Journal Peru

Peruvian authorities approved an urgency decree on Wednesday which extends the current effective emergency situation for the archaeological complex of Chan Chan by another 120 days, informed president Alan Garcia.

This measure was approved upon the request of the Interior Ministry during a cabinet session today. As part of its decentralization efforts, Peru’s ministerial cabinet is currently on a road trip in the northern city of Chiclayo.

Chan Chan, the largest Pre-Columbian city in South America, is also located in this area, in the region of La Libertad, five kilometers west of Trujillo.

With this extension the government looks to preserve its conservation and adding to its value as a cultural heritage site. The vast mud and adobe city of Chan Chan was built between c.850 and c.1470 and was the imperial capital until Chimor was conquered by the Inca in the 15th century. It is estimated that 30,000 people lived in the city at the time.

The complex near the northern Peruvian Pacific coast is exposed to extreme climatic phenomena – El Niño, for example, which causes heavy rains, flooding and strong winds which erode and harm the fragile historical walls made of adobe brick. The old capital of the Chimú span over an area of 20 square kilometers and consists of administrative palaces, complexes and temples shaped like pyramids and many painted and decorated walls.

Chan Chan was declared a World Heritage Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity by UNESCO in 1986, for being greater and the pre-Hispanic important mud large city of America.

Article by Wolfy Becker

Peruvian blogger Jose Alejandro Godoy revealed on his blog ” Desde el tercer piso” (From the third floor) that several people were hired illegally to work for Peru’s second vice-president Lourdes Mendoza del Solar. According to the blogger, not only does first vice-president Luis Giampietri have a specific budget of S/. 100,000 soles to his disposition, the same is the case for Mendoza and she also contracted advisers and personnel with money assigned by the Prime Minister’s office.

Godoy found that six people were hired by the second Vice-presidency and they were paid more than S/. 31,000 soles as of now.

Although budget allocations for the vice-presidencies were also carried out by the previous government of president Alejandro Toledo – he even gave his wife and First Lady Eliane Karp her own office and budget – the present regime of Alan Garcia has embarked on a policy of austerity and salary reductions within the state apparatus, which makes it even more surprising that these spending practices were upheld and continued.

Godoy explains that according to Peru’s Constitution the vice-presidents of the Republic “only have the function to replace the president should he vacate his position or to be in charge of the state’s highest office when the president is traveling abroad (article 115 of the Constitution)”.

In the particular case of the present government, both vice-presidents are also congressmen. “And, according to the Constitution, the office of a congressman is incompatible with any other public office except that of Cabinet minister and, with previous authorization from Congress, service on special international commissions. (article 92° of the Constitution). Thus combining the two jobs is unconstitutional, his post details correctly.

In addition, Godoy says that the “Statutory Law of the Executive Authority” does not include vice-presidents within its structure and that the “Organizational and Functional Regulations of the Presidential Office” doesn’t consider a special office for the vice-presidents or the hiring personnel.

According to a report by Andrea Jaramillo at Bloomberg.com (>> link >>), the Peruvian Nuevo Sol has risen to an eight-year high mainly because the Peruvian government’s initiatives to deduct more money from mining companies to the benefit of regional social programs is beginning to show its effects.

The Bloomberg report states that mining companies signed an agreement with the government to help it fund social programs last year. They are scheduled to turn over 500 million soles ($157 million) this month, said Cesar Labarthe, a fixed-income trader of the Peruvian Interbank SA.

“Demand for soles from the mining companies is driving further gains, pushing the central bank to intervene strongly,” said Labarthe.

Peru’s currency advanced the most in almost two weeks, gaining 0.05 percent to 3.178 soles per dollar at 3:30 p.m. in New York, pushing it up 0.5 percent against the U.S. currency this year. It earlier rose to as high as 3.1775 soles, its strongest since January 1999, before central bank dollar purchases trimmed its gains.

The dollar price has consistently fallen against the Peruvian sol during the last five years, from 3.5165 in 2002 to 3.2742 in 2006 (on average).

Wolfy Becker

A Peruvian citizen identified as Daniel Pérez Cueva (21) was among the 32 victims that died in yesterday’s shooting at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, VA. according to information by the local media.

