New York, U.S.A. – After more than fourteen years implementing life-saving projects of health and HIV/AIDS, food security/agriculture, water/sanitations, education and disaster relief in the Dominican Republic’s impoverished and vulnerable sugarcane plantations rural “batey” communities and Haiti’s isolated border regions, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) now seeks to climb some of the highest mountains of Peru to save children in desperate living conditions.

Up at 16,000 feet in Peru’s Andes mountains native families must survive below-freezing temperatures and the lack of access to adequate supplies of food, clothing, shelter or basic medical services, essential medicines and antibiotics. In Puno – the capital of Puno Region and Puno Province, a city of more than 100,000 people on the shores of Lake Titicaca in southeastern Peru, local inhabitants are horribly poverty-stricken. The local economy is based on agriculture and cattle raising.  Unfortunately, both of these ventures present major obstacles and offer few rewards to those pursuing them. Illiteracy is as high as 22%, especially among women. Diseases, hunger and malnutrition are related to extreme poverty, lack of clean water and sanitation infrastructures.

In response to this crisis affecting the health and growth of children in these mountain villages, BRA has joined hands with its partners to deliver emergency medical/dental assistance and launch a new Child’s Health project involving the application of doses of multivitamins and deworming medicines to more than 500 children and pregnant women who are nutritionally at risk. Future BRA projects will involve general health, food security and education.

For more information on BRA’s humanitarian work in Peru, Haiti or the Dominican Republic, visit our website and donate online at www.bateyrelief.org.

For regular updates, follow/like on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Batey.Relief.Alliance) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/bateyrelief).

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On Monday May 21, 2012, protests continued against a mine in the Espinar province in Peru near Cusco. Protestors claim the Tinaya copper mine, owned by Swiss company Xstrata, is contaminating the water supply of two rivers and dozens of animals have become sick. Additionally, workers claim the company is giving too low an amount of royalties to the local government.

The Catholic Church commissioned a test of the rivers in August and September of 2010 that showed high levels of arsenic, copper, mercury and other heavy metals in the soil and water. Local priest Luciano Ibba claimed, “the people are incensed for all that has happened. The situation is extremely volatile.”

Protestors have acted with violence, injuring at least 30 police officers. According to reports, protestors have thrown stones at the police, set fire to a pasture and destroyed government vehicles. The government claims that police were forced to discharge their weapons on protestors to protect their own lives. It has not been confirmed whether the two deaths of protestors resulted from the police opening fire or the violent nature of the protests.

During the state of emergency, freedom of assembly is suspended and police are given special powers for thirty days. This is the second state of emergency declared for anti-mining protests in the short 10-month presidency of Ollanta Humala. Humala, considered a protector of rural people and a defender of private investment, has recently been critiqued for being too quick to rely on authoritarian tactics to restore order.

At least 24 protestors have been arrested since the state of emergency was declared. One of the activists, Herbert Huaman, is the president of the Front for the Defense of Espinar and was arrested for encouraging more protests. Shortly before his arrest, Huaman said on television, “President Humala, you have been a social crusader, but now you have forgotten, brother, come and converse with us and resolve this problem yourself.”

Another individual who has been arrested is Oscar Mollohuanca, mayor of the Espinar Province. Mollohuanca originally went into hiding but was arrested May 30, 2012 for inciting violence and using public funds to pay for the protests. Mollohuanca claims the charges were “surely handed down because of pressure from above, because what we have here at play are big interests from, for example, mining companies.”

Similar violations of civil liberties were declared in the northern province of Cajamarca last December when civilians protested the building of a gold mine, the Conga mine, by the American-owned company Newmont Mining Co. The project was meant to be one of the biggest mining projects in Peru but locals were unsatisfied with the environmental repercussions. President Humala has suggested the company preserve two of the four lakes it was planning to destroy and create reservoirs for the local water supply. Now the project is on hold while the developers consider whether the added cost of following these suggestions is worth the mine.

However, not everyone is against the creation of these mines. Whereas the rural population of Peru is against these projects that threaten the environmental stability of their homes, most urban Peruvians support them. Just as protests were expected to resume in the Cajamarca region following the protests in Espinar, another protest began on May 29, 2012, in favor of the Conga mine. Many urban Peruvians are pro-development and are looking forward to the associated investments and economic gains from the project. Mining accounts for about 60% of Peru’s export income, but it has alienated the highland peasants due to the frequent contamination of water supply. Consequently, much of Peru has become polarized due to this issue.

