11 octubre 2006

Bush/ Garcia powwow

Joint Statement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Peru

Presidents George W. Bush and Alan Garcia underscored the strong relationship between the United States and Peru, and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening democracy and expanding free trade in the region as a means of improving the well-being of all citizens by securing freedom and delivering the greatest possible economic benefits to the largest number of people. They pledged to continue working together toward these and other shared objectives.

The two leaders agreed that democracies must strive to improve basic services for all citizens, and emphasized the importance of expanding health and education as a means of empowering citizens with the tools to fully participate in society, providing opportunities for economic growth and social development. They further concurred that democracy and democratic governance are the right and responsibility of all, and that an educated, engaged citizenry is the foundation for strong democratic institutions. They also agreed that all citizens should have the ability to participate fully and fairly in a modern economy, under the protection of the rule of law.

Both stressed the central role of initiatives such as the mutually beneficial U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) in strengthening bilateral ties while leveling the trade playing field, spurring job creation, and reducing poverty and inequality. In this regard, President Bush reaffirmed his commitment to securing congressional approval of the PTPA as quickly as possible. Both Presidents noted that domestic capacity-building programs, such as President Bush's Center for Education Excellence in Teacher Training and the Poverty Reduction and Alleviation Program initiatives, and President Garcia's Sierra Exportadora and "Internal FTA" programs, ensure that the opportunities derived from free and open markets accrue to the broadest number of Peruvians.

Presidents Bush and Garcia reaffirmed their strong commitment to protect their people and the hemisphere from the depredations of transnational terrorist and criminal organizations, pledging to promote speedy extradition of drug cartels' members. Among the many ways our countries work together to combat the scourge of narcotrafficking, based on the principle of shared responsibility, are Peru's comprehensive efforts against drug trafficking and illegal coca cultivation and U.S. programs that provide infrastructure and training to develop a police presence east of the Andes and alternative development to people in former coca growing areas, giving them hope for a sustainable, legal livelihood to provide for their families.

The Presidents reaffirmed their commitment to a strong bilateral relationship and to promoting prosperity and social justice for all people of the Americas.


see also: http://www.topix.net/world/peru

CHIFLES!!!!

http://www.livinginperu.com/
"One visit to Peru will change your life.
Two visits will get you hooked.
Live here and you may never leave."











9 October, 2006 [ 20:25 ]
Peru will export banana chips to the United States and Europe

(LIP-wb) -- Peru's Association of Banana Producers in the district of Salitral (Piura) will begin exporting "chifles" to the United States and Europe starting next month. Chifles are sliced fried green plantains sliced (1 or 2 mm thick).

Representative Jose Amaya Chunga estimates that next year exports will generate revenues of S/. 1.2 million Nuevo Soles (US$ 370k) from a production of 198 metric tons.

“We will take advantage of 3,600 tons metric of bananas, not only for the chifles production but also for manufacturing banana flour”, Amaya said.

The Association groups 220 partners, with a total of 600 hectares. The production output of exportable organic bananas in this area reaches 14,760 metric tons annually.
tags :

Humala criticizes Peru's Free-Trade pact with USA, questions Garcia's strategy

(LIP-wb) -- While campaigning for the upcoming regional and municipal elections in one of Lima' poorer suburbs, Villa el Salvador, the leader of Peru's Nationalistic Party, Ollanta Humala told reporters that he questions President Alan Garcia's strategy of pressing United States legislators in order to obtain the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by U.S. Congress.

Garcia met with President George W. Bush at the White House today to speed up the treaty's approval.

Humala maintained it will be very difficult for Garcia to change the agenda of U.S. Congress.
He requested that the government should have instead put its focus on asking for an extension of the current ATPDEA agreement, which is set to expire by year's end, in order to promote a greater commercial integration of the Community of Andean Nations (CAN), a proposal his party made weeks ago.

Humala said he would maintain his position n this subject because the free-trade pact (FTA) “was approved by Peru's Congress sometime "between midnight and the rooster's wake-up call" and because the treaty is harmful to the national interest, mainly to agriculturists”.

Humala also answered questions related to the recent criticism expressed by his wife Nadine Heredia towards the program "Sembrando" and the non-government organization "Trabajo y Familia" (Work and Family), lead by First Lady Pilar Nores.
He affirmed that he supports his wife's comments because the “office of the First Lady" has been replaced with the "NGO of the First Lady”, and this "fact" reduces these initiatives transparency and promotes political clientelism.

He also criticized the excessive advertising costs of these social programs which could be instead used to buy more machinery for agriculturists. “Social policies must start with the State and we cannot leave this task in the hands of a NGO”, he asserted.


tags : Peru politics economy world USA Free-Trade FTA Garcia PilarNores opposition nationalism

09 octubre 2006

!MICUY!

Just add spice

Jan 29th 2004 LIMA
From The Economist print edition


A gastronomic revolution

TO OUTSIDERS, Latin American food may conjure up not much more than the smell of Mexican tacos. But Peru can lay claim to one of the world's dozen or so great cuisines. Beyond its trademark dish of cebiche (raw fish marinaded in lime juice), Peruvian food is little known abroad. That may be about to change. Peru is in the throes of a “spontaneous revolution” in gastronomy, as Raúl Vargas, a journalist and foodie puts it.

Two things give Peruvian food its distinctive edge. The first is the country's huge biodiversity, with dozens of microclimates. Potatoes, squash, peanuts, hot peppers, beans and maize were all grown before the Spaniards arrived. Despite overfishing, the cold Humboldt current that hugs Peru's desert coast is still rich in fish and shellfish. Though grazing for large animals is poor, poultry and game are abundant. “It's a luxury for any chef: I go to the market and can choose between 60 different varieties of fresh fruit and vegetables and 70 different species of seafood,” says Gastón Acurio, a Lima chef.

Second, Peruvian cooking has long reflected cultural fusion. According to Isabel Álvarez, a sociologist turned restaurateur, its basics were established by the 18th century, when Lima was the moneyed capital of a vast Spanish viceroyalty. Slaves and migrants added African, east Asian and Italian touches. Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, who worked for several years as a cook in a Lima restaurant in the 1970s, has exported his own brand of Peruvian-Japanese food through his Nobu chain.

In such a poor country, food has traditionally been robust, spicy but lacking in sophistication. That is starting to change. A decade ago, Lima had no cookery schools. Today, there are 14, including a joint-venture with France's Cordon Bleu. Mr Acurio, the son of a politician, trained in Paris while pretending to study law; now, cooking has become an acceptable profession for the children of the elite.

A dozen or so upmarket restaurants have opened in Lima in the past few years. Quality in the hundreds of humbler cebicherias (fish restaurants) is improving too. The media have taken an interest. Mr Vargas, the director of Radio Programas, a leading radio station, launched a weekly food programme in 2001, which awards an annual prize for the best cebiche.

Will Lima become a new Mecca for gastronomes? Mr Acurio reckons that while it cannot compete at the top end, “it is one of the best places in the world to eat for $30-35 per head including wine”. But whetting the appetite of potential tourists may depend on raising the quality of Peruvian restaurants abroad, many of which are poor. Mr Acurio has led the way: his Astrid y Gastón has a branch in Santiago (recently voted Chile's best restaurant by local food critics) and is opening in Bogotá. A handful of new Peruvian restaurants in the United States are hiring some of those newly-trained chefs from Lima.

The government is encouraging locals to invest in restaurants abroad, and promoting festivals of Peruvian food, says Manuel Rodríguez, the foreign minister. In a country recovering from terrorism and misgovernment, cooking has become a source of national pride.





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