LUIS GIAMPIETRI TURNS SEVENTY-ONE

LUIS GIAMPIETRI ROJAS

b. December 31, 1940

RETIRED ADMIRAL LUIS GIAMPIETRI

AS VICE-PRESIDENT OF PERU

WITH HONOR GUARD FOR THE 2008 APEC SUMMIT

GOVERNOR'S PALACE, LIMA, PERU

Admiral Giampietri was in the news recently in connection with the Lori Berenson case (discussion here). As a Navy admiral he had, in his own words, for twelve years "led navy, marine and army commandos in a vicious war against two terrorist groups intent on forcing a Marxist regime on Peru" (the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA). In 1986, in charge of naval special operations, he was "ordered" by then President Alan Garcia to "put down a prison riot, resulting in the death of more than 300 Shining Path inmates," and leading to a 2000 ruling by the Inter-American Court that the Garcia government "had violated the American Convention on Human Rights" (see here).

Giampietri himself was among those taken hostage by the MRTA during the Japanese Embassy crisis, from December 17, 1996, until April 22, 1997, while Alberto Fujimori was president. The by-then retired Admiral gives his account here.

When Garcia successfully ran for a second, non-consecutive presidential term, Giampietri was his vice-president (2006-2011).

More on (now former-) President Garcia here and here and here and here.

ALAN GARCIA, PRESIDENT OF PERU, TURNS FIFTY-ONE

ALAN GARCIA

PRESIDENT OF PERU

b. May 23, 1949

ALAN GARCIA

Hosting the APEC Summit

November 2008

Due for a U.S. summit June 1, 2010

"THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE": PERU PROTESTS ANSWERED

PERU FOR THE PERUVIANS:

WHICH PERUVIANS?

AND HOW?

MACHU PICCHU, PERU

"THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE"

The protests of the Amazonian Indians have led to the repeal of two decrees (No. 1090 and 1064) which made the indigenous peoples fear for the fate of their land. President Alan Garcia said the resources of the jungle should be made open for exploitation by outsiders for the good of the country as a whole. After two months of protests, ending in bloodshed, he has apologized, and said he made a mistake by not consulting with the native groups, the locals. This is seen as a victory for the Indians, but still leaves some of the same knotty problems.

"THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE"

"THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE"

LIMA, PERU

Decree 1090, nicknamed the "Law of the Jungle," i.e., the Amazonian jungle, has been suspended by the Peruvian Congress, following deaths of both protesters and police.

For some of the developments leading up to this, see the earlier posting here and on this site (the June 6, 2009 posting).

MAGIC WATERS IN THE DESERT: LIMA, PERU

MAGIC WATERS IN THE DESERT

TROUBLES IN THE AMAZON

LIMA, PERU 

For an almost-summer weekend, something light from an almost-summer evening in Lima, Peru. 

To wit, a light (and music) and water show from the Circuito Magico del Agua -- the "Magic Water Circuit" -- in a city in the desert. 

Something like a third of the twenty-seven-million population of Peru is said to live in its capital, Lima, tucked between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains. 

Meanwhile, out in Amazonian Peru, there has been since April an on-going protest over indigenous rights and mineral rights. Three weeks ago the government imposed a sixty-day local state of emergency. 

President Alan Garcia, who proudly hosted the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit last November, is keen to promote development. He is quoted as having said that "The riches of Peru belong to all Peruvians," and the benefits should not go only to the "small group of people who live there." 

Back in the capital yesterday (May 29), Prime Minister Yehude Simon threatened to resign. 

The Magic Water Circuit, located in the Reserve Park in the Santa Beatriz district of Lima, is open Wednesday through Sunday from 4 p.m. It perhaps becomes most magical as night falls. 

More on the crisis, which has turned deadly, here (check under June 6, 2009).

More "PERU SCENES"