Image Courtesy of  meunierd / Shutterstock.com

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A distinguished international law jurist from Latin America has issued a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, asking for a review of Chevron’s “egregious misuse” of an investor treaty to evade its $18 billion liability in Ecuador for creating one of the world’s worst oil-related disasters in the Amazon rainforest, according to a letter released to thousands of arbitration specialists around the globe.

Jose Daniel Amado, a leading law scholar in Peru and a specialist in international arbitration, told the Secretary General that Chevron’s latest attempt to deny the legal claims of the rainforest communities to be decided by an arbitration panel that meets in secret “stands in direct violation of international law” and would “quash” the fundamental human rights of the 30,000 citizens who initially brought suit against Chevron in the United States in 1993.

Chevron shifted that lawsuit to Ecuador in 2002 after praising the country’s judicial system and promising to abide by any judgment there, subject only to narrow enforcement defenses that did not include international arbitration. ”Chevron has constructed what appears to be a calculated plan to manipulate a commercial investment dispute system to evade the outcome of a private litigation,” wrote Amado, who has served as a consultant to the Ecuadorian plaintiffs.

Amado asked the Secretary General to conduct a review of the matter “to ensure that the BIT arbitration system is not used by Chevron to undo international law protections guaranteeing access to justice.”

In January, after a nine-year legal proceeding, a three-judge panel of the Ecuador appellate court confirmed an $18 billion award against Chevron for the deliberate dumping of billions of gallons of toxic waste into Amazon waterways that local inhabitants relied on for drinking water.  The Ecuador trial court found evidence that Chevron’s contamination decimated indigenous groups and caused an outbreak of cancer and other oil-related diseases.

The trial in Ecuador produced 220,000 pages of evidence and more than 64,000 chemical sampling results from independent laboratories which proved that dozens of Chevron oil production facilities suffer from extensive levels of life-threatening heavy metals and toxins, according to the findings of the Ecuador court.

On January 4, the day after the Ecuador appellate court decision, Chevron petitioned a private arbitration panel convened under the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty (“BIT”) to order Ecuador’s executive branch to interfere in its independent judiciary and block the ability of the Ecuadorian citizens to enforce their judgment in countries around the world.  Chevron had stripped its assets from Ecuador to avoid paying the judgment.

Lawyers for the Ecuadorians say the arbitration panel does not have such authority, and that in any event Ecuador’s government is obligated to ignore its orders given its own binding legal obligations under the Ecuador Constitution and various international treaties protecting the human rights of its citizens.

The arbitration panel prohibits the Ecuadorians from appearing before it and takes no steps to inform them (or the public) of the status of its proceedings or when or where it is meeting.  Nor does it release its decisions in a system that clearly lacks due process of law, said Aaron Page, who represents the Ecuadorians and who has represented governments in the arbitral proceedings.

Some commentators have like ecuadorians end the secret arbitration panel to a “kangaroo court” rife with conflicts of interest and imbued with a pro-business culture.

The arbitrators are private sector lawyers who generally rule in favor of investors and against sovereign governments — a fact which in recent years has led several countries to withdraw or threaten to withdraw in recent years from the arbitral system, said Page. ”Chevron’s radical request for relief in this case potentially undermines the credibility of the entire investor arbitral regime,” Page said.

In the letter to Ban Ki-moon, Amado noted that a recent “interim” order by the arbitration panel asking Ecuador’s government to freeze the environmental case “makes a travesty of the bilateral commercial treaty system” and represents an “illegal expansion of arbitral powers with wide-ranging implications for well-settled principles of international law, including fundamental human rights and state sovereignty.”

“Such a result is simply untenable under international law — BIT arbitral panels cannot be called on by investors to set aside countries’ constitutional systems and sovereignty, which are essential components of modern democracies,” he added.

Concern over Chevron’s latest stratagem, Amado pointed out, is shared by a U.S. federal appellate court which ruled last year that the longstanding legal claims of the Ecuadorians “cannot be settled” through the BIT arbitration given that they are not a party to those proceedings.

“The international legal community was shocked by this [interim] Order, which Chevron interpreted to force the Ecuadorian executive branch affirmatively to interfere in a judicial process and limit Ecuador’s sovereignty vis-a-vis a case that has been in the courts for 18 years,” he said.

