The Odebrecht bribery scandal continues to go on in interesting and unexpected ways; now you may be asking how is Odebrecht and what does this have to do with President Kuczynski? Well, lets take a small refresher to understand where we are right now. Odebrecht is a Brazilian construction company that has been using bribery and corruption to gain over 100 construction projects in 12 countries. Odebrecht has invaded even the highest parts of Latin American governments and in some governments in Africa. The discovery of this international scandal has destroyed many political careers and dismantled many parties. Former Brazilian left-wing president Dilma Rousseff is one of the many casualties of the scandal as she was forced to step down from her position last year. Michel Temer who is the successor to Rousseff may not survive his term for very long either, as tapes of him encouraging the acceptance of bribes had been released to the public. Temer is universally hated and as of this day is still in office. Marcelo Odebrecht, who was the president of the construction company is currently serving a 19-year sentence in a Brazilian jail, but he is currently working with investigators for a more lenient sentence. Marcelo has stated that it had paid out $29 million dollars in bribes to Peruvian officials over the past few years and now current Peruvian President Pablo Kuczynski is being tied into this corruption scandal. Marcelo not only stated that Kuczynski was brought into Odebrecht as a consultant to the company many years ago after he stepped down as Peru’s finance minister but that also his Presidental campaign had accepted bribery from the company as well. Kuczynski has denied all allegations against him and stated that he is committed to the fight against corruption in not only Peru but also Latin America as a whole. It is unclear as to where these allegations will take Kuczynski, but he could be reigned in for questioning fairly soon, only time will tell…
Author: cdub2150
History Major, Video Game Enthusiast and FCA member
Peru-Australian Free Trade Agreement gets finalized.
On November 10th, the Australian government announced that they have come to an agreement with Peru to form an ambitious Free Trade deal that will go into effect hopefully sometime soon. The agreement has yet to be signed but here are some agricultural outcomes of the agreement:
- Sugar: on entry into force of the agreement, Australia will have duty free access for 30,000 tonnes of sugar into Peru, growing to 60,000 tonnes in five years and 90,000 tonnes in 18 years – this is more than any other sugar exporting country has achieved in the last twenty years.
- Beef cuts: tariffs (up to 17 per cent) will be eliminated within five years – this ensures Australian beef farmers will have duty free access to the Peruvian market at the same time as US farmers.
- Dairy: on entry into force of the agreement, Australia will have duty free access of 7,000 tonnes of dairy products into Peru, growing to 10,000 tonnes in five years.
Now, these are just a small sample of some of the outcomes of the deal but the basic premise is that Australia will benefit heavily by having this deal with Peru, as it has one of the worlds largest growing economies. As of last year, Peru exported 4.6 Billion U.S. dollars worth of agricultural goods, which is mind-blowing. Australia only exported $5.3 million dollars worth of exports to Peru because of tariffs blocking the way and more preferential treatment toward competitors like the United States. with this deal, 99 percent of the tariffs will be eliminated, giving Australia more access to this growing Peruvian economy.
https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/sweet-deal-with-peru/3261724/
U.S. blocks illegal timber imports from Peru timber exportation company
Under the banner of Donald Trump’s supposed protection of U.S. economic interests has blocked yet another load of illegally logged timber from a logging company in Peru called Peruvian Inversiones Oroza. But this isn’t new, however, for the past three years, the United States has blocked imports from this logging company because they don’t fall into the laws of the Peru Trade Promotion Agreement with the United States (which was created in 2009). The bilateral deal allows the United States to request Peruvian authorities to verify the origin of products such as timber. A Peruvian probe found that ‘significant portions of the Oroza shipment were not compliant with Peru’s law”. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Ligthizer said in the following statement: Illegal logging destroys the environment and undermines US timber companies and American workers who are following the rules”. He also specified that the U.S. government will continue to keep an eye on Peru to see if they will continue to comply with the obligations of the agreement. Though this a rather oddly positive move by the Trump cabinet, as it helps protect the Peruvian Amazon Forest which is the second largest in the world behind that of Brazils; it will be hard for the sanctions to make any impact on the timber industry in Peru is highly corrupted on every level. Speaking of which Peru was one the biggest contributers to the timber industry in the Unirtes States, they have a value of over 24 million dollars in timber.
