Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas
Peru Gay Community

Peru’s LGBT Community Frustrated By Violence, Presidential Election

With less than six weeks to go before Peru’s presidential election, gay rights activists are fighting to put LGBT inclusion on the national agenda and find a candidate to rally behind. It isn’t easy, says Carlos Polo in Lima. Over Valentine’s Day weekend, Polo was beaten by police while kissing his boyfriend during a small … Read more

AQlaunch_22

AQ Corruption Busters Celebrate Successes, Urge Even Greater Progress

To watch a video of the event, click here. “He stole, but just a bit.” “Corruption is just something we live with.” Declarations such as these were once a common refrain in Latin America. But from Brazil to Guatemala, a historic crackdown on corruption is making the old tropes obsolete. Leading this dramatic shift is … Read more

jose

AQ Top 5 Corruption Busters: José Ugaz

This article is adapted from our 1st print issue of 2016. For an overview of our Top 5 Corruption Busters, click here. José Ugaz was just a few years out of law school in his native Peru when a client came to him with an unusual request: A judge was demanding $1,000 to settle a … Read more

Consulta Previa

Why Consulta Previa Is Among the Most Divisive Issues in Peru

In 2011, shortly after he took office, Peru’s President Ollanta Humala signed a law guaranteeing the right to prior consultation for indigenous communities that could be affected by development projects on or near their land. The legislation, known as consulta previa in Spanish and based on the International Labor Organization’s Convention 169, was enacted in … Read more

Mototaxis in Iquitos

Hello! from the Amazon’s Noise Capital

A visitor to the Amazon rain forest might expect to hear the call of birds, the buzz of insects and the screech of monkeys — but probably not car horns and roaring motors. Yet those are the predominant sounds echoing through the streets of Iquitos, a metropolis deep in the Peruvian Amazon. Iquitos has a … Read more

President Humala

The Peruvian Success Story

Trade and investment are vital for a middle-income economy like Peru, which requires access to export markets and a steady supply of external capital flows in order to thrive. Peru’s foreign trade of goods and services measured by value is equivalent to 48 percent of its GDP.1 For over a decade, Peru has sustained an … Read more

Innovators - Marco Ramírez

Marco Antonio Ramírez, Peru

 “In Peru, blacks are soccer and volleyball players, musicians, dancers, or policemen, but they never become doctors, mayors or presidents,” says Marco Antonio Ramírez. “We need to change the mindset.” At just 23, Ramírez is the president of Ashanti— an Afro-Peruvian youth organization dedicated to combating racism and discrimination against Afro-descendants—and believes his community can … Read more

 

From Guatemala to Peru, Protests Sweep Across Latin America

In his 1982 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez spoke of the conflict and violence plaguing Latin America, including El Salvador’s 12 year civil war and Argentina’s Dirty War. “There have been five wars and seventeen military coups; there emerged a diabolic dictator who is carrying out, in God’s name, the first Latin American ethnocide … Read more

 

The Next Chapter for China in the Americas

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang begins an eight day trip to South America today, landing in Brazil with a promise of some $50 billion in Chinese investments in Brazilian infrastructure. This trip follows on and is consistent with the promise that President Xi Jinping made in January to invest $250 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean … Read more

 

Sixty Percent of Latin Americans Will Have Internet Access in 2016

The number of Latin Americans with access to the Internet will increase by 20 percent over the next twelve months, according to the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC). The Uruguay-based NGO is one of five Regional Internet Registries in the world that assigns and administers IP addresses to local Internet service providers—it also advocates for Internet development in … Read more

Arequipa

10 Things to Do: Arequipa, Peru

Peru’s second-largest city, Arequipa has been a breeding ground for rebels and intellectuals since its founding in 1540. Among its famous residents is Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. The rich architecture of this UNESCO World Heritage site is worth the long journey from Lima. All prices are in U.S. dollars. 1. Treat yourself to a … Read more

 

Peruvian President Humala Ends Conflict With Chile Over Espionage

After more than two months of diplomatic tension between Peru and Chile over accusations that Peruvian naval officials had sold secrets to Chilean intelligence, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala announced yesterday that the countries have resolved the dispute. Humala said that he “recognizes the constructive attitude and dialogue of President Michelle Bachelet’s government in deploring these … Read more

 

Mine Protests in Peru Turn Fatal

Months-long protests against a copper mining project in Peru’s Arequipa region continued yesterday in the city of Mollendo, as close to 150 mourners— some carrying signs that read “farming yes, mines no”— joined the funeral procession of Victoriano Huayna Mina. The 61-year-old farmer was killed on Wednesday after police shot into a crowd of about … Read more

Sign up for our free newsletter