Peruvian Ambassador enlightens the U.S. with his overview on recent conflict in Bagua

Peru's Ambassador to the United States presented his overview of the recent clashes / massacre / protests (depending on what you call it) in the Peruvian Amazon to The Council of the America's today in Washington D.C.

The Council of the America's summarizes this wonderful treat from Peruvian Ambassador, Luis Valdivieso as follows:

Security forces clashed with indigenous groups protesting the development of ancestral lands for oil and natural gas extraction in recent week. The ambassador provided an overview of the current situation, discussed Peru’s legal framework for sustainable development, and highlighted actions taken by the government toward a long-term solution, including the decision to postpone the implementation of land-use laws. He noted that a permanent solution must include dialogue with indigenous groups, the participation of civil society, and respect for democratic principles.

Click here to view/ download a PDF of the PowerPoint show Luis Valdivieso must have used when giving his presentation. I don't believe you will need his assistance in narrating the slide show.

A interesting download and read for readers not too familiar with the geopolitics of Peru. However, if you are looking for the real deal on the situation down in the Peruvian Amazon, I would not get your hopes up.

The PDF is full of fancy graphics from INEI, the National Institute of Statistics of Peru. The problem is that INEI no longer produces legitimate economic data, as Otto from IncaKolaNews and Farid Matuk explain in their respective web sites.

Farid Matuk if you didn't know was the old head of the office until President Garcia replaced him with some of his loyal chronies. You can read more about how the government replaced him and how he is now accusing the goverment of persecution in this article (in Spanish), from the usually very pro-government Lima newspaper, El Comercio.

Financial crisis... how some South American countries may do better than expected

Six months ago when commodity prices where at record high's it seemed as if South America was entering a golden age of prosperity. Or at least that they where on track. Of course many analysts and “experts” predicted there would be trouble if prices fell back down to reality. None the less, it seemed that surging demand from Asia and the lack of investment in supply capacity throughout the 80's and 90's would be sufficient to keep the prices of various commodities up.

I was personally of the camp which believed prices had come up a bit too fast, but where no less going to stay well above what they where in the late 90's and early 2000's. In the long-run I still believe this will be the case, however the recent global financial has proved me horribly wrong in the short-term.

It does however seem that one thing has been made clear from the recent crisis. At least some of the countries in South America have become better at managing their financial systems and internal economies. Many nations saved, paid off their international debt and invested wisely. Other's didn't and will pay the price (Argentina I mean you).

Here's some recent news worth taking a look at from the past week.

Peru – MTC 2009 budget proposal exceeds $1 billion

Last week Peru's transport and communication minister Veronica Zavala presented congress with a 3.3 billion sol ($1.07) budget proposal. The money according to BNAmerica's will be allocated to various segments of the transport sector. This includes highways, roads, airports, trains and the communication sector.


Peru – Luis Valdivieso, Peru's Minister of Economy and Finances has prepared 49 investment projects aimed to cushion Peru during the financial crisis

Andina.com reports that the Minister of the Economy and finances believes these 49 projects are aimed to keep Peru growing between six and seven percent for the next year.

“We won't allow any reduction in the public spending, consistent with a growth between six and seven percent. To face a possible reduction of fiscal income due to a loss of international markets, if necessary, there is a number of projects ready to fulfill this goal,” stated Luis Valdivieso.


Uruguay confident of weathering financial crisis reports the Financial Times

Interestingly enough, little old Uruguay seems in good position to weather the financial crisis, while it's bigger neighbor, Argentina, does not. The government seems confident that Uruguay can get through this crisis, even if Argentina continues to edge towards economic upheaval, as evident by the countries recent seizure of private pension funds, the governments horrible handling of recent protests and generally scaring away international investors...