…en Perú - Travel Culture History News

When you think of Peru you think of mountains, but in fact the vast majority, 70% of the country, is Amazon rainforest and it emerges that half of it has been leased out to multinational oil companies.

The Amazon contains the majority of the worlds fresh water and is the largest carbon sink in the world, protecting us against global warming. Parts of the country contain some of the most pristine and biodiverse rainforests on Earth according to Dr. Matt Finer of Save America’s Forests, who has spent years working as an ecologist in the rainforests of Peru and Ecuador. He explains that over 97 million acres of the Peruvian Amazon, about the size of California, is now zoned for oil and gas exploration and exploitation, “That represents well over one-half of the remaining intact Peruvian rainforest.” he states.

The majority of the oil exploration leases, numbering 39 in total, were signed in the later years of President Toledo’s administration when Peru lowered exploration royalties. This lowering triggered a rush of foreign multinationals including US giants Occidental, ConocoPhillips, Barrett, Harken, Hunt, and Amareda Hess as well as PlusPetrol of Argentina, Petrobras of Brazil, Repsol of Spain, Petrolifera of Canada, and Sipet of China to rush for new leases. These leases permit seismic studies and test drilling in remote areas of the jungle over the next 30-40 years.

The lands leased out for drilling and studies are not only prime virgin rainforest inhabited by endangered species such as the jaguar, but are also the ancestral homelands of dozens of indigenous tribes, many of which live in voluntary isolation to preserve their culture. As explained by Peru’s national indigenous Amazonian spokes-group (AIDESEP), these indigenous people inhabit the same region as recent oil discoveries have been made.

Of course, these indigenous communities oppose new oil development. The areas explored by the oil companies are often left devastated, polluted and with fish populations wiped out. Local people are left with various medical conditions and no access to treatment. Although denied by the oil companies, waste and oil are dumped in these pristine areas destroying everything. Where oil is not dumped, damage is caused by pipelines built through the habits of endangered species and local people.

The locals have little ability to complain, but due to increased pressure on the health of their people and their way of life, they are trying to fight back. Last year the Achuar people were able to shut down two operations of PlusPetrol Norte for 14 days. This was 50 percent of national production. This was brought on by PlusPetrol dumping as much as a million barrels of oil and chemical contaminated waste water directly into local rivers on a daily basis, seriously affecting the health of the Achuar who rely on the river for all their needs. PlusPetrol reluctantly accepted the peoples demands to invest in equipment to re-inject waste into the ground, and build a local hospital and to an emergency supply of food to those starving villages who’s traditional food source was wiped out. They also demanded that no more invasions of their territory by new drilling operations would take place but this was rejected by PlusPetrol with the support of the Peruvian Government. PlusPetrol have since filed charges against many of the Achuar for the blockade, alleging, “coercion, criminal trespassing, aggravated kidnapping, and assault against public security”.

Amazon Watch, an Amazon defence organisation based in San Francisco says, “These charges are disconcerting given the peaceful nature of the protest and the abundant evidence on the vulnerable health status of the Achuar people in Corrientes and the profound oil contamination of their territories. If the charges are allowed to stand, they would set a disturbing precedent against the right to peaceful protest in Peru.”

The rest of Achuar territory, the last refuge of these people as well as thousands of unique species plants and animals, has been carved up between various other oil companies.
PeruPetro alone has tendered applications for another 18 leases which will see all the untouched Amazon disappear.

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BCP are my favourite bank because they don’t charge me a fee to withdraw money from the UK. They are also my favourite because they always produce watchable television commercials. Here are two that have been showing on TV in recent weeks.

Paying with your BCP credit card is lightning-fast

BCP give you credit up to 7 times your salary, so no need for this…

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Part of the Lima PreColombina series

There exist roughly 100,000 known archaeological sites in Peru and 250 of them are in Lima. If I went to one each week day and rested on weekends, it would take me almost a year to visit them all. This is just in Lima, where tourists rarely spend more than a couple of days.

In the centre of Miraflores in the city of Lima resides a large mound of dry mud that rises above the surrounding buildings. Close to the rising mountains of the Andes such a thing doesn’t seem entirely out of place - until you look closer. Those are bricks… terraces… stairs. Could it be that this formation is man-made?

Almost 2000 years ago, where the city of Lima now stands and over 1000 years before the Incas founded their empire, there was an ancient culture. Not much is known of them, not even what they called themselves, so they are referred to as the Lima culture. From the beaches to the south of Lima, to the ports to the north, and out into the foothills of the Andes, this was their home. In their home they constructed numerous temples, storage sites and administrative centres. The largest, best preserved and one of the few surviving is Huaca Pucllana.

The name Pucllana was not its original, that name is lost. Pucllana actually means play and that’s what it was used for shortly after the Spanish conquest, where the locals, probably between their lessons in Catholicism, would come to unwind and play. That was only 500 years ago, and for the people of that time the significance of the place was long lost. 1400 years ago the Lima culture who built the complex died out and were replaced by the invading Wari people who’s empire rivalled the Incas that would come to be centuries later. After the Wari’s civilisation also collapsed, hundreds of years after, the Incas arrived in Lima at the start of their expansion. So it is not surprising, in the passage of this vast amount of time, that everything known about Pucllana was lost.
In recently centuries, and even up until the 1980’s, these ancient ruins were used to ride horses, fly kites, ride motorbikes, and build houses on.