Medical Marijuana Bill passes in Peru’s Conservative Congress
Just this Thursday, possibly to the astonishment of a lot of people (considering that Peru’s congress is an extremely right-wing majority) a bill was passed to legalize Medical Marijuana in a 68-5 vote. This is a major victory for sufferers of epilepsy and seizures, as medical marijuana has been proven to treat the symptoms of the illnesses and decrease the likelihood of them happening. Marijuana seems to have two active chemicals that scientist believe have medicinal applications, these being cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However using Marijuana for non-medicinal purposes (perhaps recreational uses like smoking pot) can lead to dependency, memory, and emotional issues if it is abused. Not only does Marijuana treat mental illnesses like seizures and epilepsy, marijuana could have potential uses in slowing down the growth of Alzheimer’s, prevent cancer from spreading any further; treat anxiety and even those who suffer from muscle spasms and arthritis, among many other applications. Peru’s fellow neighbors Chile and Colombia have legalized the sale of medical marijuana, but Uruguay has fully legalized the use of marijuana, both medicinal and recreational. Peru will now vote on regulations for the sale of medicinal marijuana, but still, this is a huge step in helping the sick and ill people who need it. Now if only the U.S. could fully legalize it….
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-marijuana/peru-congress-passes-bill-to-legalize-medical-marijuana-idUSKBN1CP1JP
- http://www.businessinsider.com/health-benefits-of-medical-marijuana-2014-4/#it-can-be-used-to-treat-glaucoma-1
Keiko Fujimori testifies in campaign bribary scandal investigation
Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former Peru President Alberto Fujimori was recently implicated in receiving illegal bribes from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction company. The company in Peruvian court was found to have illegally paid over 29 million dollars in bribes to Peruvian government officials in exchange for awarding million dollar projects from 2005 to 2011. Currently the former CEO of Odebrecht-Marcelo Odebrecht-is in prison on a 19 year sentence, admitted to Peruvian prosecutors that he paid for most of the 2011 presidential candidates campaigns through Jorge Barata, who was the former head of Odebrecht in Peru. Fujimori testified in court and did confirm that she had met with Barata on one occasion and whilst having a government plan meeting with several Brazilian business men; but she did not have any private meetings with Barata himself. She also stated that clearly this was all a ‘plan’ to bring her down. If sufficient evidence in the case is found, This would be a devastating blow to the power of Popular Force (the party that Keiko is the head of) in Peru’s Congress. It seems to me that corruption does not fall far from the family tree. Keiko’s father, Alberto is serving a 25 year sentence in prison for human rights violations and corruption.
Peru’s U.S. Ambassador visits business leaders in Atlanta
Carlos Pareja, Peru’s ambassador to the United States, was in Atlanta yesterday; by way of Business Council for International Understanding. Pareja meet with major local business leaders and others from around the U.S. The Council is a Washington D.C. based group created from initiatives by past president Dwight Eisenhower. The organization creates a dialogue between business leaders and government officials. What was exactly talked about in this private meeting was off the record but the ambassador did discuss some broader themes such as the political and economic developments in his country. Peru is not only part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but also the Pacific Alliance (which includes Mexico. Colombia and Chile). While the TPP has been put at risk by our Current President (who called it one of the worst trade deals in history), it’s encouraging to see a continuing dialogue between the countries, despite our idiot-in-chief trying to mess everything up and isolate the United States from the rest of the world.
Peru’s Prime Minister Resigns; is Kuczynski’s term in danger?
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is the current President of Peru, but his cabinet has been suffering major setbacks as of late, as 15 of Kuczynski’s ministers have resigned or stepped down. The biggest loss so far for Kuczynski has come with the resignation of his prime minister Fernando Zavala on September 15th. Zavala’s resignation came after his government lost a vote of confidence in Congress. Kuczynki’s government has been having quite the predicament as of late; Kuczynki’s just started his presidency several months ago, and he hasn’t even been in office for a year. Now, most Peruvian’s are beginning to believe that he’s a ‘lame duck’. Kuczynki’s government has been facing these setbacks because of the opposition party Fuerza Popular (or literally Popular Force) has control of most of the seats in Congress (71 out of 130 to be exact). Keiko Fujimori, who was the Fuerza Popular’s presidential candidate, lost a close race with Kuczynski last year. Fujimori is the daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who is currently in jail for human rights crimes. Kuczynski comes from a banking background and is a socially liberal pragmatist who wants to bring in more workers to the labor force, improve public services and infrastructure and overall improve the economy. However Fuerza Popular is severely more right-wing as they align themselves with conservative Catholics and evangelical Christians. They complain that the government is pro-abortion, gay-friendly and doesn’t pay attention to the people outside of the capital city of Lima. Fuerza Popular is doing all it can to stop Kuczynski and his government