Human Rights Colloquium

Well, most of my early days here so far have been spent partly in recovering from the travel and getting some basic things squared away.  However, on Thursday evening last, I attended a colloquium on human rights and the right to protest at the nearby Hotel Meliá. 

The colloquium was hosted by the Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (Association For Human Rights, APRODEH), which has been one of the leading defenders of human rights in Peru for many years, including right through the internal war years of the 1980s and 1990s. The colloquium featured a panel of speakers from human and civil rights organizations from Peru, Mexico, and Colombia.

The similarity of the challenges faced by critics of governments across the continent in trying to exercise their right to social protest was striking; as was the similarity with the challenges faced by critics in the USA.

Across the continent, members of civil society wishing to exercise their right to public protest -a right enshrined in international law and in the constitution and legislation of every nation- face an ever increasing set of obstacles.  On one end, there has been a trend toward requiring previous notice of the intent to protest, the requirement that time, place, and manner of protest be pre-approved by the government, and holding organizers responsible for the actions of any and every individual who attends.  On the other end, there is the tendency to view critics and protesters as an "internal enemy" of the state, and thus to use heavy-handed responses to protests.  Particularly after 2001 there has also been a trend toward applying anti-terrorism legislation to social protest situations, thus turning many activities that are part and parcel of street protests, and which had not previously been considered illegal in and of themselves or aren't illegal outside the context of a protest, into criminal offenses meriting prison terms.

 Needless to say, it was an interesting event, with much to reflect on.

Craft Beer Stand at the Lima Book Fair

I had a hard time at the book fair, I must say.

The fair is set up under a tent erected over the central part of park, covering a fountain and a number of steps.  The floor is thus of plywood sheets over a frame, and covered with carpeting, all of which makes in a bit uneven in many spots.  With my aching and sensitive knee, it made walking difficult, and even a bit perilous.   It was also very hot under the tent, and my off-gait was causing me to expend extra effort as it was.

Fortunately, there is a craft beer stand in the food court, set up and run by a small distributor representing four small breweries - three from Lima and one from Cusco.

I chose two beers to try.

First, I opted for the Ayrampo Roja from the Sacred Valley Brewery, whose beers I had never tried before.

The Ayrampo Roja (6% ABV, 35 IBU) is a red beer (hence the roja) coloured with caramel malt and the fruit of the ayrampo cactus, which is native to the Peruvian Andes and has long been used to color foods in the highlands.  The beer was good, and there was no ayrampo flavour (it can taste a bit like red beets).

Next, I went for one from the Cumbres brewery.  I have tried one other of Cumbres' beers, their Quinoa Kolsch, so I was anxioux to try another of their offerings.

I opted for the Maracumanto (6.2 % ABV).   Maracumanto is a Belgian Pale Ale, fermented with maracuuyá and aguaymanto  fruit.   I half expected it to be sour, owing to the presence of the maracuyá, but it was not sour at all.  It was actually very refreshing, and relatively low in fruit notes in the mouth, even though they came through in the nose.

Needless to say, I then felt quite refreshed!

Lima Book Fair

I hurt my knee last week so I've not done much.    It was just yesterday that I've started to go out to places other than relatives' homes, and my cousin's medical practice.

My big adventure for the day was to get dropped off at the Lima International Book Fair after lunch at Toti and Marina's.

Normally, I hit the book fair a couple of times and can easily spend a couple of hours there on each visit.  This time, however, owing to my knee issues, I zipped through only stopping at a handful of stands, most of which I had already decided on visiting anyway.  In fact, I only delved in depth into two of them --those of the Istituto de Estudios Peruanos and of the Instituto Frances de Estudios Andinos-- and I only bought books at IEP's.

Labor Unions Rally and March

On July 3rd Peru's largest labor confederation, the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP)  called for rallies and marches to push for an increase in wages, salaries, and pensions, and to show support for the communities of the Tambo Valley in southern Peru who have been resisting the attempts by the government and Southern Copper Corporation and Newmont Mining expand the Tia Maria copper mine.

A large part of the rural communities of the Tambo Valley residents fear the mine expansion will be detrimental to their health and to the local economy, polluting water supplies and damaging pastures.  They charge that the environmental impact assessment was haphazard and that the government rushed through its approval process with minimal review.

After protests turned ugly following a number of documented abuses committed by on-duty police as well as off-duty police hired by the company to quell protests, the government sent in troops and imposed a state of emergency on several southern provinces, limiting freedom of assembly and placing some communities under night-time curfews.

On July 9th several thousand people gathered in Lima's Plaza Dos de Mayo, a traditional spot for such events, in front of the CGTP offices.

Pachamanca in Pachacutec

Today we headed out in caravan to Pachacutec, at the northern end of the Lima metropolitan area (actually we were closer to Ancon than to San Felipe), for a pachamanca hosted by Diego and his fiancee at their new place.

A pachamanca is a an Andean method of cooking food in the ground, and is also the type of meal that is cooked that way.  The specifics vary from region to region, as does the seasoning, but generally it includes a variety of meats --beef, lamb, chicken, pork, guinea pig, etc.-- potatoes and sweet potatoes.  In some places they also put in fresh fava beans, in others bananas are included.  In Ayacucho it is customary to top it all with a small pot of cheese before covering the pachamanca with earth.

