheless, the Plenary of the National Council of the Magistracy rejected his candidacy due to his visual disability, and he was not allowed to take the test [even though nowadays] there is no [legal] obstacle for a person with disability to become a judge.

In July 2009, the National Council for the Integration of People with Disabilities (CONADIS for its initials in Spanish), which is part of the Ministry of Women and Social Development, weighed in and asked for an explanation for the rejection of the candidacy of Mr. Béjar. The National Coordinating Committee for Human Rights (CNDDHH for its initials in Spanish), interceded [es] as amicus curiae before the Third Civil Court of Cusco, where Mr. Béjar filed a appeal for legal protection lawsuit.

Finally, on November 13th, 2009, a court in Cusco ruled [es] in favour of Mr Béjar ordering the CNM to give him the test with the “same degree of complexity” as any other applicant. In addition, the ruling also orders the CNM to guarantee the technical facilities that Mr. Béjar may require in order to take the test. The CNM has filed an appeal to the court's decision.

Latin America: Photos of Cemeteries in Ecuador and Peru

Eduardo Avila — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:34:18 +0000

In commemoration of the feast of All Saints, which is a holiday across Latin America where family members honor their deceased relatives, Natalia Cartolini posts a series of photographs she has taken of cemeteries in Ecuador and Peru [es].

Peru: One Hundred Years of Writer Ciro Alegría

Juan Arellano — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:43:22 +0000

One hundred years ago, Peruvian writer Ciro Alegría was born in the Northern Department of La Libertad, and who wrote novels such as The Golden Snake (1935) and The Hungry Dogs (1939). Alegría's works often centered on indigenous Peruvians, and their way of life, which was often characterized by their oppression and hardship. However, he also also took great pride in indigenous culture and was a supporter of social justice for this population.

The blogger at Postre Literario [es] writes about this focus, “To talk with Ciro Alegría is to feel the pride in the indigenism that we have in our blood and that makes us different, unique, grand because of our history.”

Perhaps, Alegria's best-known work is Broad and Alien is the World (1941), which according to the La República newspaper, is “brilliant from the beginning. The novel Broad and Alien is the World takes place in a mountainous community in Northern Peru, troubled by the resistance of its residents and its wise mayor troubled by the plundering by the political bosses, the Holocaust, and the emigration by the victims.” The novel was awarded the Grand Prize for Continental Novel in 1941. The blog Desafío Perú [es] summarizes the work:

la aldea de Rumi, auténtica protagonista de la novela, cuya vida se describe maravillosamente, es objeto de la codicia del terrateniente blanco; destruida, sus habitantes se dispersan: unos mueren, otros son reducidos a esclavos o marchan a las grandes ciudades. El mundo es ancho y ajeno es así un gran cuadro épico de las luchas de una arquetípica comunidad indígena contra los tres poderes que quieren destruirla: la oligarquía terrateniente, el Ejército y el Gobierno al servicio de los intereses estadounidenses.

The village of Rumi, the true protagonist of the novel, whose life is marvelously described, is subject to the greed of the white landowner; destroyed, its residents are dispersed: some die, others are reduced to slaves or leave for the big cities. Broad and Alien is the World is an epic portrait of the archetypal struggles of an indigenous community against the three powers that want to destroy it: the oligarchy, the military and the government in service to the interests of the United States.

Gonzalo Espino of the blog La Alforja de Chuque [es] writes the following in an analysis of the book:

Un aspecto descuidado por la crítica es la singularidad de lo maravilloso -lo mágico maravilloso- que aparece a lo largo de la novela. Se trata de pasajes que resultan extremadamente sospechosos, por que cuestionan nuestro esquema de realidad, y aun siéndolo, los ubicamos como aspectos extremadamente ficcionales. Pongo, aquí solamente dos casos: el de la comunidad Muncha allí donde no hay agua, pero sin embargo una joven tiene “macetas de claveles” que crea esa sensualidad olfativa en medio de la sequedad o el otro caso, es el diablo que atraviesa los andes y que en el relato sabemos que es el Mágico.

A critical aspect is neglected by the singularity of the wonderful - the wonderful magic - which appears throughout the novel. It involves passages that become extremely suspicious, because they question our scheme of reality, and they still remain, placing them as extremely fictional aspects. I place here two examples: in the Muncha community there is no water, yet a young girl has “pots of carnations, which creates a sensual scent amid drought, another example is the devil that crosses the Andes Mountains and in the story we know that he is Magic.

Eduardo Jiménez of the blog El Observador [es] takes stock of his writing and notes that his other works did not reach the level than his most famous book:

siempre me pregunté porqué llegó Alegría a un silencio casi total luego de la publicación de El mundo es ancho y ajeno. Siguió escribiendo, sí, y publicando uno que otro libro desperdigado en el tiempo, pero sin llegar jamás a esa cúspide que significó El mundo… Sólo queda la especulación para dar una respuesta. Posiblemente sintió que ya había llegado a su límite, a ese non plus ultra que los escritores de verdad reconocen en su fuero interno y ser conciente que lo publicado después no estaría a la misma altura. Con El mundo es ancho y ajeno terminado y publicado, su pathos ya estaba agotado, salvo que hubiese repetido fórmulas, lo que un escritor auténtico jamás haría.

I always wondered why Alegría was in complete silence after the publication of Broad and Alien is the World. Yes, he continued to write, publishing one book after another throughout time, but he never reached the top as he did with Broad and Alien is the World … Only speculation remains. Possibly he felt that he reached his limit, in his “non plus ultra” that real writers recognize in their hearts and to realize that what they publish later will not be at the same level. With Broad and Alien is the World completed and published, his pathos was exhausted, unless he repeated the same formula, which no authentic author would never do.

Alegría spent a large part of his life in exile in Chile, the United States, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. As a member of the APRA political party, he was also jailed twice. It was here where he developed ideas for his novels. Writer Eduardo González Viaña tells an anecdote in his blog El Correo de Salem [es]:

Cuando lo conocí, varias décadas más tarde, Alegría me contó que allí, entre sueños y en medio de las cuatro paredes carcelarias, había visto a Rosendo Maqui y a los diversos personajes de su épica novela “El mundo es ancho y ajeno”. “Me moría de ganas de salir de allí para escribirla”.-me dijo. A Ciro le fue conmutada la pena de muerte por una prisión que padeció algunos años para luego exiliarse en Chile.

When I met him, many decades later, Alegría told me that there, among the dreams and in the middle of the four jail walls, he had seen Rosendo Maqui and the various characters of his epic novel “Broad and Alien is the World .” “I was dying to get out of there to write the book,” he told me. Ciro's death sentence was commuted in a prison where he suffered for many years and from there he was exiled in Chile.

There were several events honoring the life and works of Alegría, such as a ceremony at the San Marcos Cultural Center on November 4, according to the blog La Torre de las Paradojas [es]. In addition, in the city of Cajamarca, the IV Gathering of Peruvian Storytellers “Ciro Alegría.” More information can be found on the event's blog [es].

Translation by Eduardo Ávila

Peru: Demolition of Municipal Building in Iquitos

Juan Arellano — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:11:20 +0000

Sofía of the blog Con Alas y Pies [es] publishes photos of the recent demolition of the Municipal Building in Iquitos, Peru, and which also caused damage to an adjoining house which is the oldest building in the city.

Peru: Chimbote in Blogs

Juan Arellano — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:29:05 +0000

Chimbote is a city located to the north of Peruvian capital of Lima, and which can be reached in six hours by land. Those who have walked its streets recall its perennial smell of fish, as well as what some say might say is the apparent rudeness of the people. However, it would be wrong to stay with this first impression. While Chimbote has traditionally been a fishing village, this does not take away from the fact that it is also a land of writers and poets. There is a blog that is devoted to the writers and literature called: Marea Cultural [es], which along with another blog called La Ignorancia Mata [es], has become a pair of blogs that currently informs its readers to what is happening in the fields of culture and technology both in Chimbote and the rest of the world.