Huaca Pucllana was used as a religious site (the pyramidal structure) and as a administrative centre (the once-vast set of buildings mostly gone now). The site took 300 years to complete and is built entirely out of stacked sun-baked mud bricks - some of which still have hand prints. The bricks are said to be stacked “library style” in that they are all vertical and have the appearance of a book-shelf. On top of the large structure are holes, where offerings to the earth were made. Things from food, ceramics, animals and even human beings. The human sacrifices were always young women who were slender. It was considered a great honour to be sacrificed and sacrificial victims went willingly. The mummies found here were all found horizontal, face down. Some were decapitated.

Now the site is protected and being restored and researched. There is still much to do and much to find out about this, and the hundreds of thousands of other similar locations across the country.

Photos - Read the rest of this entry »

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Here the best food in the world is presented by PromPeru as part of the Peru, Mucho Gusto campaign. If you have any interest in Peruvian food, you may have already seen this video. If not, enjoy…

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The Peruvian hairless dog is a breed native to Peru and was known to be kept and prized by the Incas and pre-Incan coastal cultures. The indigenous believed they were special, somewhat spiritual beings, with powers to heal those in contact with them. This belief still exists to this day, along with many other strange Peruvian superstitions, and people are eager to own these rare, expensive dogs. These myths helped keep the species alive in small towns during and after the Spanish conquest.

These dogs are very intelligent and like to be with people. Their lack of hair makes them easy to keep clean and means they will be free of parasites. Their skin though can often crack, burn and go dry if they spend too much time in the sun. They can go through as much moisturiser as a person if cared for well.

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Only the carnival in Rio-Brasil and the carnival in Oruco-Bolivia compare to this, the biggest party in Peru in the city with the most typical dances in the world - Puno.

This history of this week-long or more celebration where thousands spend their days and nights dancing through the streets in costume begins in 1781. It was then that the city of Puno was governed by Spanish magistrate Joaquín de Orellana and the city was under siege by the rebel troops of Túpac Amaru. Fearful of the coming attack, the people of the city brought out the statue of the Virgin de la Candelaria and began a procession in which they danced, played their zampoñas (Pan Pipes) and lit candles. The massive noisy demonstration that lasted through the night confused the rebel army and they decided to leave the area. There are three theories as to why - 1. they thought the townspeople were a large gathering army, 2. the Spanish led a small cavalry attack that took advantage of the situation and drove them away or 3. the rebels moved on out of respect for the Virgin.
Whatever it was, the people of Puno attributed their salvation to a miracle and named Mamacha Candelaria their patroness.

You’ve read the history of this massive event now see it in action.

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La Costa Verde was the busiest I have ever seen it as the Joint US-Peruvian air show got under way. Between aerobatic displays the USAF “Tailgaters” band played US folk tunes.
Like the display yesterday, the aeroplanes were great, but with more cloud cover today I don’t have many photos to show.

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On my last visit to Las Palmas Air Base I watched a rather small version of the 28th July parade that took place the next day, and briefly bumped into Ex-President Toledo who is now in trouble over allegations that he falsified signatures for his party’s formation.

This visit was equally interesting. I got to see a Peruvian MiG-29 and Mirage 2000 demonstrating their abilities to the crowds below. Part of the Falcon-Condor Exercise involves showing the Peruvian people these aeroplanes and their abilities alongside their US partners.

The Dassault Mirage 2000

Photos - Read the rest of this entry »

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Fighter Jets, notably US F-16s and Peruvian MiG-29s, have be roaring over the city all day for the past 3 days.
It’s all part of the joint USAF-FAP exercises that have been taking place over the past week. Falcon-Condor is designed to build relations and share strategies between the two countries.

A recent scenario that formed part of the exercise involved stranded Peruvian and U.S. pilots in the middle of the northern desert being rescued by Peruvian special forces jumping from a Puerto Rican Air Guard C-130 Hercules.

I’m sure we’ll find out the exact reason for the mock dog-fights over Lima’s skies soon enough, though they may just be practising for the joint show that will be put on over the Costa Verde this Sunday.

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The Peruvian Congress yesterday approved a measure that will create new protections for international tourists visiting Peru, going as far as granting automatic life sentences if a tourist is murdered or suffers permanent harm.

The new laws allow a judge to impose a minimum 10 year sentence and maximum 20 year sentence if the robbery occurs in a home, hotel, commercial location or in public or private transportation. Those criminals who target tourists will also receive this sentence if the robbery occurs around bus terminals and airports, near hotels or in national parks, ensuring that tourists are protected by the new measures wherever they are likely to go.

A mandatory and automatic life sentence will be given to criminals who rob tourists as part of an organised gang or if the robbery results in severe physical or mental injuries or indeed, death.

All 18 members of the committee voted in favour of the new bill which will modify the Peruvian Penal Code and categorize robberies against tourists as aggravated robbery. The bill will now go to a second round of voting by the congress and is expected to be approved next week.

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