Diego's delicious pachamanca included all the requisite elements --pork, lamb, chicken, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and bananas.  He and his inlaws stayed up late last night seasoning and preparing the meat, and got up early today to make the charcoal they would need to cook the food.  Their efforts were well worth it and definitely appreciated!

 

One the Eve of New Year's Eve in Lima

There are pretty much only two days when Lima --yes, pretty much  the entire city-- comes almost to a standstill: Christmas Day and New Year's Day. I mean, not even on Sundays does the place get as quiet and still as it does on those two days.

In between them, however, are a few days of frenzied activity for vendors who have a short window of time in which to get sell their New Year's themed merchandise in preparation for the big night.

 There are a number of traditions associated with New Year's Eve.  For example, some people eat twelve grapes or olives at the stroke of midnight.   Others walk around the block with an empty suitcase in hopes of traveling in the coming year.  Others, taking note that the word for a square block - manzana- is the same as that for apple, take things a bit tongue-in-cheek and stay indoors and just walk their suitcase around an apple.

Yellow, or more accurately, gold, is the color associated with New Year's Eve.  That means that, overnight after Christmas the street stalls and small shops, put away the multicolored swag and lights of Christmas, and everything turns yellow: yellow streamers, yellow table cloths and napkins, flowers, decorations, etc.

One of the things that most stands out is the astonishing amount of yellow underwear that appears as if by magic, as it is fortuitous to greet the New Year wearing new yellow underwear that has been received as a gift.

Where have all those yellow undies been during the rest of the year?  I don't know, but given the sheer amount of it, it seems impossible that it could all be sold in the course of the one week between the two holidays.

New Year's Eve in Lima

I had a very Peruvian stocking this Christmas ...

Merry Christmas!

Back in Ayacucho

 

I'm in Ayacucho, having arrived yesterday for a two-evening colloquium on "Class, Gender, and Building of Peace in Peru".

I'm staying at the rather pleasant ViaVia Hotel, right the main square.

The hotel is located in Colonial  mansion that has been fixed up with funds from Belgium and is run by the ViaVia traveller's cafe and hotel chain  - they even have Belgian beers on sale in the restaurant.

Normally, I'd stay at the family home on Garcilazo de la Vega street, two block from here, but it's never that comfortable -despite being free- so I opted for the hotel and hot showers on demand.

Not much sooner than I had arrived than the power went out and remained out through lunchtime and on into the late evening.

That meant that I missed all of the Argentina-Holland soccer game in the World Cup except for the addiional time added on because they were tied at the end of egulation time.

The game went to penalty kicks, which I had to miss as otherwise I'd have been late to the colloquium. Fortunately, like sio many others, I could keep up with the progress at any shop doorway and window!

The Changing of the Guard at the Presidential Palace

On Thursday, Liz and I headed downtown for a bit before lunch just to look around and get out a bit.  As luck would have it, we arrived just as the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Presidential Palace was getting started.

The guard regiment at the palace are the Dragoons of the "Marshall Domingo Nieto" Cavalry Regiment.   Every midday, Monday through Saturday, some 40 Dragoons, accompanied by the regimental band, take part in the ceremony which was established by President Manuel Prado in 1940.

This was only my second time witnessing the ceremony up close, and the first time I was a little kid, so it was pretty cool.  (I might go back with a video recorder!)

 

 

 

Lima Book Fair

On the Saturday after my birthday party and just before I returned to the US, I made it to the Lima Book Fair, which this year was in its 18th installment.

When Jacho and I arrived there was a big line to get in.  We were impressed that so many people, specially young people, were so eager to get in, particularly given that it was only the second day of the fair and there was yet another fortnight in which to visit it.  It turned out, however, that there was talk being given by Peruvian rock singer Pedro Suarez Vertiz at the presentation of his book, Yo, Pedro, which occasioned the long lines outside and, again, inside the tent!

Unlike other times, when I would scour the fair from end to end, and return on multiple occasions, this time around -due to matters of space and luggage weight- I went only the one time and targeted my shopping toward a few key stands and a predetermined wish-list of books I had been holding off on buying until the fair. 

Among them:

• Memorias de un soldado desconocido by Lurgio Gavilan
• Historia de la corrupcion en el Peru by Alfonzo Quiroz
• Los Quipucamayos by Frank Salomon

I was also pleased to be able to pick up a copy of Sombras del Imperio: La nobleza indigena del Cuzco, 1750-1825, a translation of Shadows of Empire: The Indian Nobility of Cusco, 1750-1825, a book by Reed College professor David T. Garrett, whom I had heard speak on the subject at a talk at the Alianza Francesa a few weeks earlier.

Birthday party

We had a birthday get-together for me the other night on Willy's terrace.  Willy and I went shopping that morning in the Jesus Maria market for meats and other items.  We supplemented those with some cheeses that I had brought from the US for the occasion.

Most of the cousins and aunts and uncles were able to attend, and we had a really nice time.

I tried to take pictures, but mostly the lighting was poor so only a few turned out, and those were of things that happened to be essentially immobile at the that instant!