Photo of Chimbote by Edgar Asencios and used under a Creative Commons license. Click on photo to see a larger version.

The Lima blog La Fortaleza de la Soledad [es] published a post about those responsible for these blogs:

Augusto Rubio Acosta y Milton Rojas vienen desde la rica ciudad de Chimbote a darnos un ejemplo laudatorio de que aún hay mucho por hacer. Augusto y Milton no se han contagiado de la apatía capitalina, recorren el Perú en busca de las voces, mayores y jóvenes, de nuestro ambiente cultural, demostrando que es mucho más saludable “hacer” que el mero acto de “quejarse”, sacándole el jugo a la herramienta por excelencia de la promoción, Internet.

Augusto Rubio Acosta and Milton Rojas originate from the rich city of Chimbote and give us a laudatory example that there is still much to do. Augusto and Milton did not catch the capital city's apathy, they travel Peru in search of voices from the young and the old, from our cultural environment, showing that it is much more healthy to “do something,” rather than the mere act of “complaining,” taking advantage of the excellent promotion tool that is the Internet.

And in the blog Círculo D.M. [es] from Holland, Rómulo Meléndez interviewed Augusto Rubio about the project Marea Cultural and other topics, here are some excerpts:

El proyecto MAREA CULTURAL nace en 2003 en Chimbote (Perú), … surgió primero como el programa radial que conducía en la desaparecida Radio Universidad San Pedro. Después, en 2004 el programa se mudó a Radio Santo Domingo, donde estuvimos al aire hasta el mes de mayo de este año. En el camino surgió la idea de publicar revistas y libros de literatura (publicamos cinco números de la revista “Mundo cachina” y dos libros), … Surgió también el Blog MAREA CULTURAL, nuestro programa de TV en un canal local (2008), una experiencia en prensa popular con la creación del primer periódico mural cultural callejero de Chimbote (surgida en 2005 y aún vigente),

Nuestra fuerte presencia en redes sociales (gracias a la alianza estratégica establecida con Milton Rojas, de Viadescape.TV) obedece a la necesidad de estar más cerca de los jóvenes, ellos son los que van a cambiar la realidad cultural que hemos heredado”. … Desde enero de 2009, con la creación de mi página en Facebook he abandonado el correo electrónico tradicional. Ahora habito en Twitter, la forma de contactar a los autores es distinta. De igual forma la búsqueda de información de carácter literario o cultural ha cambiado. Antes visitaba páginas webs o blogs especializados, ahora eso me llega automáticamente vía Twitter y Facebook”.

The MAREA CULTURAL project was created in 2003 in Chimbote (Peru), … it first emerged as the leading radio program at the late San Pedro Radio University. Then in 2004, the program moved to Radio Santo Domingo, where we were on the air until May of this year. On the way, the idea emerged to publish magazines and literature books (we published five issues of the journal “Cachina World” and two books), … The blog MAREA CULTURAL also emerged, our television program on a local channel (2008), an experience in the popular press with the creation of the first cultural street journal of Chimbote (created in 2005 and it is still going on),

Our strong presence in social networks (through strategic partnership with Milton Rojas of Viadescape.TV) reflects the need to be closer to the youth, they are going to change the cultural reality that we have inherited.. .. Since January 2009, with the creation of my Facebook page, I've abandoned the traditional email. Now I live on Twitter, the way to contact authors is different. Likewise, the search for information from literary or cultural nature has changed. Before visiting specialist websites or blogs, now it automatically comes to me via Twitter and Facebook. “

Marea Cultural's Facebook page can be found here [es], as well as its Twitter account [es]. A brief account of the interviews conducted by the blog from among the more than 100 published include the writers Braulio Muñóz, Fernando Cueto (1 and 2) Marco Cueva (1 and 2), Iván Vásquez (1 and 2) and Dante Lecca. There are also interviews with cultural promoters, Silvia Diestra, Jaime Guzmán and Paulino Meléndez, as well as the singer Lucho Oliva and social activists Jorge Noriega (1 and 2).

Milton Rojas, in addition to working on Marea Cultural, is also responsible for the blog La Ignorancia Mata [es], which addresses Internet issues, cyberjournalism, and Viadescape.TV [es], in which he publishes the video interviews from Marea Cultural. It might appear that the projects are on the right track, including the quality of the content. However, this is what Rojas wrote:

desde que empecé con Viadescape y en particular con el blog “La ignorancia mata” en el 2005, muchas cosas para bien han ocurrido, cosas que jamas me imagine, aunque muchos de esos triunfos personales no han logrado cubrir la sensación de vacío que siento y lo que empezó siendo un proyecto personal e intransferible, ha comenzado a ser una iniciativa grupal y siento que a diferencia del pasado ya no estoy solo en esto, ya no es más mi cruzada personal, incluso buscando últimamente un modelo de negocio rentable al trabajo que realizamos,

ever since I started Viadescape and in particular the blog “La ignorancia mata” in 2005, many good things have happened, things that I never imagined, although many of these personal triumphs have not filled the emptiness I feel, and what began as a personal and untransferable project, has begun to be a group project and I feel that unlike the past and I am not alone in this, it is no longer my personal crusade, and ultimately I am even looking for a profitable business model for the work that we do.

And then later, he writes:

voy a la ruina económica de seguir invirtiendo en proyectos web que no me retornan rentabilidad, solo la satisfacción de hacer lo que me gusta y de liderar e inspirar a muchas personas que siguen lo que hacemos en Internet, pero de momento no hay marcha atrás, estamos decidimos a encontrarle vuelta al asunto muy pronto

I am going broke for continuing to invest in web projects that do not provide profitability, only the satisfaction of doing what I like to do, to lead and inspire many people to continue what we do online, but so far, there is no turning back, we decided to find a solution soon.

And it can be difficult to complete the work that one enjoys without considering the economic factor or without having another job as backup. There are numerous initiatives and projects that have been left half-started in the country because of a lack of economic support or because of the unwillingness to conform to editorial standards. Many hope that the Marea Cultural project can find a way to solve their inconveniences and continue to provide cultural information.

These are other blogs from Chimbote, and within the same cultural wave, there is the blog Soy Como Agua y Fuego [es] written by Carmen Alejos, one of the cultural promoters from Chimbote. Her blog is dedicated mainly to the musical style of trova, as well as her weekly radio program. One can hear her thoughts in this video interview she did with Marea Cultural. However, this is a sample of social sensitivity demonstrated in her writings about Rural Women's Day:

Las mujeres son las encargadas de trasmitir los conocimientos ancestrales de generación en generación, logrando conservar los cultivos tradicionales e innovarlos, en su afán de garantizar la alimentación de las familias en sus comunidades. Lamentablemente los gobiernos de turno no implementan políticas que busquen un desarrollo sostenible de la agricultura, mucho menos fomentan el desarrollo de capacidades que permitan que las mujeres puedan compartir conocimientos y mejorar su calidad de vida. En algunas comunidades de la cuenca del Valle de Nepeña, las mujeres rurales han iniciado un proceso de concientización alrededor del tema ecológico impulsado desde sus familias. Este 15 de octubre es el Día de la Mujer Rural y desde este espacio queremos reconocer el trabajo de miles y miles de mujeres -muchas de ellas solas- que de sol a sol se esfuerzan para cultivar sus tierras, criar su ganado y construir una familia y una sociedad distinta. ¡Feliz Día Mamá!…

Women are responsible for transmitting ancestral knowledge from generation to generation, being able to conserve and innovate the traditional crops in their desire to ensure food for the families in their communities. Unfortunately, successive governments do not implement policies that seek sustainable agricultural development, much less promote capacity building to enable women to share knowledge and improve their quality of life. In some communities in the Nepeña Valley basin, rural women have begun a process of ecological awareness impulsed from their families. October 15 is the Rural Women's Day and from this blog, we want to acknowledge the work of thousands and thousands of women, many of them are alone, that from dawn to dusk strive to cultivate their land, raise cattle, and build a family, and a different society. Happy Day, Mother! …

There is also the blog called Matríz Musical [es] by poet Denisse Vega, who was also interviewed by Marea Cultural, who writes about her literary production and posts about cultural activities. The blog Mujer: El Más Bello Arte [es] by Victoria Fuentes is dedicated to women's issues. A blog from the Social Justice Commission from the Diocese of Chimbote [es] writes about human rights by giving voice, via video interviews, to individuals that work in this field.