from passing any legislation. Kuczynki’s approval rating is a measly 22%, which is down 41% compared to when he was first elected to office. However, this may not be the end of the world for President Kuczynski, as he may benefit from the deep divisions within Fuerza Popular; for instance, Keiko and her brother Kenji have been opposing each other, especially after he backed the former prime minister in the confidence vote (if you haven’t noticed so far, this sounds really familiar to the Republican Party civil war going on here in the states). Even the newly promoted prime minister, Mercedes Araroz, has been met with warm reception by even Fuerza Popular. And also benefiting the president is the expanding GDP, which grew by 2.4% this year and is projected to go up by 4% next year, thanks in no part to its biggest export in copper. If Kuczynki is going to maintain his standing in office, a fresh of breath air is going to be needed, and it seems he is getting one (but how long will it last?)…
Peru’s President meets Pope Francis ahead of scheduled papal visit
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard, the President of the Republic of Peru met with the head of the Catholic Church – Pope Francis- on Friday, in Rome. Godard met with the pontiff to extended the invitation to visit Peru. Pope Francis is scheduled to make a visit to Peru from the 18th to the 21st of January 2018. Pope Francis will be the second pontiff ever to visit Peru, following Pope John Paul II in 1985. Godard and Francis discussed Peru’s strong ties to the church and what can be done to further strengthen those ties. Francis plans to make appearances in the cities of Lima, Puerto Maldonado and Trujillo during his visit. On his final day in Peru, a mass (which is said to attract over two million people) will be held on Costa Verde beach before his departure. Godard was quoted as the meeting with Francis being “magnificent”. Godard and the pontiff also discussed climate change, the Venezuela political upheaval that is occurring; and also the issue of corruption. Godard was accompanied by his first lady, Nancy Lange; his minister of Foreign Relations Ricardo Luna; his minister of Labor and Employment Promotion, Alfonso Grados; and head of protocol, Juan Carlos Gamarra. On the issue of corruption that he discussed with the pontiff, he said that during the eight Summit of the Americas, which is being held in Lima sometime in April 2018. He intends to bring up a proposed creation of an Inter-American Court of Corruption during the Summit. The Last Summit was held in Panama City, Panama in 2015. This was the last Summit of the former U.S. President Barack Obama. If current U.S. President Donald Trump is still in office (if the Mueller investigation is still not over by then or he has or has not been impeached because of his collusion with the Russians) then it will be his first Summit, which might not go over well.
North Korean Ambassador to Peru is thrown out; what’s next?
Kim Hak-Chol, the North Korean ambassador to Peru was given five days to leave the country after North Korea’s refusal to heed the warnings of the UN to bring an end to its nuclear arms testing program in Pyongyang. North Korea has had an embassy in Peru since the 1980’s. Former Peruvian President Alan Garcia bought weapons at a discount price from North Korea for Peru’s police force. Now Peru has followed suit in reaction to not only the new and most fierce UN Sanctions against North Korea, but also to calls from the United States government for all Latin American countries to break ties with North Korea. Kim made a public statement about his removal and said the following: “We’ll continue without wavering on the path of justice that we’ve chosen despite the slander and defamation from the United States because we’re certain our cause is just and will triumph.” Kim compared Peru’s actions to ‘throwing fire on gasoline’ and that it will not lead to world peace but only more conflict. Though this doesn’t mean that the two countries have completely broken ties as explained by Peru’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Luna: “It’s inappropriate to maintain relations with that country….Though we haven’t broken off ties, by expelling him the level of diplomats in charge of relations is lowered.” However, as of today (9/14/17), North Korea has launched yet another missile; and as Kim stated, have refused to waver and heed the call to stop the missile tests. Due to Donald Trump’s hard power stance; it could be all the more likely that war with North Korea might be inevitable; what will initiate that is yet to be seen but its only a matter of time, as the world looks to the White House to see what happens next in this tense situation.
Construction on the largest wind farm in Peru begins.
The multinational energy company Enel has begun construction on Peru’s largest wind farm. The farm will be located in the Marcona district in the Ica region of Peru. The wind farm at full capacity will put out over 600 gigawatts of energy per hour. Construction of the wind farm will be completed by the first half of 2018. To paraphrase Enel Green Power head Antonio Cammisecra, the wind farm will have 42 wind turbines upon completion; The farm will be able to supply green energy to over 480,000 Peruvian homes and also help avoid the emissions of over 288,000 tons of CO2 into the environment. Enel hopes to further continue its commitment to Peru and help it become one of the worlds largest leading renewable green energy leaders. While this is good news for us humans, wind turbines do cause anywhere from 140,000 to 328,000 bird and bat deaths per year in the United States. The wind farms ecological and environment effects in Peru are yet to be seen.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/05/enel-starts-construction-of-largest-wind-farm-in-peru.html
Latin American Reflections 