Perez Cueva lived in the U.S.A. for more than 7 years and began studying International Relations a year ago. At the time of the shooting he attending a French language class.

Meanwhile the University website reports the Virginia Tech Police Department has confirmed the identification of the gunman responsible for the multiple fatalities at Norris Hall on the Virginia Tech campus Monday, April 16, 2007.

The individual has been identified as , 23. Cho was enrolled as an undergraduate student in his senior year as an English major at Virginia Tech. Cho, a South Korean native, was in the U.S. as a resident alien with a residence established in Centerville, Va. Cho was living on campus in Harper Residence Hall.

A 9-milimeter handgun and 22-caliber handgun were recovered from Norris Hall. Ballistic tests on the evidence seized from the Norris Hall and the West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall scenes were conducted at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) lab in Maryland. Lab results confirmed that one of the two weapons seized in Norris Hall was used in both shootings.

“At this time, the evidence does not conclusively identify Cho Seung-Hui as the gunman at both locations,” said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Superintendent of the Virginia State Police. “With this newfound ballistics evidence, we are now able to proceed to the next level of this complex investigation.”

State, local and federal investigators spent the night collecting, processing and analyzing evidence from within Norris Hall. The deceased were recovered from at least four classrooms on the second floor and a stairwell of Norris Hall. The gunman, who took his life, was discovered by police in a classroom among the victims.

The university and police are still in the process of releasing the names of the 32 people killed in Monday’s shootings.

A doctor at a Blacksburg hospital described the injuries he saw Monday as “amazing” and the shooter as “brutal.”

“There wasn’t a shooting victim that didn’t have less than three bullet wounds in them,” said Dr. Joseph Cacioppo of Montgomery Regional Hospital.

Even among the less serious injuries, Cacioppo said, “we saw one patient that had a bullet wound to the wrist, one to the elbow and one to the thigh. We had another one with a bullet wound to the abdomen, one to the chest and one to the head.”

A law enforcement source close to the investigation said a .22-caliber handgun and a 9 mm handgun were recovered at the scene.The university has scheduled a convocation for 1 p.m. Peruvian time Tuesday. President Bush is scheduled to attend. Classes also have been canceled Tuesday.

Article by Wolfy Becker

Eight members of a Limean kidnapping gang who call themselves “Los pitucos de La Victoria” (loosely translated: The rich guys of La Victoria, which is a poorer Limean district) were arrested by Peruvian police agents Tuesday morning, just minutes before they tried to kidnap a businessman in the district of Surco.

A couple of days back three members of another gang “Los elegantes de Breña” were also arrested before they could carry out a planned holdup.

The apparent target this morning was a business owner residing in block 15 of Av. Cristobal de Peralta.

According to information of Peruvian newspaper Peru.21, the captured eight suspects were identified as Yerson Chaupín Burgos (20), Luis Antonio Blas Rojas (33), Pablo Pedro Apascano Huamán (28), John Soplín Buitrón (24), Fredy Meza Munive (33) Víctor Guillermo Villanueva Chávez (48), Daniel Jerí Quinto (28) and Omar Castañeda Flores (32).

Police task forces also confiscated three revolvers, a pistol and two cars; a Station Wagon and a Daewoo Tico.

Last weekend police investigators snatched Eber Iván Jara Zegarra (33), Richard Alan Bravo Salazar (32) and Juan Pedro Sánchez away from the streets. They were arrested in their car near the intersection of Av. Colonial / Arístides del Carpio in downtown Lima while apparently on their way to their next victim.

Police authorities have recently increased their efforts to ensure that the city of Lima and its surroundings are safe for locals and tourists, the main targets of Lima’s notorious kidnapping gangs. Peru’s government has recently announced a ‘zero tolerance’ on kidnappings throughout the country.

On April 6th, Limean chicken wholesaler Guillermo Li Chau was killed after unknown kidnappers picked him up at a family party, then took him on an involuntary journey across the city to gather as much money from ATM’s and his business locations as possible. Police reports say he was later shot to death in the southern suburb of Chorrillos. Apparently the businessman tried to resist his abductors.

Article by Wolfy Becker