Other blogs from Chimbote include De Todo Un Poco 2.0 [es], which is dedicated to posting notes relating to the utilities, gadgets, movies, and other topics. The blog Law & Iuris [es] by a group of law students at the Los Ángeles University in Chimbote, write about legal issues. A musical blog called Herederos de Nada [es] y Escena Chimbote Rock [es] post about rock music and concerts in Chimbote, and other cities in Peru. Chimbote ♫♫ [es], on the other hand, deals with the promotion of various genres of music. Periodismo Responsable [es] was a blog that wrote about news in Chimbote, but it has not been updated in more than a year.

Another blog can be considered from Chimbote is called Mis Aventuras en Perú, maintained by Jane Silcock, a volunteer from the United States, who can be seen in this video interview by La Ignorancia Mata. Even though the title of the blog is in Spanish, the blog is written in English. She writes:

I can’t believe I am more than half way done with my volunteer experience. There are times that I never want to leave, and then moments where I miss all the familiar people, food, and music of yesterday. My time in Peru has definitely confirmed my passion and desire to dedicate my life to social justice work. I am also realizing now more than ever the beauty and importance of mass communication in helping to make change.

At Cecopros, the journalism NGO, I am currently working on TV news stories for local channels about the problems in small towns around Chimbote. We’ve done two so far, one about how an illegal city trash dump is causing nearby residents to have skin fungus and respiratory problems. The other is about misuse of government funds that should go to building water and pluming systems for those who don’t have access to water, but instead are being used, among other things, to build a 500,000 soles (about $170,000) park.

There are problems with environmental pollution in Chimbote, however, there are no blogs that deal with the issue. In YouTube, there are videos uploaded by various institutions that can attest tot he serious problems caused mainly by fishing activities. For example, the Natura Environmental Institute [es] based in Chimbote, deals with these issues, but do not have a blog.

Finally, this video that contains interviews with Chimbote residents who talk about their favorite dishes, and the video can also show various spots around the city. More Chimbote videos here.

Peru: A Different Look at San Martín Statue in Lima

Eduardo Avila — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:00:19 +0000

Juan Arellano of the blog Globalizado [es] has an up-close look at the Statue of General José de San Martín in Central Lima, Peru. As part of the events of Lima Week, visitors were given the opportunity to climb up temporary stairs to see the statue from a different vantage point.

Videos on how Maternal Mortality Affects Communities

Juliana Rincón Parra — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:04:51 +0000

baby by gabi_menashe

When a woman dies during pregnancy, childbirth or due to complications after delivery, it affects not only the family, but also the whole community. These videos, by different human rights organizations, go beyond statistics to tell us the stories of women and their families as they struggle to understand why it is that so many women are dying during childbirth and what needs to be done to stop this.

First, the White Ribbon Alliance produced a four minute video titled Birth and Death explaining the seriousness of Maternal Mortality and how it can be stopped:

UNICEF also created a two minute video to raise awareness about this issue, with 5 steps that can be taken to diminish maternal mortality: education, respect, empowerment, investing and protection.

In this next video, In Silence: Maternal Mortality in India by Human Rights Watch, photographer Susan Meiselas and reporter Dumeetha Luthra traveled to India to follow the story of a woman who died after giving birth:

In Peru, as told by this piece done for CARE by Phil Borges, the Watchmen for Lives program to decrease maternal mortality has proven to be a success: by empowering and educating women from within the communities in the importance of healthcare during pregnancy and by making a chart for midwives with warning signs on when to send women to a clinic - so more are going to clinics to give birth, dramatically reducing the numbers of deaths due to complications during labor.

Amnesty International has this documentary piece, 18 minutes long, about Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone. One in 8 women die in Childbirth there: the inability to pay for medical attention, a practically non-existent healthcare system, lack of trained medical practitioners and understaffed and understocked clinics are the main reasons. As the women in the video tell: everyone there knows a woman who has died during pregnancy or labor.

And from Australia, students from the Nursing and Midwife program at the University of Sydney have created Birthing Kits that they've delivered to developing countries to try and prevent unnecessary deaths. It includes a plastic sheet to put under the mother, surgical gloves, scalpel blades, gauze, soap and string to tie off the umbilical cord. In the video, they tell of their initiative and the successful experience they've had in Bangladesh.

Peru: The Abortion Debate

Juan Arellano — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:53:06 +0000

The abortion debate in Peru has reemerged due to a bill that has been approved in the Special Committee of the Penal Code in the Peruvian Congress, which would decriminalize abortion in cases of rape or congenital disorders in the fetus. This type of abortion is known as eugenic abortion, as well as therapeutic abortion. The Roman Catholic Church is opposing this measure [es], and it is also causing divided opinions among the Ministerial Cabinet. However, the debate is far from over, as the proposal still needs to be submitted by the Committee of the Congressional President for debate during the month of December.

The current Peruvian legislation (Penal Code 1991) stipulates [es] (.pdf format) the criminalization of all forms of abortion, except for therapeutic and includes such mitigating figures, as the ethical or sentimental abortion, and eugenic abortion. Even though there are no trustworthy official figures about abortion, it is estimated that there are between 350,000 and 400,000 abortions each year [es] in Peru.

Protests for and against the decriminalization of abortion have already reached the streets of the capital city Lima [es], and since the debate still has a long way to go, the protests are expected to remain for more months. Surveys show that opinions are almost equal regarding the issue, and the digital survey conducted by Peru.com [es] shows that 54% believe that eugenic abortion due to congenital disorders and rape should not be decriminalized, and 43% believe that it should be. Another survey conducted by the company Apoyo [es] for the newspaper El Comercio shows similar results: “53% disapproves of abortion when the pregnancy is the result of rape. 41% approves. 48% say no to abortion when the fetus shows defects. 46% state that they agree.”

This national controversy has also had repercussions abroad, but it is on the internet where there are many opinions, for example in Foros Perú (Peru Forums) there is a thread called “Eugenic Abortion. Are you For or Against? [es]” There is also discussion from bloggers, such as Isabel Guerra of La Burbujas Recargadas [es], who states her position on the issue:

creo que la principal razón por la que me opongo (al aborto) es porque la muerte es irreversible. No tiene retorno. Abortar o aplicar la eutanasia, o enviar a alguien al patíbulo, son generalmente situaciones a las que se llega bajo un tremendo estrés, en las que se llega a sentir que esto es la única solución. Ojo, que digo sentir, no pensar, porque cuando uno está pasando alguna de esas situaciones extremas es muy fácil no pensar con claridad, es terriblemente fácil equivocarse.

Hay muchísimos testimonios (libros, páginas web, etc.) de mujeres que abortaron y que años después se arrepintieron. Les dijeron que con un aborto se libraban de un problema en media hora. Pero no les dijeron que el recuerdo no las abandonaría nunca. Y cuando años después se arrepintieron, ya no había vuelta atrás. Lo que tienen casi todos estos testimonios en común es que las mujeres señalan que no recibieron ninguna ayuda, y que de una u otra forma fueron inducidas, por las circunstancias, por la desesperación o por terceras personas, a creer que el aborto era la única salida.

I think the principal reason that I oppose (abortion) is because it is an irreversible death. There is no return. Abortion or euthanasia or sending someone to the gallows are generally situations that one arrives to under tremendous stress, where one feels that it is the only solution. I say feel, and not think, because when one is going through one of these extreme situations it is very easy to not think with clarity, and it is terribly easy to make a mistake.

There are many testimonies (books, website, etc.) from women who had an abortion and years later regret the decision. They told them that with the abortion that they will free themselves from the problem in half an hour. They did not tell that the memory will never leave them. Years later when they regret the decision, there was no way to turn back. What all of these testimonies have in common is that the women say that they did not receive any help, and that in one way or another they were induced, by the circumstances, by the desperation, or by third-party persons, to think that abortion was the only exit.

