Poverty in Peru reduced to 36.2% last year

A report from Peru’s National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) states that last year poverty in Peru was reduced by 3.1% - from 39.3% in 2007 to 36.2% in 2008.

According to INEI, in 2007, poverty dropped by 5.2%, from 44.5% (2006) to 39.3% (2007).

The World Bank reported that progression of poverty reduction figures presented by Peru have a reasonable precision, because in last 4 years the country has kept a method of calculation comparable in time.

These studies were supervised by an Advisory Committee comprised of representatives from government institutions, the academic community, think tanks and international organizations such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and France’s Institute for Research on Development.

Source: Andina News Agency

Young family copes with TB diagnosis

Back in March, Natali’s husband and four-year-old son were diagnosed with TB. Natali also had to undergo tests to see if she had been infected. The test results came back a week ago, and she was over the moon to be given the all-clear. This means she has been able to go back to work and resume her normal routine.

Hugo is now a few weeks into his treatment, which is long and extremely intensive, but apart from expected side effects, he says he is starting to feel stronger and more himself. Luís, Natali’s four-year-old will also be starting treatment in the next few days once the necessary documents come through.

TB is sadly extremely common in Peru, perpetuated by cramped living conditions and poor diets. But with the right treatment and a good diet the disease is curable in the vast majority of cases.

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to take a car load of donations up to Natali and her family, with the help of staff from CEDRO, a local NGO. The items included vitamins for the whole family, kindly donated by Judith and Hernán Balcázar and staff at Wall Luxury Essentials, tins of fish, rice, lentils, beans and other pulses from CEDRO and milk, tuna and other tins from Blanca de Romero from Bianco de Mare textiles factory. I also included some clothes and toys that had been donated to The Colour of Hope.

Thank you to all those who are supporting Natali and Hugo’s young family, especially their sponsors Jess and Rosa Batten-Stevens, Judith and Hernán Balcázar and all the representatives of Wall Luxury Essentials, Monica Ochoa from CEDRO, and Blanca de Romero and all her staff at Bianco de Mare textiles factory.

Keiko Fujimori would take 25% of the vote in the 2011 election

Keiko Fujimori is the most popular presidential candidate in Peru, according to a poll by Ipsos, Apoyo, Opinión y Mercado published in El Comercio. 25% of respondents would vote for the daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori in the 2011 election, up eight points since August:

The recent conviction and sentencing of Keiko's 70-year-old father, Alberto Fujimori, for 1990s death squad killings and forced disappearances have thrust Keiko into the spotlight.

"I think this very harsh verdict will be a boomerang," said Keiko. "If they thought they would defeat Fujimorism with this, they're all wrong." Immediately after the verdict, she called it "vengeful" and predicted public outrage would propel her to Peru's presidency. If elected, she has said she would pardon her father.

Keiko said she has collected the signatures of 700,000 people who back her father and has set a goal of obtaining 1 million. She told reporters that she plans "a great crusade to clear the name of Alberto Fujimori. We want to go to the most remote villages, above all those that suffered the scourge of terrorism and let it be known how unjust this verdict is."

Although she is the most popular presidential candidate for the 2011 election, many analysts say her appeal is limited. Investigative journalist, Gustavo Gorriti, who was abducted in 1992 for criticizing Fujimori's shuttering of the opposition-led Congress and courts, stated that Keiko's candidacy is "essentially single-issue: Fujimori's freedom."

Watch this short clip of Keiko and Fujimori propaganda, just a taster of the huge red writing scrawled on every spare wall-space along the Southern Panamerican Highway:

Source: Ipsos, Apoyo, Opinión y Mercado / El Comercio
Methodology: Interviews with 1,000 Peruvian adults, conducted from Apr. 15 to Apr. 17, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

Text courtesy of Angus Reid Global Monitor and The Associated Press