Search

This paper aims at providing, from a sustainable development perspective, an idea about the direction our country will take once the US-Peru FTA is enforced, regarding particularly the environmental, trade and investment areas. The signing of the FTA has led Peru to leave behind a view of the environment vision as a moral and ethical (some times marginal) component of economic relations, to turn it into a regulatory and mandatory consideration overlapping trade and investment to such an extent that failure to comply may lead to sanctions as severe as those pertaining to other matters related to for instance access to or permanence in a given market. Even so, it is worthwhile mentioning that the FTA is only an initial component of a more complex and broad multilateral scenario that recognizes in the environment an essential element of international economic relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peru is experiencing a boom through growing mine operations and projects. This has created expectations among the benefits that activity may create for the mines' neighboring communities. Although in most cases results have not been very encouraging, this paper seeks to demonstrate whatever progress has been made in the mining companies' social management, and the scope of their proposals for improvement by presenting and comparing successful social investment models used in Peru in recent years. It also examines the issue of the mining industry's voluntary contributions, social contributions and social trust funds, and explains how the money is allocated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Santiaguito is a district in Peru's northern Andes. In this paper we identify a number of opportunities to channel efforts towards its development. However, and as it is often the case, only the most explicit and obvious variables guide the development planning and management cycle. A non factual prospective analysis exercise allows to imagine a future situation that can be totally different from the originally proposed long-term vision. The available information is used with certain diagnosis and planning tools and then the outcome is compared with reality and hypothesis for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are increasingly using the Internet to find health information. Global literature about education of PLWHA regarding information and communication technologies (ICTs) is scarce. The objective of this paper is to report the evaluation of a workshop offered to PLWHA to evaluate the quality of the health information available on the Internet. A computer-based workshop was offered to 25 PLWHA from different districts of Lima during one day. A Spanish version of the eHEALS scale was used before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the workshop to assess consumer' perceived skills/knowledge at using ICTs for health. 21 PLWHA completed the pre and post-test. At the end of the workshop, most participants (95.2%) agreed or strongly agreed that they were able to evaluate health Web sites on the Internet. A pre and post-test comparison showed significant gains in 6/8-item measure of eHEALS. The one-day workshop could help PLWHA to evaluate the quality of the information available on the Internet, and it might improve their auto-reported knowledge and skills towards the use of ICTs in health. This workshop might serve as a model to other educational programs for PLWHA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide an approximate description of the territorial differences of the Peruvian population from a social-demography perspective. The structure of inequalities is searched through factorial analysis, which would let us know a better description of the spatial distribution of these inequalities among provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003 the Peruvian government launched a second wave of decentralization and devolution initiatives to the sub-national governments. The move aimed at fostering development, economic growth and job creation with a strong focus on small companies. However, evidence shows these efforts failed because properly planned policies linked to development objectives were lacking. A reference framework is proposed to design local policies that will add economic momentum, relate the local business network to external systems, and create wellbeing by fostering small business competitiveness. To help identify several types of development measures, the paper proposes to take account of the relation between the business activity and its territory, the key factors of success of innovative companies, and the business's life cycle as related to the potential for innovation and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the transition from the present single-department regions to a structure of multiple-department regions. It discusses the convenience of creating a pilot region and provides some criteria to create multi-department regions and choose the location of the regional capitals. It also provides guidelines to elect representatives to the Chamber of Deputies and the creation of a Senate. Finally, it outlines eight regions to be created by grouping several departments, and an alternative proposal to create regions based on river drainage basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the way in which the jesuit missionaries used to report on the progress of their work in the Marañón region starting in the XVII century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution treats some of the basic problems related to the origins of social complexity in ancient Perú and to such crucial definitions as domestication and sedentism. The necessity of including the concept of simplicity in discussions of complexity is stressed, as well as that of discerning the relevance and interrelation between simple and complex institutions. Further, the corresponding chronology of Perú also is in need of standardization and more precise definitions. Lastly, the papers included in this volume are discussed briefly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sanctuary Señor de la Estrella de Nieve (Star of Snow Lord -Qoyllur Riti) is located 4700 meters above sea level, in the Vilcanota Range of the Peruvian Andes. The festivity of Qoyllur Ritti is one of the most important mountain pilgrimages in the modern Andean world, congregating thousands of native Quechuas devotees every year, in late May or early June. The pilgrims engage in austerities such as purification by water, ritual dancing, whipping and ice climbing, in addition to completing a procession of over 30 kilometers on abrupt mountain terrain. Ritual activities also involve the presentation of offerings to the mountain spirits, as well as collecting sacred ice, which is believed to have healing properties. Based on the participant observations by the author, this paper studies the festivity of the Estrella de Nieve (Star of Snow), analyzing its ritual and symbolic elements (of probable ancient origin) which seem to echo some aspects of the ceremonies performed by the Inca civilization five centuries ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this analysis we make an approach to the impact and