Daniel Salas of the blog Gran Combo Club [es] describes the problem's ethics from an opposing position:

La discusión sobre el aborto no debería estar enfocada en las motivaciones terapéuticas, ya que estos criterios crean severas contradicciones. Por ejemplo, conozco algunas personas que se oponen al aborto por razones morales pues consideran que el óvulo fecundado debe ya ser considerado una persona pero, a la vez, admiten que hay ciertos casos (como la violación o malformaciones severas) que pueden justificar tal práctica. Si el aborto fuese injustificable e inmoral, no debería tener excepciones, ni siquiera como respuesta posible a una violación, ya que el nuevo ser debería ser considerado enteramente independiente de tal acto que le dio origen; tampoco se debería permitir en casos de que el embarazo pudiera causar la muerte de la madre, ya que el niño por nacer, con todos sus derechos plenamente constituidos, no podría ser considerado responsable de tal consecuencia.

Entonces, quien admita que el aborto es admisible “en ciertos casos” o “bajo ciertas condiciones” debería reconocer que la inviolabilidad de la vida humana aplicada a un feto no es tan absoluta como en principio se anunciaba. La discusión debería estar, en cambio, enfocada en dos cuestiones de índole ética, a saber:

1. El derecho que posee la mujer de continuar con el embarazo de un ser que depende enteramente de ella.
2. La posibilidad de otorgarle al no nacido los mismos derechos que a un nacido.

The abortion discussion should not be focused on therapeutic motivations, because those criteria create severe contradictions. For example, I know some people who oppose abortion for moral reasons and consider that the fertilized egg should already be considered a person, but also at the same tie, admit that there are certain cases (like rape or severe defects) that can justify the abortion. If abortion was unjustifiable and immoral, then there should be no exceptions, not even as an answer to a possible rape, and the new human being should be considered independent of the act that created it; it should also not be permitted in cases where the pregnancy could cause the death of the mother, because the child to be born, with all of its constituted rights, cannot be considered responsible for the consequence.

Therefore, those that admit that abortion is admissible in “certain cases” or “under certain conditions” should recognize that the inviolability of human life applied to a fetus is not as absolute as originally announced. The debate should be, instead, focused on two ethical issues:

1. The woman's right to continue with the pregnancy depends entirely upon her.
2. The possibility of granting the unborn the same rights of one born.

In the blog Tinta Roja [es], Cristina Andrade adds her grain of sand to the debate stating the problem of informality that prevails in the country:

otro problema en esta posible legalización del aborto, es la criollada, la ilegalidad de algunos médicos, quienes bajo el pretexto de que la muerte de la madre peligra, o que es un bebé con malformaciones, falsearán exámenes y documentos, para justificar el aborto, claro dependiendo de cuanto les paguen, porque en este país todo se compra, todo se vende y lamentablemente como existen médicos buenos, también hay malos y sin ninguna ética, quienes por dinero son capaces de todo.

Esos son los riesgos de legalizar el aborto, estamos en el Perú, no en Europa ni otros países civilizados en los que la ética, los valores y las leyes se respetan. Aquí siempre están buscando como violar las normas, así que en ese sentido, creo que sería muy peligroso legalizar el aborto.

Another problem with this possible legalization of abortion is the local nature, the illegal practice of some doctors, who under the pretext of the possibility of the mother's death, or a baby with defects, falsify tests and documents, to justify the abortion, of course depending on how much they are paid, because in this country everything can be bought, everything is sold, and unfortunately , as there are good doctors, there are also bad doctors with no ethics, who are capable of doing anything.

Those are the risks of legalizing abortion, we are in Peru, not in Europe or other civilized countries where ethics, values, and laws are respected. Here, they are always looking for ways to violate the rules, so in that sense, I think it would be very dangerous to legalize abortion.

The post generated a lot of posts, and Andrade adds in another post [es]:

Leer los comentarios a favor y en contra en mi primer post, solo me han hecho llegar a una conclusión: la mujer debe tener la libertad de decidir si aborta o no. Y creanme, yo no estoy a favor del aborto, pero tampoco puedo obligar a alguien a pensar como yo. Es sencillo, en mi caso, por mas que despenalicen el aborto, no lo haría, porque mi convicción, mi forma de ser no lo permitiría. Es decir, quien está en contra del aborto, simplemente no lo hará, con o sin ley a favor o en contra, simplemente no lo hará. En todo caso, quienes piensan distinto, tienen la libertad de decidir, y no ser juzgadas.

Reading the comments for and against, only have made me reach a conclusion: the woman should have the freedom to decide to have an abortion or not. Believe me, I am not in favor of abortion, but I cannot force anyone to think like me. It is simple, in my case, if they decriminalize abortion, I would not have one, because of my convictions, my way of thinking would not allow it. In other words, those who are against abortion, simply would not do it, with or without a law for or against, they simply would not have one. Those who think differently have the freedom to decide and not be judged.

Laura Arroyo of the blog Menoscanas [es] cites the need for debate and respect for differing opinions:

El problema en este país es justamente que somos incapaces de reconocer en la opinión distinta de la propia una opinión válida. Problematizar temas polémicos como el aborto, la eutanasia, preguntarnos si el Estado debiera ser o no laico, etc. es, en buena cuenta permitir que se desarrolle la democracia. En ese sentido, ¡a buena hora el tema del aborto ha sido puesto en la mesa!

The problem in this country is that we are incapable of recognizing the differing opinion from a valid opinion. To make problems out of controversial issues like abortion, euthanasia, asking ourselves if the State should be lay or not, etc. is, on good account to allow the development of democracy. In this sense, it is about time that the issue of abortion be placed on the table!

Regarding the debate, Daniel Salas of GranComboClub [es] asks the following:

Un asunto en este debate al que nadie ha podido responder es qué se entiende exactamente por penalizar el aborto.

Con la penalización del aborto hay una enorme discrepancia entre el discurso que lo sanciona y el castigo que reciben efectivamente quienes lo ejecutan. Así, quienes se oponen a despenalizar el aborto sostienen que la interrupción voluntaria de un embarazo equivale a un homicidio. La consecuencia práctica de tal juicio debería ser que las personas involucradas en el aborto, incluyendo la madre, reciban la misma condena que recibe quien asesina a un nacido. Esto, sin embargo, no ocurre. Una madre que asesina a sus hijos va a la cárcel y recibe mucha publicidad en los medios.

Pero una mujer que aborta no.

Este tipo de discrepancias revelan las verdaderas intenciones de la ley. … controlar la capacidad de las mujeres de tomar decisiones sobre su cuerpo. Permitimos que el aborto se practique, pero no de manera abierta porque esto último daría demasiada libertad a las mujeres en una decisión que sentimos que afecta el sostenimiento de la sociedad.

One issue in this debate that no one has been able to answer is what exactly is meant by criminalizing abortion.

With the criminalization of abortion, there is a huge discrepancy between the discourse that sanctions and the punishment to those who are actually carrying them out. So those who oppose the decriminalization of abortion contend that the voluntary interruption of pregnancy is equivalent to murder. The practical consequence of such a trial should be that people involved in abortion, including the mother, receive the same sentence that one who murders a born person receives. This, however, does not happen. A mother who murders her children goes to jail and receives much publicity in the media.

But a woman who aborts does not.

Such discrepancies reveal the true intentions of the law. … control the ability of women to make decisions about her body. We allow abortions to be carried out, but not in an open manner because that would give too much freedom to women in a decision that we feel that affects the sustainability of society.

For David Ramos of the blog Yo, (DASH) [es], there are not many worthwhile arguments:

las organizaciones feministas y pro-elección, en general, parecen considerar que el ser humano inicia su vida con el nacimiento. Antes de eso, solo era poco más que un riñón. Vale anotar que no hay ciencia que sustente esto, más que una frívola y equívoca percepción de la realidad: no te veo, por lo tanto no existes.

la defensa de la vida debe ser prioridad: así como defendemos delfines, perritos callejeros, flora y fauna amazónica, con mayor razón debemos defender la vida humana en cualquiera de sus etapas. Ningún honor hay en defender más la vida de una foca o de una ballena que la de un congénere humano.