The Amado letter was emailed to 7,000 arbitrators around the world by the Peruvian Arbitration Institute, which said it considered the letter to “of high interest” to the international arbitration community.

Amado is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the founding partner of Miranda & Amado, one of Peru’s leading law firms.  He has published numerous articles on international law topics, has lectured in various countries, and has represented both private investors and governments before BIT arbitration panels.

Amado is also a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Peru and is President of the Energy Legal Committee of Peru’s National Mining, Oil and Energy Society.

The three arbitrators hearing the Chevron claims — all private lawyers who represent investors before other arbitration panels in the same treaty system — stand to personally reap millions of dollars in fees if they grant jurisdiction over the case, which in itself is a hotly contested issue given that Chevron left Ecuador five years before the U.S.-Ecuador BIT took effect in 1997, Page said.

R. Doak Bishop, an American from the firm King & Spalding who is Chevron’s lead lawyer in the Ecuador matter, has served as an arbitrator in numerous cases convened under the BIT process while he simultaneously represents private clients in the same system.  Ecuador’s American lawyers are only putting up a nominal defense, essentially leaving the Ecuador plaintiffs without representation before the panel, said Karen Hinton, the U.S. spokesperson for the plaintiffs.

In any event, it is clear that any “award” from the panel will lack legitimacy in countries that observe the rule of law and will not be an obstacle to enforcement of the Ecuador judgment, said Amado.

“This is a far-fetched strategy by Chevron that has little chance of working,” said Amado.  “But it is our duty as international lawyers to prevent it from causing collateral damage to the international legal order that protects the human rights of all peoples worldwide.”

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainforestactionnetwork/

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It is an irony that Machu Picchu should cast a shadow over nearly all else in Peru; yet the ruins, situated at nearly 8,000 feet above sea-level, fall shy of Cuzco, looking down from over 11,000. The ancient Inca capital, and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cuzco, still thrives today, and provides a dynamic base from which tourists can visit Machu Picchu and other sites.

The name ‘Cuzco’ comes from the Inca language, Quechua; it means ‘navel.’ The Incas saw their capital as the centre of their empire, as the navel is at the centre of the body. This language survives today, and is spoken by many Peruvian highlanders. Most Peruvians have spoken Spanish since the conquest of the Incas in the 16th century.

There are three ways of reaching Cuzco (or Cusco). It has its own airport, attainable from neighbouring countries; there are also bus and train services. Transport in Peru is an adventure in itself, sometimes misadventure: flying can be a dangerous proposition, as the quick ascent can lead to health problems.

The region’s altitude can cause severe illness, known locally as “soroche,” which, on rare occasions, can be fatal. Even the slower approach by land does not guarantee an easy time. It is strongly recommended that visitors take a couple of days to acclimatise. Relaxed meandering through the town is a good way to explore the many sites, and to plan excursions.

There are various ways of fighting altitude sickness, the most interesting of which is the use of coca leaves. Coca tea is legal and widely available. The leaves can be chewed or steeped, and are often recommended for energy lost due to altitude fatigue, as well as for many other problems.

Lest one become afraid of “soroche” or of becoming a coca-junkie, the former is rarely more than a feeling of growing pains, the latter is only an acquired taste for the tea – few enjoy chewing. The slight risk is well worth the visit: the city offers a range of attractions for most everyone.

Cuzco has museums and architecture promoting the rich history. The culinary scene is as high in quality as the city’s elevation: Peruvian cuisine is award-winning, world-class and exotic (Guinea-pig is beyond the fortitude of most, but unlikely as the origin of the term ‘living high on the hog’). Horse trails provide beautiful scenery; the night-life keeps many dancing, eating, shopping and wandering quite late.

The city is also surrounded by other sites of interest. Higher still than Cuzco, the ruins of Sacsayhuaman (tour-guides resign themselves to the inevitability of its pronunciation as “sexy woman”) are mostly walls of colossal stone. Artisanal shopping is abundant in nearby towns, such as Pisac –again, travel can be an adventure when the steering-wheel comes off on the lazy bus-ride. Rafting is also popular, in the Urubamba and Apurimac rivers. The train ride to Lake Titicaca is breathtaking as well.

