From me to you about Perus

Source: International Herald Tribune (Original Article)

LIMA, Peru: Peru's once-feared former spy master testified Monday that ex-President Alberto Fujimori had nothing to do with the death squad killings with which he is charged.

Vladimiro Montesinos' testimony was one of the most-anticipated moments of Fujimori's trial. Fujimori relied heavily on Montesinos, who was head of his National Intelligence Service during the 1990s.

Montesinos told the court on Monday that he was testifying for Fujimori even though he could remain silent under the law — and he has declined to testify in some of his own trials. Montesinos already is serving up to 20 years for crimes including corruption and running guns to Colombian rebels and faces a 35-year sentence in a separate trial if convicted of organizing the death squad.

Montesinos said Fujimori had “no responsibility” for the two death squad cases from 1991 and 1992 in which 25 people died. Fujimori, 69, is charged with homicide, kidnapping and grave injuries and could face 30 years in prison. He says he is innocent.

Montesinos, 63, helped Fujimori crush leftist rebel movements and was accountable to none but the president. But he also was at the heart of a corruption scandal that brought down Fujimori's 10-year-old administration in 2000.

Montesinos has denied involvement in the death squad cases, blaming the army instead. In other cases, Montesinos has said he was acting on Fujimori's orders, and once dared his former boss to return from self-imposed exile in Japan to ANZ Credit Card face Peruvian justice.

Fujimori, for his part, has said Montesinos betrayed his trust.

Source: www.companiesandmarkets.com adds new report … - PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) (Original Article)

www.companiesandmarkets.com/Summary-Company-Profile/Petrobras-En ..
Petrobras Energia Participaciones S.A Company Profile is the essential source for top-level company data and information. The report examines the company’s key business structure and operations, history and products, and provides summary analysis of its key revenue lines and strategy.

Petrobras Energia Participaciones (PEPSA) is a holding company that operates exclusively through its subsidiary Petrobras Energia,

an integrated energy company. The Brazilian oil company Petrobras owns 58.6% in PEPSA. PEPSA primarily operates in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. It is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina and employs about 5,130 people. The company recorded revenues of ARS11,745 million (approximately $3,843.9 million) in the fiscal year ended December 2006, an increase of 10.2% over 2005. The operating profit of the company was ARS2,148 million (approximately $703 million) in fiscal year 2006, a decrease of 6.8% compared to 2005. The net profit was ARS1,064 million (approximately $348.2 million) in fiscal year 2006, an increase of 46% over 2005.

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- Provides all the crucial company information required for business and competitor intelligence needs
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Source: Market Wire (press release) (Original Article)

Strait Gold Corporation

TSX VENTURE: SRD

Jun 25, 2008 11:09 ET

Strait Gold Starts IP Survey at Pallcamachay Copper Project in Peru

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire - June 25, 2008) - Strait Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:SRD) is pleased to report that an induced polarization (IP) geophysical survey is under way on its Pallcamachay copper project in Peru. A total of 35 line-kilometres of IP will be conducted by Fugro Ground Geophysics Pty Ltd., and is expected to be completed in early July.

Pallcamachay is a porphyry copper-molybdenum target about 310 km north of Lima. Extensive phyllic alteration exposed on the property at the contact between a granite porphyry and Tertiary volcanic rocks indicates the presence of a robust hydrothermal system and may reflect the phyllic shell of a shallow porphyry system. Initial surface sampling in areas of quartz-iron-oxide stockwork veining returned anomalous molybdenum, copper and silver values.

As well as conducting the IP survey, the Company plans to define the extent and character of alteration and stockwork veining exposed on the property and conduct 77 line-kilometres of magnetic ground geophysics in order to identify potential buried porphyry copper mineralization. Subject to results of this preliminary work, an initial drill program will be planned.

Strait Gold holds an option to earn a 100% interest in Pallcamachay, subject to a 2% NSR.

The Company also recently completed a ground magnetic survey on its San Jorge property which is adjacent to the Pallcamachay property. San Jorge is a silver-gold epithermal prospect approximately nine kilometres north of and in a similar geological environment as the recent San Luis silver-gold vein deposit (a joint venture of Esperanza Silver Corporation and BARNEY AND FRIENDS dvd Silver Standard Resources Inc.)

A total …continue reading

Source: Seeking Alpha (Original Article)

I like Eric Sprott. A straight shooter, a darned good stockpicker, a successful investor. You know where you are with the Eric dude. So the fact he owns a tad under 50% of Inca Pacific (IPRFF.PK) can only be a good thing, right? He originally took a 50+% position there, but at no point asked for a seat on the board or tried to put one of his dudes there to dictate matters. He basically said, "I like the deal, I’m buying in, now go make me money." And since then he’s doubled down on IPR by buying large chunks of the subsequent placements. No doubt he still likes the company.