The feminist and pro-choice organizations, in general, appear to consider that a human begins life at birth. Before that, it was only a little more than a kidney. It is worth noting that there is no science that, other than a frivolous and erroneous perception of reality: if I cannot see you, therefore, you do not exist.

The defense of life should be a priority: just as we defend the dolphins, street dogs, Amazonian flora and fauna, and with more reason we should defend human life in any of its stages. There is no honor in defending the life of a seal or a whale more than a fellow human.

As is clear from the views above, the positions on abortion are difficult to reconcile. It is understandable because the discussion revolves around life, ethics, morals, values, science, with decisions based on practicality and privacy. On the other hand, there are many material interests at stake. The debate will continue, and even more so with the recent announcement of the State ban by the Constitutional Court for the free distribution of the “morning after pill.” [es] It is obvious that things will not calm down.

Translation by Eduardo Ávila

Pregnancy and Prisons: Women's Health and Rights Behind Bars

Juliana Rincón Parra — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:48:54 +0000

Do all pregnant women deserve equal human rights, or do pregnant women in prison forfeit those rights?

There are a few questions that come to mind regarding a pregnant woman's right to live and to raise her child when she has been convicted for some sort of crime:

What is it like for them to be pregnant and have their child behind bars?
Should they be a priority when there are other women outside of correctional facilities without medical assistance?
Should maternity overrule any other legal conditions to ensure a pregnant woman's human rights?

USA: women in labor no longer to be shackled.

Could you imagine a woman giving childbirth with her hands in handcuffs and her feet shackled to the bedposts? Malika Saada Saar, founder and executive director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, tells us about this practice which still happens in the United States of America, where pregnant women serving time have been routinely shackled during labor and childbirth as a common practice in some correctional facilities, even though it is dangerous for the health of both mother and child. Following is a video interview included in the same article written for RH Reality Check, an online community on sexual and reproductive health and rights which does information and analysis for reproductive health:

What happens to an inmate's baby after childbirth?

Different countries have different regulations regarding children in prisons. For example, in Argentina, according to Ajintem, an information portal for migration information, a law was passed last year specifying that pregnant women, women with children younger than 5 and those with handicapped children would benefit from spending their prison term at home under house arrest. This law would benefit not only the mother, who in prison wouldn't receive suitable health care during her pregnancy, but also the child, who would either be raised in an unsafe environment deprived of freedom with deficient health controls and food, or be raised away from the mother, causing another series of problems. However, the message is for magistrates to follow the spirit of the law and grant this permission to those women not involved in violent crimes, to ensure that the rest of the civilian population doesn't see pregnancy as a get out of jail free card.

In the Canary Islands, according to the Prisiones y Penas blog, which writes about the issues surrounding jails and prisons, women are allowed to keep their children of up to 3 years of age with them in their cells, but in the company of other inmates, which isn't the best environment. Thus, pregnant women or women with children under 3 are told upon entry to the prison that it isn't good for the child to grow up behind bars, and options are given for them to send the child off to family members. This is also the case in Peru and Russia. In the US, there are only two correctional facilities which allow for this, in New York and in Nebraska, as told by renowned photographer Jane Evelyn Atwood in her 3 part photo documentary for Amnesty International, called Too Much Time, where she visited dozens of prisons all over the world to record and document the lives of inmates.

Why does the US correctional system not generally allow women with babies to keep them? Atwood explains that due to the hostage situation, it is not allowed. In the Prison Photography Blog they address this claim:

Children are excluded from all but a couple of US prisons. The security threat is cited as the reason: a child inside a prison is a constant vulnerable life and constant hostage target. The claim seems a little bogus when penal systems of other countries are brought into consideration.

The Atwood documentary in the Amnesty International site features both a section on the process of giving birth in shackless as told in Vanessa's Baby and another on prison systems and motherhood, with fotographs of the women while the photographer reads an essay on her experiences visiting the prisons and taking the pictures.

Pregnancy as a bargaining tool?

Why are rights for pregnant women in prison so controversial? In Russia Today, a Russian broadcasting channel, the subject is mentioned when discussing children born and raised in the Russian correctional system:

Skeptics think some mothers deliberately get pregnant simply to ease life in prison. Hospital leave, then lots of scheduled time with your child – it is all better than sitting in a stone cell, they claim.

And there are women for whom it seems that pregnancy is the only way to escape a sentence, as was the case back in June, when a British woman incarcerated and sentenced to death in Laos due to drug smuggling got pregnant in prison and escaped being executed, since the Laos government would not execute a pregnant woman. The claims made according to the Daily Express, a British newspaper, are that she got artificially inseminated “to secure a more lenient term”.

In their words: Women tell of their children and prison life

Geraldin Rodríguez, an Argentinean spending time in an Ecuadorian jail due to drug trafficking tells Marcos Brugiati, a writer who contributes with the art related online publication Plastica-Argentina, the story about acting and performing in jail, getting pregnant in prison and having her child. She was allowed to keep her baby with her, but decided that the child needed to grow up free:

“Decidí que salga para vivir, tenía miedo que sufra de grande los traumas que hoy tengo. Se lo llevó al año mi hermano quien se hice cargo con su esposa”.

I decided he should leave to live, I was afraid he would suffer the same traumas I have today. After a year my brother took him away and is caring for him along with his wife.

Juvinete is in a Spanish prison, and was pregnant when she was incarcerated for drug trafficking. She tells her story to regional Spanish newspaper NorteCastilla. Three years after giving birth to her baby in prison, her child had to leave her side, and was sent to a foster family. Juvinete sees her daughter every 15 days and every two months she gets a 2 week leave to spend time with her. However, things don't seem to be looking up: there is a chance Juvinete will be deported to her natal Brazil, and she fears for the consequences this change would have on her child. She does have advice for any woman who decide to get pregnant while in jail:

-Intento convencerlas para que no se queden en estado dentro porque ver a un niño privado de libertad es muy duro, es irresponsable. Ellos no tienen que pagar nuestros errores.

I try to convince them not to get pregnant while inside because seeing a child deprived of their freedom is very hard, it's irresponsible. They don't have to pay for our mistakes.

In Woman and Prison, a website dedicated to visibilizing women's experiences in the correctional system, inmate Kebby Warner speaks of her own pregnancy while doing time in a US prison, and how she was treated during her pregnancy, labor and afterwards, when her child was taken away from her. Here is an excerpt where she writes about the birthing process:

During the labor, no one is allowed in the delivery room. My family didn't even know I was in labor or had her until after I left the hospital. During the three days some of the guards stayed in the room, but most of the time, when the nurses asked them to sit outside the door, they complied. I have heard horror stories of women being chained to the delivery bed. I am so grateful as to have not experienced this. Most of the nurses treated me as a human instead of a prisoner.

You can read more testimonies about growing up with a parent in prison and the different effects incarcerating women may have on their children in Women and Prison.

So what do you think? With pregnant women around the world not receiving health care of any sort, should additional efforts be made to benefit women who are in prison? Is there a difference between mothers serving terms in correctional facilities and those outside? Should they be treated differently?

Image used to illustrate post is “17 de noviembre” by daquella manera.

Peru: Mamainé, Afro-Peruvian Cooking Queen

Eduardo Avila — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:43:08 +0000

Barb of American in Lima introduces Mamainé, the “Afro-Peruvian Cooking Queen,” who made a special appearance by cooking for Lima residents.

Peru: Renewed Attention on the Shining Path

Juan Arellano — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:38:04 +0000

In Peru, there has been talk about the resurgence of the terrorist movement “Shining Path,” because of various news reports of attacks on police stations [es] and military bases [es], as well as reports of young people being trained [es] by the movement. Even though there has been no reliable proof that the attacks were caused by the Shining Path, which had been especially active during the 1980s, and instead linked to drug traffickers or general social unrest, the national and international press have suggested that this group has indeed returned.

