Over $315,000,000 owed to Peru by the corrupt

The millions and millions of dollars of funds stolen during the government of Alberto Fujimori total some S/.904,000,000 PEN or about $322,000,000 USD.

August 25, 2010 | News

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Almost three years after the Ica earthquake, thousands still without homes

Some 40,000 families have yet to receive help in reconstructing their homes and are having to suffer an exceptionally cold winter with temperatures as low as 3.6°c. Many have been forced to re-occupy collapsing adobe homes to prevent illness.

August 2, 2010 | Commentary/Opinion, News

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Lima the Latin American capital with worst air pollution

According to the Institute of Peruvian Studies, Lima suffers from the worst air pollution among the capitals of Latin American countries… this despite drastic improvements.

May 19, 2010 | News

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The Crousillat case: Corruption at the highest levels

The corruption that goes to the highest reaches of Peruvian government as shown by a media mogul who faked illness to get out of jail.

March 12, 2010 | Commentary/Opinion, News

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A Peruvian’s view on the problem of corruption [Featured]

This excellent article was written by Mildemonios for the blog Economía de los mil Demonios. The following is a translation, a makes a very interesting read.

Corruption makes us all angry, except for the corrupt of course. Just a couple of months ago the Institute of Public Opinion of the PUCP (large university) published the results of a survey focussed on corruption. There on page 4 you can see clearly that 94% of those surveyed, pretty much everyone, considered corruption in Peru to be a grave problem. But just two pages later is the data that worried me. Just 22% considered it important that in the fight against corruption we need the participation of the general public. And well, this is why we’re screwed.

December 12, 2009 | Commentary/Opinion

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Keiko Fujimori battles evidence of her father’s corruption

Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the corrupt ex-dictator Alberto Fujimori who was recently sentenced for human rights abuses during the country’s fight against Maoist terrorists, is having a hard time battling the slow release of facts relating to her father’s regime.

June 4, 2009 | Commentary/Opinion, News

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Female Traffic cops rule the streets of Lima

Peru’s transit police aren’t famous for their honesty or work ethic. Anything but. In line with all Government employees, they are so underpaid that they see corruption as the only way to make a decent living. For transit police, this usually involves pulling over those drivers who violate traffic laws and writing up a ticket… a ticket that can be ripped up on the spot though, should you be kind enough to collaborate with a little lunch money, beer money, a holiday bonus if it is nearing Christmas, or even money for gasoline.

March 7, 2009 | Commentary/Opinion, Lima City Guide, News

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Part 1: A visit to the men’s prison in San Juan de Lurigancho [Featured]

Junior Moya is a Peruvian living in Lima who recently had the opportunity to visit the infamous men’s prison located in the run down district of San Juan de Lurigancho. In three parts, he tells us of his experience. (Thanks Junior!)

January 28, 2009 | Commentary/Opinion

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Highway Robbery

I was travelling from Trujillo to Chiclayo recently on a bus operated by the company Emtrafesa when we encountered an accident on the pan-american highway, just inside Lambayeque. A truck carrying a cargo of Brahma beer had spilled its load. Crates of smashed bottles of beer blocked the road both ways while people stuck in the blocked traffic scurried about stealing what they could find.

December 3, 2007 | Commentary/Opinion

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Ex-President Toledo Charged

It’s been a couple of years since the allegations that ex-President Alejandro Toledo (who I briefly bumped into at Las Palmas air force base) was involved in falsifying signatures necessary to register his Peru Posible party for the 2000 elections. From the day he left office there has been momentum building (initiated by the new Government) to charge and try him for these allegations that he calls an act of political persecution.

December 21, 2006 | Modern Peru, News

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INC destroys Machu Picchu

You may have read my previous criticisms (1, 2) of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura Cusco (INC), and if those were not enough I have yet more to add. I think this reflects poorly on the work they do, or rather don’t do.

Where oh where do we begin…

INC destroys Machu Picchu’s star attraction and unique artefact (CNN, BBC)
In September 2000 the greedy INC accepted a large payment to allow a company to enter the sacred ruins of Machu Picchu to film a beer commercial. The fact this might ruin the day of thousands of tourists who paid through their teeth to be there for this one and only day didn’t bother them, why would it, they had already taken their money…

November 17, 2006 | Commentary/Opinion

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