importance of a transnational perspective when studying current international migrations. More specifically, the objective of this paper is to reflect on the impact of the monetary and «social» remittances of Peruvian and Ecuadorian immigrants living in Spain, considering their households as transnational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the effect of political violence on the production of coca in the Central Andes? Does U.S. military aid reduce the amount of drugs that originate from this region? What other factors help explain the production of coca? Are the effects of U.S. military aid the same across the Andean nations? This paper tests the effects of political violence and U.S. military aid in the drug producing nations of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. Our results are consistent with existing literature that emphasizes the obstacles that governments face as they attempt to suppress markets for prohibited goods. Our comparative analysis sheds new light on the limitations of the current U.S. policy, particularly in Colombia, where political violence has strengthened the global drug trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume of human and economic as well as material resources put into action by the mining industry in rural spaces has given this industry the most powerful force to the diffusion of the industrial society in the traditional rural societies. The mobilized human resources include all levels, from high qualified executives to unqualified labor with low schooling level. The economic resources are of different types and are reflected in the circulation of goods, salaries, the changes in consumption patterns, and incomes received by the local governments. The direct/ indirect mobility of the material resources leads to the building of service's infrastructure, the appearance of new urban centers and industrial plants at the most backward places of Peru, where poverty and State absence are dominant characteristics. Taking into account the cultural realms of the rural societies in the high mountains of Peru, where most of the mining operations are located, and given the variety of resources mobilized by the mining operations, we may identify interacting cultural, economic, social and environmental spaces that define a complex relationship between man and his geographical settings. This paper offers a geographical approach, both from physical and cultural points of view, through descriptive models. The objective is to recognize some underlying dynamic components attached to each space directed to the management of the local and industrial development. This study is based on a research carried out during 2005 in a medium size mine in the Central Andes of Peru, above 4.200 meters of altitude, in the Huancavelica region. The social realm is made of traditional peasant communities, Quechua speakers who live in extreme socio-economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the physical and perceived landscape changes in a mining area located in northern Peru. The divergent points of view about the impacts of the mining activities have been more dynamic in recent years. This condition leads to the need of a better comprehension of the environmental and social consequences of the mining activities. Landscape studies may be relevant to understand such problems. So, in this study, we intend to determine the landscape change in a mining area by mapping the change of the physical landscape and analyzing the local population's perception of this change. The physical dimension is studied by spatial-holistic interpretation of diachronic air photographs to produce maps of the pre-mining period (1993) and after (2000), which allows comparisons between them. The perception is examined from the analysis of semi-structured interviews to the local population. The physical landscape analysis shows a change index of 73% in all the studied area. This change is characterized mainly by the conversion of the semi-natural grass to the mining area where the grass is scarce. These results correlate positive with the local population's appreciation who perceive great environmental changes and stress the dramatic reduction of the natural resources, which are the basis for their living as grasses and water. Most of the informants had concerns of the lost of practices, customs and identity. Methodologically, this study is based on an empirical and theoric research, that combines quantitative and qualitative methods to study the landscape changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this review paper is to show a historic overview for the development of population policies in Peru, specially focusing in the role of Peruvian physicians and public health specialists and foreign agencies during the past forty years. The main argument is that these policies have not been sustained -- mainly because of political reasons -- which led national participating institutions to have a weak role, to have poor negotiating capabilities with international donors and to a constant return to topics that may have been solved in the past. Lack of understanding and lack of willing for getting over all inconsistencies within this historical pattern partly explains all the difficulty for maintaining population policies as a priority in the national agenda. This is a historical review based in looking at documents and press articles, as well as performing deep interviews with some actors of population policies in this country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the impact of local perceptions of the environment, archaeological sites and of archaeologists themselves, on the ways in which we construct the past. Based on the dissimilar field experiences of two research teams we assess the power of dreams, offerings and rituals conducted to obtain permission from the mountains, the water and the ancestors to conduct excavations and surveys in the north-central highlands of Peru. These, we argue, manifest the complex articulation of geopolitical and power relations that underlie the hegemony of the positivist legacy in archaeological science and, simultaneously, offer a space for horizontal discourse with great transformative potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Aldo Olano stresses that modern day Peru has to be understood as the result of different circumstances where historical and political aspects coincide with different development models and changes within society. The main idea of this paper is that the recurrent lack of governance in Peru is the result of an anti institutional culture but not necessary an anti state one. It is argued that this is also the result of strict social orders that are politically exclusive regardless of modernizing liberal and protectionist projects that date to the last century. The article questions some of the paradigms based on which development programs were implemented and consequently it establishes that current day Peru is the result of a mismatch between the ideological and the institutional. As such, the lack of governance and the preeminence of populist practices is the final result of three inconclusive projects: a military reform government (1968 - 1975), a democratic liberal one (1980-1990, 20002006) and the paternalistic authoritarian (1992-2000). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Venezuela is a country with federal roots that launched its decentralization process in 1989 with the election of governors and mayors. Peru has a constitutional basis of unitary design that, after a failed decentralization process at the end of the 80's, returned to this path in November 2002 with the election of regional presidents. There are concurrent elements in both cases with regard to the building of political consensus in order to grant the legitimacy of the process, as well as certain differences in their orientations. This paper will study both realities in a comparative way, in order to draw some lessons about their merits and shortcomings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One basic condition for a sustainable development of a nation is a positive proactive management on disaster risk reduction. Such action requires previous knowledge and documentation about hazardous phenomena or events, their dangerousness assessment, and the vulnerability evaluation of: The people and their properties, the multiple societal aspects (economic, social, cultural, etc.), the infrastructure works, vital lines, and the environment. It also requires knowledge of the community copying- capacities and its resilience. In this paper, the main concepts of risk management and the most important features of the seismicity in the Peruvian territory are reviewed. The following characteristics are pointed out for the collision-subduction of the Nazca-South American tectonic-plates seismicity environment: Earthquakes of large magnitude, very large mezoseismic areas, seismic accelerations that not exceed the Earth's gravity on the continent, recurrence times tens to hundreds of years. The tectonic-readjustment-continental seismic environment is characterized by mezoseismic areas circumscribed to the activated geological faults - length: several tens of kilometers, width: few tens of kilometers - shallow hypocenters, geological faults with several meters of vertical displacement, the seismic ground acceleration exceeds the Earth's gravity, the recurrence time of strong events is about one thousand years. The volcanic seismic environment is present in the tectonic block of southern Peru, and it is limited to the zone of presently active volcanoes. Their seismic activity is of low hazardousness. The probabilistic seismic hazard map of maximum accelerations, for 10% of probability of exceedence in 50 years, shows the largest values for the central and southern coastal area of the country: 0.5-0.7 g; in the northern coastal areas this values are 0.4-0.5 g. In the "Sierra" the acceleration range is 0.2-0.4 g, and in the Subandean zone and "Llano Amazónico" the accelerations range between 0.05-0.2 g. There are no traditionalmicrozoning maps of large urban areas in Peru; however, there are several macroseismal soil response maps in term of macroseismal intensities. Peru has no national seismic vulnerability or risk maps, but there are maps of the basic factors of vulnerability: Poverty, population density, Human Development Index (HDI), and constructive environment. The poorest people are distributed in the alto-andina zone, with centers in the old Andean cultures settlements. The province with the largest population density is "La Provincia Constitucional del Callao": 5,515 hab/km2. Lima province has 2,603 hab/km2.… [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows a descriptive study about the medical scientific serial publications of our country that have been decreasing in number as it can be measured by the journals number/physicians number rate. There is a list of deficiencies related to authors, editors, supporting entities and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the last years, within the media landscape, we've been aware of some very punctual aspects: media manipulation, government intervention, media managers corruption, etc. As well as the relation between media entrepreneurs and media companies as legal person, telecommunication laws, public information access, etc. These trends have generated a positive critical attitude in the public and we believe it should drive all actors in the social communications scene to propose integrated innovations for the future. In order to achieve that goal we need to know the industry's situation. This paper intends to convey a consolidated and up-to-date outlook of Peruvian Media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, historical reference is made about legal provisions for recognition of the training and certification of medical specialists in Peru through university programs provided since 1928 and culminating in 1973 with the legal authorization by the relevant state authority to implement the Second Specialization Program in Human Medicine and to grant the Certification of Specialist in the Name of the Nation upon completion of a university residency program and specialized training by the "regular modality", and the recognition by the university with the "non-regular modality". In Peru it has been established to the present that the Professional Certifications of Specialists in Human Medicine "in the Name of the Nation", both in "regular modality" as well as in "non-regular modality", can only be granted by public or private universities authorized for this mission and, besides, no other public or private institution can claim this role that corresponds exclusively for the Peruvian University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents three cases of eosinophilic migratory nodular panniculits in Perú. This is a parasitic disease caused by a nematode belonging to the Gnathostoma species. The infection occurs after eating contaminated raw fish or undercooked seafood. Our first patient represents the first documented case of eosinophilic migratory nodular panniculits diagnosed in Peru. He had multiple recurrences. The other two cases developed life threatening condition because of the location of the lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1:1 initiatives have enabled nearly one million laptops have been distributed to children throughout Peru for educational purposes. However, despite the significance of investment, more than 900,000 personal computers that distributed the government from 2007 among primary school children, so far have not improved the quality of Peruvian education-- Main aim of the implementation of the program--. In this paper we provide evidence to an approach to the everyday educational activities in the field--With regard to the reasons why teachers do not use the Laptops--, well as a better understanding of what is happening in the classroom. The investigation begins by presenting a conceptual framework based on the review of theoretical work, along with a review of some international experiences including a description of the "one laptop per child". The data analysis included the categorization of the information collected through the "content analysis". The study concludes with a discussion of a number of elements that prevent teachers use laptops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]