However, in recent days there have been two related developments that have increased the attention on the Shining Path. One of these is the premiere of the Peruvian film Tarata [es], which deals with the events surrounding the 1992 Tarata Street terrorist bombing in the Miraflores district in Lima. The trailer can be seen here.

The film, which follows crucial events of the period and their modern-day consequences, has become a minor blockbuster in Peru, and as Gabriel Quispe of Cinencuentro [es] notes that the film drew 46,000 in its first weekend in release. However, in the post's comments sections there are disagreements about the quality of the film.

In addition, Carla Ciurlizza of the blog C3 [es] writes about the movie:

Hace un par de días veía por televisión local un reportaje sobre la película que actualmente se exhibe en los cines, “Tarata“. Incluyó también imágenes y videos del hecho real, … con testimonios de vecinos que aún viven en esa calle. Vecinos que, como yo, vieron sus casas destrozadas y con suerte salieron vivos (otros muchos no tuvieron tanta suerte). Vecinos que hemos quedado traumatizados de por vida.

En otra parte del reportaje, para comprobar la mala memoria colectiva de los peruanos y la poca información que manejan las nuevas generaciones, se le preguntó a una chica sentada en una banca en esa misma calle si sabía lo que había sucedido allí, y totalmente despistada respondió “ah sí, el incendio, ¿no?”. La pobre tenía una vaga idea de lo que pasó, mencionaba un “coche bomba” y estoy segura que no tenía ni idea de lo que realmente es eso. Increíble.

A couple of days ago I saw a local television report about a new film showing in theaters, “Tarata”. It included real life images and videos, …with testimonies of the people who lived on that street. These were neighbors, who, like me, saw their houses destroyed and were lucky to get out alive (many more didn't have the same luck). We have been traumatized for life.

In another part of the report, proving the poor collective memory of Peruvians and the little knowledge that the current generation has, they asked a girl sitting on a bench on the same street if she knew what had happened there, and clearly confused, she responded “Oh yes, the fire, no?” The poor girl had only a vague idea of what happened. She mentioned a “car bomb” and I'm sure she didn't have a clue what this meant. Incredible.

The second recent development involving the Shining Path is the publication of the book “De Puño y Letra,” in which its title has a double meaning of both “Handwritten” and “By Word and Fist,” which was written by Abimael Guzmán, the leader of the Shining Path. Guzmán was captured by the Peruvian government in 1992 and is currently serving a life sentence. The book's manuscript was smuggled out of prison by Guzman's lawyers and contains statements from Guzman justifying his actions during the armed conflict.

Yet, Guzmán has generated a mountain of controversy due to the many politicians that have spoken out [es] against [es] the book's publication [es]. The director of San Marcos University's Cultural Center was forced to resign [es] his post after attending a public book launch.

The Peruvian Ministry of Justice has announced that it would be calling for the books to be seized, and denounced those who distributed the book [es] as apologists for terrorism.

In Foros Peru [es], there are conversations [es] and many forumists have published photos of the book. In blogs, Javier Fernandez of Javi 270270: Que pasa? [es] posed the following question:

Se ha creado una controversia por la edición de un libro de ABIMAEL GUZMAN. Personajes de la política parecen “horrorizados”. Tan fariseos como desinformados hacen de la hipocresía el pan de cada día. El precedente lo puso VLADIMIRO MONTESINOS, quien es vecino de ABIMAEL GUZMAN en la celda de ALTA SEGURIDAD DE LA BASE NAVAL. Tres libros, sin mayor trascendencia pero que si merecieron despliegue informativo, son los frutos de la intelectualidad de Montesinos…

¿Qué diferencias merecen los libros de un ejecutor por terrorismo de estado y alguien condenado por terrorismo?

A controversy has been created about Abimael Guzman's book. Politicians appear “horrified.” Hypocrisy is there daily bread. The precedent was set by Vladimiro Montesinos, who is the neighbour of Abimael Guzman in the cells of the high security naval prison. There were three books, without much significance but that merited distribution, which were the fruits of Montesinos' intellect…

Why do the books of someone who committed state terrorism deserve different treatment to those of a person condemned for terrorism?

For his part, Silvio Rendon of GranComboClub [es] deals with the matter in the context of modern day politics:

Guzmán no está llamando a la lucha armada. Su lógica es la amnistía general para su gente como para las FFOO. Por eso, se habría esperado una protesta de parte de quienes rechazan a Guzmán y lo que significó Sendero Luminoso. Sin embargo, esta presentación se da en un momento de crecida de la lucha anti-narcóticos. Al gobierno le viene bien agitar el miedo a Sendero Luminoso.

Guzmán isn't calling for armed warfare. He is calling for an amnesty for his people, as well as for the FFOO (security forces). Because of this, a protest on the part of those who oppose Guzmán and reject everything that the Shining Path signifies was to be expected. However, the presentation of the book also comes at a time with an increase in the fight against drugs. It serves the government well to stir up the fear of the Shining Path once more.

In another post, Rendon identifies [es] an interesting fact:

¿Por qué no hubo protestas contra Abimael Guzmán? Las ONGs de derechos humanos bien hubieran podido organizar una protesta contra la tan anunciada presentación del libro del líder terrorista. … Guzmán puede presentar su libro y expresarse, pero también se esperaria que hubiera una protesta democrática contra él.

Why weren't there protests against Abimael Guzmán? Human Rights NGOs could have organized a protest against the well-advertised presentation of the book of a terrorist leader. …Guzman could present his book and express himself, but one would expect that there would have been democratic protests against him.

Perhaps inspired by all this, and the 17th anniversary of the day when Guzmán was captured, presented before the Peruvian people, jailed on September 24, 1992, Claudia Cisneros of Sophimania [es] published an extensive post about 10 myths about the Shining Path and the war against subversion, including this one:

4) Lo que queda de Sendero está en el VRAE

Falso.

Sendero sigue existiendo en Lima y en las principales ciudades del país. Se hace sentir y se infiltra, sigilosamente, en universidades, sindicatos e instituciones populares. No tienen la beligerencia de antes y apelan a ser “amigos del pueblo” asumiendo como propias agendas reivindicativas legítimas, pero no para buscar soluciones sino para boicotearlas, promoviendo el pensamiento errado de que la única salida es la violenta. Ese Sendero, silencioso y poco atractivo para la cobertura mediática, es tan peligroso como el del VRAE. ¿Están los servicios de inteligencia haciendo su trabajo de infiltración y desactivación? ¿Hay siquiera un Servicio de Inteligencia Central? No y no.

4. The remaining members of the Shining Path are in VRAE (Apurímac and Ene River Valley)

False.

Shining Path continues to exist in Lima and the main cities of our country. It inflitrates quietly and is felt in universities, syndicates and public institutions. They don't have the same belligerence as before or call themselves “friends of the people”, using legitimate grudges for their own agendas, don't seek solutions but boycotts, promoting the erroneous thought that the only solution is violence. This Shining Path, silent and beneath the radar of the media, is just as dangerous as the one in the VRAE. Are the intelligences services infiltrating and shutting down these operations? Is there even a Central Intelligence Service? No and no.

In the blog Notas desde Lenovo [es], Jacqueline Fowks writes about howdistrust and poor coordination can explain the attack in San Jose de Secce:

La zona del ataque está localizada en el VRAE, foco de las acciones del grupo de SL que nunca salió de su reducto de Vizcatán (Huanta) después de la captura en setiembre de 1992 del líder fundador del grupo, Abimael Guzmán. Autoridades y analistas han demostrado que el grupo está articulado e involucrado en el cultivo de coca y el transporte de droga hacia la costa peruana. […] No estamos como en 1983, ni el Sendero de antes es el de ahora, pero la historia a veces ayuda a mirar mejor lo que tenemos al frente. Aquí, un interesante documento desclasificado de la embajada de EEUU -de febrero 1983- menciona la ausencia del Estado, la labor de la policía y del Ejército, y el desempeño de los medios -entre otros factores- en la lucha contra SL luego de los asesinatos en Uchuraccay.