Thus, knowing that Eric sees Inca Pacific and its large copper/moly project at Magistral, Peru, the same way as me keeps me warm at night, but there is a downside. Sprott isn’t the kind of dude who will sell his stock back to an eventual buyer for a 10% gain or similar; in my opinion he won’t part with his large chunk of IPR for under $3, and even then I’m probably lowballing the deal. So with the stock fiddling around the $1.50 to $2 range, a potential buyer will not be interested in paying such a high premium to current market value, methinks.

It’s a bit of a catch-22, no? The low volumes and low profile of IPR mean it doesn’t get the hype machine revved up behind it. But on the other hand, the largest (by far) of the shareholders knows IPR is worth a lot more than the current PPS and has the zen-like patience to wait until the rest of the world works it out.

But fortunately, the story of this junior won’t be one that drags on for years, as there are a couple of natural deadlines coming. The next one will be when the environmental study is (presumably) approved and the project goes for funding (it’s had some positive comments from guys in suits), and the final limit is the 2011 date the government of Peru has put on the project; basically use it by then or lose it….and nobody’s going to lose that much copper and molybdenum compare credit card to a piece of legal paper.

But …continue reading

Source: Daily News & Analysis (Original Article)

While the stock market benchmark Sensex takes into account rupee value of share prices of its 30 constituents, the Bombay Stock Exchange also has a Dollex-30 index that reflects the growth in market value of these companies in dollar terms.

While the one-year return from Indian stocks, as per the Sensex, is just holding onto the positive terrain at 0.5 per cent, the same in dollar terms has already dipped into the red with the Dollex-30 plunging by 4.7 per cent in past one year.

Besides, the Dollex-30 hit to its 52-week low on Friday at 2,774.1 points, while the Sensex is still managing a gain of about 800 points over its one-year low of 13,779.88 points hit on August 17 last year.

However, loss in past one month is almost identical for both indices — Sensex and Dollex-30 — at about 15 per cent.
   
As per another measure of returns from various stock markets across the world for foreign investors — the MSCI Barra indices, Indian stocks are the only one giving a one-year negative return among the four BRIC countries.
   
While Brazil tops the list among all the emerging markets across the world with a one-year return of about 46 per cent, Russia stocks are up by nearly 27.5 per cent and return is still in positive at 2.6 per cent in China.
   
In comparison, the MSCI Index for India has dipped by 4.78 per cent in the past one year.
   
Beyond BRIC countries, MSCI indices for Morocco, Jordan, Czech Republic, Egypt, Israel, Peru, Argentina, Indonesia, Colombia, Thailand and Chile have also given positive one-year returns.
  
Those sitting in the negative territory among the emerging markets include Taiwan, Poland, Mexico, Hungary, Korea, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Philippines.
   
However, Indian stocks are faring better than a number of developed markets including the US, University Course 1214 UK, Germany and Japan.

Among developed markets, …continue reading

Source: The Birmingham News - al.com (Original Article)

A mission team from ClearBranch United Methodist Church went
to Peru last month to conduct mobile medical clinics and
help with construction on a church and school campus run by
World Reach of Hoover.

A group of eight team members including nurses and
paramedics ran mobile clinics in rural areas south of Lima,
said Paul Whitmore, assistant to the general director of
World Reach.

“I think we were able to touch the people,” said
retired nurse Edie Smith, a member of ClearBranch.
“They know that God cares for them.”

The team worked with a Peruvian doctor to dispense medicine
and treated parasites and other ailments that are routine
for the people there.

“There were meeting medical needs in an area where we
are planting churches,” Whitmore said. “They are
economically depressed areas. The folks do not have much
access to medical care.”

The mission trip continued a medical and evangelistic
outreach from Birmingham over the past decade, as churches
have tried to make an impact on the wrenching poverty behind
massive child abandonment and a generation of orphans.

Working with World Reach, which founded a church in Peru
and keeps an ongoing mission presence there, ClearBranch
Church of Argo has sent mission teams to the area for five
years. Dozens of churches in the Birmingham area have also
sent short-term mission volunteers to assist the work in
Peru, one of 10 countries where World Reach of Hoover has
mission projects.

World Reach, a nondenominational mission agency, founded La
Roca Church in Lima and a three-acre campus of outreach
ministries that includes a school, a health clinic, a Bible
institute and a prenatal counseling center for pregnant
teens. World Reach has resident missionaries who live and
work on the campus.

The mission teams from the Birmingham area stay at the
church campus. “They work in conjunction with our staff
down there,” Whitmore said.

No Annual Fee Credit Card There are an estimated 600,000 abandoned …continue reading

Source: Reuters (Original Article)

LIMA, June 20 (Reuters) - Supplies of concentrates to
Southern Copper’s (SPC.LM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(PCU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Ilo smelter will soon be
normalized, a company official said on Friday, after a blockade
in Peru’s Moquegua province was lifted on Thursday.

Roads and railroads are still being cleared but access to
the plant should be fully restored soon, company official
Alberto Giles told Reuters.