Of course, Machu Picchu is the most famous site, and always leaves an impression. Tourists can reach it easily by train or, less easily, by hiking on the Inca Trail over several days. One might meet pleasant tourists, see parrots flying in flocks, and have the reward of seeing Peru’s most famous (of eleven) UNESCO World Heritage Sites, especially rewarding if up early to see the sun rise over it.

Cuzco is one of the most interesting and dynamic cities in this culturally rich country.

Bons voyages!

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One of the biggest events in Peru that relates to gastronomy is taking place this week. Mistura, which means “a mingled compound” or “a variety of something”, in this case of food, is the biggest food fair in Peru and South America. As many people know, Peru is a multicultural country.

The country´s geography shows three areas very well differentiated. There is the coast, the mountains (called Sierra) and the jungle. Each area is very different from one another and so is the lifestyle of its citizens, the culture, the climate and therefore the food. Mistura is the fair where Peruvians and foreigners gather to eat the best of the best.

It also represents the proudness of the Peruvian people. For this year, many important chefs arrived to Lima, like the Spanish Ferran Adriá, consider the best chef in the world and owner of the famous Bulli restaurant; as well as Rene Redzepi, owner of the Danish Noma restaurant, considered the best restaurant in the world by the San Pellegrino list for two years.

Other chefs took place in this event, such as Alex Atala (Brazil), Massimo Bottura(Italy), Dan Barber (United States), Yukio Hattori (Japan), and Gastón Acurio (Peru). For its 4th edition, the 860000 square feet area is divided into 5 big sections. The first one is for the traditional restaurants, the second one is called “The Peruvian bread alley”, which will offer more than 40 varieties of bread.

There is also one area for Luxury restaurants and one area for typical food. There is also a big conference center for different exhibitions and seminars called “Hall of creativity”. The main ingredient of the event this year is the fruits. There will be more than 86 different kinds of fruits from all over Peru.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/53867581@N04/

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In South America, a great percentage of the population depends on natural resources, agriculture and animals in order to survive. When there are any types of fluctuations in the environment or the weather, there is a great percentage of people that has to encounter difficult situations. El Niño, is a great example of a phenomenon that comes and goes leaving its scar on many.

This term was used by the fishermen in Peru, who called it “El Niño”. They were the ones who noticed this change of temperature in the Pacific Ocean, and associated this change on the water with the arrival of Jesus Christ, or “El niño Jesus” , since they noticed the changes came normally at the end of December, close to Christmas. This phenomenon affects the temperature of the water and it brings a double-faced season, either provoking flooding or droughts. This radical change occurs in intervals from 2 to 7 years, and they tend to last around twelve to eighteen months.

“In the last 40 years, there has been around nine Niño’s that have had a great impact worldwide”. A very unique characteristic of El Niño, is that whereas in South America the risk of flooding is higher on the other side of the Pacific, as in Indonesia, or Australia the effect is the opposite bringing droughts instead of floods or vice versa. The phenomenon starts in the Tropical Pacific Ocean, near Australia and Indonesia.  The atmospheric pressure is altered and it affects even distant zones such as Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. The winds blow from east to best, and this provokes an increase in water and temperature in the occidental part of the Pacific Ocean.

Many cities and towns in South America lack a good infrastructure of houses and water canals. With flooding emergence, inundations bring disastrously effects for people living in villages or closed to the seashores. A good example is the Province of Manabi located in Ecuador, where people live in houses made of Cane, normally built two meters on top of the ground. This infrastructure is made because this province lacks a good draining system and where floods appear people protect their homes and belongings by building their houses this way. When the Niño comes, normally provinces, and villages that have a similar situation to Manabi, are the main ones to be affected regarding diseases such as Dengue, and water contamination, since due to the lack of draining system the water accumulates and the bacteria’s in it reproduce rapidly and the risk of infections are extremely high.

The marine ecosystems are also affected due to the Niño, since the water temperature variations affect the marine life. The fish are not used to this drastic changes, so many drift to other environments in order to survive, leading to an economic deficit for the fishing industries and exportation.

Finally, El Niño is a phenomenon that affects several zones in the world, leading to climate change, affecting the human life such as the animal life. Like any other natural catastrophe, there is nothing the human race can do in order to control this phenomenon but the only thing we are left is to be aware o its consequences and prevent the propagation of diseases and infections.

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