The zone of the attack is based in VRAE, focus of the actions of the group from Shining Path, which never left its stronghold in Vizcatan (Huanta) after the capture of its founding leader, Abimael Guzman in September 1992. Authorities and analysts have demonstrated that the group is involved in the cultivation of coca and transporting drugs to the Peruvian coast. […] We're not the same as we were in 1983, nor is the Shining Path of old the same as today, but history sometimes helps us see things a little more clearly. Here, an interesting declassified document from the US embassy from February 1983, mentions the failure of the state, the poor work of the police and the army, and the disengagement of the media – among other factors – in the fight against SL after the assassinations in Uchuraccay.

A recent post from Francisco Canaza of Apuntes Peruanos [es]includes an analysis of the situation in VRAE and how the Shining Path continues to: stir up fear:

hay que diferenciar claramente la dinámica de los grupos instalados en el VRAE: por un lado existe el movimiento Proseguir, que se adscribe al fin original de Sendero; y por otro lado está instalada una serie de guardias paramilitares al servicio de las cadenas de tráfico de drogas. Son cosas distintas que necesitan soluciones específicas. Proseguir no es, como erroneamente se dice, un grupo estancado en el VRAE, sino una serie de columnas que se desplazan por la sierra de Junín, Huancavelica y Ayacucho. Contrario a esto, son únicamente los grupos de servicio al narcotráfico (protección paramilitar) los que sí están perennemente desarrollando sus actividades en el VRAE.

Por lo demás, el mundo institucional se ha mostrado complaciente con el terrorismo de Sendero Luminoso, reduciendolo incluso a la categoría de guerrilla, viendo sólo el componente subversivo y no la estructura insana del mismo; o peor aún justificando su trasfondo al calificar su accionar como político o ejecución en “una guerra”. Este gobierno al confundir los fines, los objetivos y los trasfondos de una inexistente pero necesaria política sobre el terrorismo está igualmente perpetuando el real problema, que sigue creciendo y extendiéndose, mientras busca ganar réditos con la bandera del miedo.

One has to differentiate clearly the dynamics of the groups involved in VRAE: on one side exists the movement Proseguir, which ascribes to the original aim of the Shining Path; on the other there are a series of paramilitary guards working for the drug traffickers. They are different problems which call for different solutions. Proseguir isn't, as is falsely stated, a group rooted in VRAE, but a series of columns of soldiers driven out of the mountains of Junin, Huancavelica and Ayacucho. In fact, it is only the groups providing paramilitary protection to the drug traffickers who are always developing their activities in VRAE.

National institutions have been shown to be complacent of the terrorism of the Shining Path. They treat them as guerillas, seeing only the subversive element and disregarding the insanity of its underlying structure; or even worse using fear of terrorism to justify their political actions or start “a war”. This government, by confusing the aims, objectives and nature of its inexistent but necessary counter-terrorism policy is helping to perpetuate the real problem. Terrorism continues to grow and extend its reach, while the government seeks to earn credit under the banner of fear.

Translation by Tom Schrieber

Peru: Preservation Efforts in the Chan Chan Archaeological Site

Juan Arellano — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:07:22 +0000

Chan Chan is the Pre-Columbian city of mud-brick built by the Chimú culture in the 9th Century and located in the La Libertad region, 5 km west of the city of Trujillo in Northern Peru. The Chan Chan complex covers an area of approximately 20 km² and was constructed by the Chimor, the kingdom of the Chimú and lasted until its conquest by the Inca Empire in the year 1470. At its height, estimates place the population at 30,000.

Even though it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, it is currently in poor condition and under continuous threats of invasion by looters and the damaging effects of nature. However, there are several efforts from governmental and civil society groups trying to preserve the archeological site, as well as the history of this culture.

Photo of Chan Chan by Martinoy and used a Creative Commons license.

The blog Trabajamos por Chan Chan [es] (We Work for Chan Chan) published news about another facet of this preservation work currently being done in Trujillo, near the sands of Huanchaco, and which won an award from the government. This project called “Citizens of Chan Chan” is directed at schoolchildren so that they identify with and participate in the preservation of their historical past:

Frente a la circunstancia de que los monumentos históricos y el patrimonio general se encuentra olvidado y descuidado, es necesario que exista un nuevo tipo de ciudadano que conozca, ame y engrandezca su legado histórico; por esta razón, es que creamos el Programa “Ciudadanos de Chan Chan”, en donde primero se les enseña a conocer y amar el pasado; para luego involucrar a los escolares en los trabajos de conservación; así engrandecen su propia identidad”, señaló Cristóbal Campana, director de los trabajos de conservación del Complejo Arqueológico Chimú y creador de esta experiencia educativa.

Faced with the circumstance that historical monuments and general heritage are being forgotten and neglected, it is necessary that a new kind of citizen exists who knows, loves, and extols their historical legacy; for this reason, we created the Program “Citizens of Chan Chan”, in which they (schoolchilren) are first taught to know and love the past; to later involve schoolchildren in the work of conservation; thereby elevating their own identity”, noted Cristóbal Campana, director of conservation work of the Chimú Archeological Complex and creator of this educational experience.

Some of these preservation works have resulted in new findings, such as the ones described by the blog Trabajamos por Chan Chan [es] regarding the discovery of “small wooden statuettes and bone remains (that) form part of the ritualistic world of the Chimú.”

These efforts of preservation are needed because of the effects caused by climate change, erosion caused by heavy rains during natural phenomena like El Niño. However, it is also human that have caused adverse effects on the archaeological site as described by the blog …en Perú:

Repeated illegal land invasions by locals one of the principle problems for the ancient site … The INC, charged with protected the so-called “intangible” archaeological area, states that some 263 people claim to be land owners there. Each of these people has been ordered to move, but until now, none have. Instead they fence off and work the land, demanding that the government issue them with titles.

However, it is the work from a local group of housewives that have attracted a lot of attention. As reported by the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio [es], a group of women from the neighborhood of Villa del Mar have been working in the city of Chan Chan since 2006. “They perform the same work men, carrying adobe mud-bricks, climbing ladders up to eight meters high, moving wheelbarrows from one side to another, from top to bottom. All with the aim of restoring all that time and humans have damaged.”

These women have also appeared in blogs, such as the Trujillo blog Especiales en Intermedia [es], whose author Róger Montealegre writes about these conservationists from “a world of mud”:

En el monumento de barro, capital de la civilización Chimú, hoy Patrimonio Mundial de la Humanidad, existen alrededor de sesenta mujeres, antes dedicadas a los quehaceres del hogar, ahora convertidas en potenciales conservadoras, especialistas en monumentos de tierra. Trabajando a la par con sus compañeros. ¿Sexo débil? Ni que hablar. Basta contemplar sólo unos minutos su trabajo “en la tierra, en el cielo o en el agua” para darnos cuenta de su fortaleza; su empeño es el mismo en cualquier espacio, no pierden su feminidad, por el contrario incrementan su maternidad. Un periodista le pregunta a una mujer que trabaja en la conservación de Chan Chan qué siente por el monumento, ella responde: “Lo quiero como a mi marido porque me da de comer. Y como a mi hijo, porque lo ayudo a crecer”.

In the monument of mud-brick, capital of the Chimú civilization, and which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site of Humanity, there are about sixty women, who previously were engaged in household chores, are now converted into potential conservationists, specialists in earth monuments. Working alongside their [male] partners. The Weaker Sex? No way. Just a few minutes observing their work “in the earth, in the air, or in the water” is sufficient enough to realize their strength; their determination is the same in any environment, they do not lose their femininity, but rather they increase their maternal nature. A journalist asks one of the women working on the conservation of Chan Chan what she feels about the monument, she responds: “I love it like I love my husband because it gives me sustenance. And I love it as I do my son, because I help it to grow.”