The company had said the plant might run out of supplies
and be paralyzed unless the blockade was ended.
(Reporting by Maria Luisa ANZ Debit Card Palomino; Writing by Terry Wade;
Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Source: International Herald Tribune (Original Article)

LIMA, Peru: Protesters and Peru's central government have negotiated an end to violent demonstrations over mining royalties in the southern part of the country, a top official said Thursday.

The 10-day protest in Moquegua — in which 60 police officers were taken hostage at one point — was called to a halt after both sides met 14 hours through the night, said Jorge Del Castillo, cabinet chief to President Alan Garcia.

He did not provide details of the agreement.

Protesters had blocked a stretch of the Pan-American Highway to demand a bigger slice of mining royalties. Demonstrators also blocked a key bridge to the neighboring Tacna state, causing food and gasoline shortages.

Del Castillo said in a news conference Thursday that the roads would be cleared immediately.

The protest blocked access to Southern Copper Corp.'s Toquepala copper mine in Tacna, Cuajone mine and Ilo smelter in Moquegua, sending copper prices on the London Metal Exchange up to their highest point in almost a month.

About 100 police officers tried to break up the blockade Monday before being overtaken by 15,000 rock-throwing demonstrators. Some 57 officers were injured, and 60 were held hostage before they were released earlier in the week.

Moquegua residents were demanding that mining laws be changed to allocate royalties based on the amount of metal produced rather than the tonnage of metal-bearing earth that is removed from the mine.

Moquegua residents complain that Tacna receives more money from its mine because of the greater pumpkin carving pattern tonnage of earth hauled, even though the mine produces less metal.

Source: Reuters (Original Article)

By Maria Luisa Palomino

LIMA, June 18 (Reuters) - Workers at Southern Copper’s
(PCU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(SPC.LM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Cuajone mine will indefinitely extend a strike
that started on Tuesday, a union official said on Wednesday as a
week-long blockade over mining taxes dragged on in Peru’s
Moquegua province.

The strike had been slated to last for 48 hours but has now
been extended, according to union leader Roman More. He said
nearly all of the more than 500 workers in his union have downed
tools at the Peru copper mine, the world’s second-largest.

“It’s indefinite and the stoppage continues today,” he
said.

Southern’s other operation in Moquequa, the Ilo smelter, is
running low on supplies.

Southern’s Chief Executive, Oscar Gonzalez, told Reuters on
Monday that Ilo could be paralyzed in the next week if road
blocks across Moquegua continue. Residents demand their province
receive a bigger share of taxes paid by the company.

The Cuajone mine of Southern Copper, Peru’s biggest copper
producer, churned out 148,936 tonnes of the red metal last
year.

The strike comes as Peru’s third-largest copper pit, Cerro
Verde (CVE.LM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), has been hit by labor trouble, including a
nine-day-old strike. The union at the mine said on Wednesday
that the strike continues, though workers would evaluate a
request the government has made to suspend it.

The mine’s owner, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), has said
production remains steady. Cerro Verde produced 273,960 tonnes
of copper last year, according to Peru’s mining Gold Credit Card ministry.
(Writing by Terry Wade; editing by Matthew Lewis)

Source: RedOrbit (Original Article)

Acetazolamide for Monge’s Disease: Efficiency and Tolerance of 6- Month Treatment
Posted on: Tuesday, 17 June 2008, 03:00 CDT
By Richalet, Jean-Paul Rivera-Ch, Maria; Maignan, Maxime; Privat, Catherine; Pham, Isabelle; Macarlupu, Jose-Luis; Petitjean, Olivier; Leon-Velarde, Fabiola Rationale: Monge’s disease is characterized by an excessive erythrocytosis, frequently associated with pulmonary hypertension, in high-altitude dwellers. It has a considerable impact on public health in high-altitude regions. A preliminary study demonstrated the efficiency of acetazolamide (Acz) (250 mg/d for 3 wk) in reducing serum erythropoietin and hematocrit. Objectives: Evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of a 6-month treatment with 250mgAcz that could be chronically implemented and its effects on pulmonary artery pressure and cardiac function. Methods: A two-phase study was performed in patients (hematocrit >/= 63%) from Cerro de Pasco, Peru (4,300 m). First phase: a doubleblind, placebo-controlled study in 55 patients who received a single dose of either 250 mg Acz (n = 40) or placebo (n = 15) by daily oral administration for 12 weeks. Second phase (open label): after a 4-week washout period, all patients received 250mgAcz for 12 weeks. Hematocrit, blood gases, clinical outcome, and pulmonary artery circulation were evaluated. Measurements and Main Results: First phase: Acz decreased by 44% the number of polycythemic subjects (P = 0.02), decreased hematocrit from 69 to 64% (P Conclusions: Acz reduces erythrocytosis and improves pulmonary circulation in Monge’s disease without adverse effects. Its implementation as a chronic treatment for this disease appears efficient and safe. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00424970). Keywords: hypoxia; altitude; pulmonary hypertension; chronic mountain sickness Monge’s disease or chronic mountain sickness (CMS) is characterized by an excessive erythrocytosis (hemoglobin concentration > travelnews 21 g/dl or hematocrit > 63%) …continue reading