There are also other efforts from governmental agencies, such as the Implementation Unit 110 from the Chan Chan Archeological Complex [es], which is working on different projects in Trujillo. Their website provides more information about this work. The field of academics is also contributing to this preservation work, as shown by the site Universia Perú [es], which published news about a photographic exhibit co-hosted in 2008 by the Department of Communication Science from the Northern Private University (UPN for its initials in Spanish) and Implementation Unit 100. The exhibition was titled, “Me Llamo Trujillo, Me Apellido Chan Chan.” (My First Name is Trujillo, My Surname is Chan Chan.)

Translation by Hope Woodward.

Peru: Antauro Humala Sentenced for 2005 Attack

Eduardo Avila — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:03:34 +0000

In Peru, Antauro Humala, the brother of opposition leader Ollanta Humala, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2005 attack on a police station in Andahuaylas, as reported by the blog Que Tal Raza [es].

Peru: Looming Problem of the Inambari Hydroelectric Power Station

Juan Arellano — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:46:14 +0000

The name Inambari does not mean very much to Peruvians. Some of them may think of it in relation to the Inambari River, which flows through the Cuzco, Puno and Madre de Dios regions. Others may think of the Alto Inambari district in the Puno region of Sandia or the Inambari district in the province of Tambopata in the Madre de Dios region. In fact, this far off area of the country has almost been completely forgotten. However, recently there has been news about Inambari and all of it is about the hydroelectric power station.

In March 2009, it was announced [es] that a Brazilian construction company (OAS) would invest approximately 4 billion dollars to build a hydroelectric power station that would be located in the Inambari, Madre de Dios region. However in 2008, there was talk [es] of an even bigger financial investment. The aim of this Brazilian firm is to supply energy to the Brazilian state of Acre, producing around 2,000 megawatts.

Many people are impressed by the sheer size of this project. For example in the blog Infaestructura Peruana [es] (Peruvian Infrastructure) the blogger states that “It will be the largest electric power station in the country and the fifth biggest in South America” while the blog Desarrollo Peruano [es] (Peruvian Development) emphasizes progress being made in the region: “It goes without saying that the area will receive a substantial sum in royalties from electricity in the future. This is one of the benefits of large projects.” This optimism is shared by the commenters of this post and they believe that this hydroelectric power station will bring prosperity to the region and the country.

There are dissenting voices regarding this notion of development and earning profit, and they are now being listened to. The first concern is related to the ecological harm that will be caused by the dam that will practically be located in the area of the National Park of Bahauja Sonene, as was officially stated by the Intercultural Communication Services (SERVINDI): “The Inambari hydroelectric project directly threatens the area and indirectly the park.” This park will also be affected by the construction of an Interoceanic highway.

Many residents of Puno are also completely against the project upon learning of the project. As mentioned in the Puno newspaper Los Andes [es], local organizations like the Association of Rural Educational Services (SER) concludes that even the future Inter-oceanic highway will be affected by the power station. “According to the description of the reservoir for the hydroelectric dam, 106.1 kilometers of highway will be submerged beneath water.” According to an opinion piece, there is also a problem of lack of information [es] made worse with the absence of the region's Congressional representatives.

The blogs are not unaware of the situation. For example, the blog Cuarto Ambiente [es] (Fourth Environment) publishes a press release from the Management Committee of National Park BS from last May which mentions that:

El proyecto, amenaza directamente la Zona de Amortiguamiento e indirectamente al Parque Nacional Bahuaja Sonene, hogar de miles de especies únicas en el mundo y declarada maravilla natural por la National Geographic Society, por la alteración sin precedentes de los ecosistemas de la cuenca del rio Inambari, por la modificación de su curso principal y sus afluentes, que estaría propiciando a futuro, una posible invasión de colonos de esta área natural protegida.

The project threatens the buffer zone and indirectly the National Park - home to thousands of unique species and declared a national treasure by the National Geographic Society - because of the unprecedented change in the ecosystems of the Inambari river basin and because of the changes in its main course and its tributaries, and which would encourage a possible invasion of colonizers of this natural protected area in the near future

Aldo Santos, who blogs in Exegesis [es], publishes a post after visiting Puerto Manoa, one of the areas that will be affected by the dam, which follows an earlier post about the subject:

Hoy, lejos ya de Puerto Manoa, sigo preguntándome, ¿cuál será el destino de las miles de familias que tendrán que dejar sus hogares para iniciar otra vida en un lugar diferente, porque el gobierno decidió construir una hidroeléctrica en sus tierras?, ¿realmente vale la pena deforestar, inundar, alterar los ecosistemas, para vender energía eléctrica al Brasil?, ¿cómo nos beneficiamos los peruanos?, ¿cuánto hemos desarrollado ahora que las cifras del canon minero o gasífero se han incrementado?

Además de discutir sobre las ventajas y desventajas de un proyecto como la Central Hidroeléctrica del Inambari, habría que preguntarse cómo este proyecto se articula con nuestra visión del desarrollo de la Amazonía en regiones como Cusco y Puno –mayoritaria y predominantemente andinas-, si existe o no dicha compatibilidad o qué otra propuesta de desarrollo alternativa tenemos como región. Discusión necesaria, para acabar con reduccionismos simplistas que ven a “la selva como una despensa del ande” y consecuentemente como un lugar al que hay que ir a explotar depredar y destruir para obtener el mayor beneficio posible.

Today, far from Puerto Manoa, I continue to ask myself what will become of the thousands of families that will have to leave their homes to start a life in a different place because the government decided to build a hydroelectric dam on their land? Is it really worth deforesting, flooding, altering the ecosystems to sell electric energy to Brazil. How will this benefit Peruvians? How much progress, if any, have we made now that the royalties on gas and the mines have increased?

In addition to arguing about the advantages and disadvantages of a project like the hydroelectric power station, various questions must be posed: how does this project fit within our understanding of development in the Amazon in regions such as Cusco and Puno, which are predominantly Andean; is the hydroelectric project really compatible with this understanding and what other options do we have? This debate is necessary, in order to stamp out misleading thinking such as “the forest as a Andean pantry” since the logic of such thinking is that the forest is a place to exploit, slash and burn, and ruin in gain the greatest benefit possible.

These types of conflicts between the government and residents have historically led to roadblocks, strikes, and clashes. Maria Isabel Guerra in Las Burbujas Recargadas [es] wonders whether this will be the next battle in the country:

Los pobladores puneños actualmente se encuentran movilizándose y profundamente preocupados y con razón: la represa requerida para la proyectada gigantesca hidroeléctrica de Inambari crearía un lago de nada menos que 412 km2 … La población afectada obviamente ya está exigiendo ser informada de las implicancias del proyecto para su medio y su vida, pero al parecer estas demandas de información no estarían siendo debidamente atendidas,

Y mientras los puneños tienen muy claros sus recuerdos, parece que a nuestros políticos y autoridades ya se les olvidaron las cosas que pasaron en Ilave y el recientísimo episodio de Bagua, situaciones ambas causadas por lo mismo: por pensar irresponsablemente que se puede ningunear a la gente, especialmente la de las provincias más alejadas de Lima, sin que haya ninguna consecuencia.

The Puno residents are currently mobilizing and are deeply concerned and with reason: the dam for this giant hydroelectric power station is supposed to create a lake of no less than 412 km2 in size. The people affected obviously wish to be informed about the implications of the project on their livelihoods and their lives, but it seems that their request for information is being ignored.

And while the Puno residents have very good memories, it seems that our politicians and authorities have short ones, they have forgotten about Ilave and the very recent episode in Bagua, a situation caused in the same way: namely politicians thinking that they can treat people like dirt, especially in the provinces furthest from Lima, without suffering serious consequences.

There is more information in the blog Inambari Dignidad [es] (The Dignity of Inambari). In this forum [es], there is a wide range of opinions for and against. Peruvian citizen Marc Dourojeanni wrote an article that raises question about the project [es]. Another article by Javier Rodriguez Pardo, an Argentine journalist, writes that this project is part of a trend in South America of “Highway Robberies.” [es]

Translation by Stephen Francis Hampshire Diggines