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Peru’s Oil Industry Is Engulfed In Crisis


Editor OilPrice.com
Thu, November 26, 2020

A combination of sharply weaker oil prices, inconsistent regulation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and constant conflict in the Amazon where most of Peru’s onshore oil industry is located has triggered a crisis that has brought the industry to the brink of collapse. This was recently recognized by Peru’s National Society of Mining, Oil, and Energy (SNMPE – Spanish initials) which released a media statement (Spanish) asking the central government to implement measures to reverse the crisis. Lima has long downplayed Peru’s considerable oil potential in preference to advancing the Andean country’s mining industry and exploiting its vast mineral wealth. That saw Peru become the world’s second-largest copper producer and the red metal, which is a vital ingredient in a range of industrial applications, become the country’s top export. The severe economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the IMF predicting that Peru’s economy will shrink by a worrying 14%, sees Lima looking to bolster the economy and GDP growth by any means possible.

This has sparked a renewed focus on ramping-up activity in Peru’s oil industry. In October 2020 Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines announced it was (Spanish) preparing a series of regulatory proposals aimed at providing greater clarity for the exploration and exploitation of the country’s hydrocarbon resources. While this is designed to attract greater investment and boost activity in Peru’s petroleum industry, it appears to be singularly insufficient to achieve that, particularly considering the latest media release from the SNMPE. A key issue facing Peru’s nascent petroleum industry is the Andean country’s limited proven oil reserves. At the end of 2018, the last time they were officially measured, the Ministry of Energy and Mines determined (Spanish) Peru only had 344.5 million barrels of proven oil reserves and proven possible and probable (3P) reserves of 660.4 million barrels, some of the lowest of any oil-producing nation in Latin America. The Andean country, however, is believed to possess considerable hydrocarbon potential with Peru assessed to have prospective and contingent petroleum resources of almost 24 billion barrels. Most of that oil potential is contained in the Marañon Basin which is part of the Putumayo-Oriente-Marañon Basin complex that stretches through the Amazon from southeastern Colombia to northeastern Peru. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the Putumayo-Oriente-Marañon Basin holds mean undiscovered hydrocarbon resources of 3.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent including just over 3 billion barrels of crude oil. This underscores the tremendous oil potential of the Marañon Basin, which if correctly exploited will give Peru’s economy a solid boost, particularly if oil keeps rallying higher.

Marañon Basin and Oil Producing Areas

Maranon  Source: Petroperu.

Most of Peru’s discovered oil reserves and undiscovered hydrocarbon resources along with the core of its operational petroleum industry and related infrastructure are in the country’s Amazon region. It is this which has been the cause of a key source of conflict for Peru’s hydrocarbon sector. Allegations of mismanagement, corruption, and environmental damage along with a lack of social license and a shortfall of resources in the region are key drivers of the persistent conflict impacting Peru’s petroleum industry. Many of those issues have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic which highlighted the deep divisions between Peru’s rich and poor as well as the latter’s lack of access to basic resources. This includes a lack of access to essential amenities including electricity, running water, and basic medical treatment. This is despite the substantial government revenue generated by the region which is responsible for most of Peru’s oil production. The sharp impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on indigenous communities caused tensions to boil-over in early August 2020 triggering violent protests in Peru’s Amazon leading to attacks on energy infrastructure and oil fields. That forced upstream oil producer PetroTal to shutter its Bretaña oilfield. Protestors also seized control of a Petroperu pump station, impacting pipeline operations.

Community blockades and protests are common events in Peru’s Amazon, which is one of the country’s most impoverished regions despite its considerable oil wealth. Canadian oil junior Frontera Energy was forced to declare force majeure in March 2020 regarding its operations at Block 192 located in the Amazon Basin on Peru’s border with Ecuador. This along with ongoing community opposition to the oil industry in the region coupled with lengthy pipeline outages is a primary reason for Frontera choosing to reconsider making investments in Peru. PetroTal earlier this month announced it had curtailed oil production to 5,000 barrels daily, or around half of its normal oil output, so as to preserve oil inventories in light of ongoing social unrest and threats of disruption to operations at its Bretaña field. This is despite a September 2020 agreement between the government and local communities for increased funding and access to basic resources. But cutting production to conserve oil inventories indicates that PetroTal’s management is not confident that the agreement between local communities and the government will allay social unrest and prevent further protests. The Petroperu owned and operated Oleoducto Nor Peruano (ONP), which originates in Peru’s Loreto department is in the Amazon Basin, is the only economic means of transporting the crude oil produced in the Marañon Basin to the Bayóvar terminal on Peru's Pacific Coast. The ONP has a long history of outages and oil spills. These have caused considerable environmental damage, polluted waterways contaminated drinking water, and sharply impacted local communities. That is another source of ongoing community enmity toward Lima and Peru’s petroleum industry. Those incidents only serve to further undermine any attempts to broaden the social license for oil companies to operate in the region.

Ongoing conflict, social unrest, and sharply weaker oil prices have caused investment in Peru’s oil industry to plummet, falling to $200 million for the first eight months of 2020, which is half of what it was for the same period a year earlier. The SNMPE claims that exploration activity has ground to a halt and no new oil wells have been drilled over the last five months. This the executive director of the society, Pablo de la Flor, claims indicates that Peru’s oil industry in crisis and close to collapse.

Drill rig and oil production data supports this assertion. The latest Baker Hughes rig count does not show any operational drilling rigs in October 2020, or for the four preceding months, compared to four operational rigs for the same month in 2019. Oil production for October 2020 (Spanish) averaged a mere 37,800 barrels daily, which was almost 33% lower than a year earlier. October natural gas output of 1.254 million cubic feet daily and total hydrocarbon liquids production of 122,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily were 12% lower than for the same period in 2019. Those numbers underscore the fact that Peru’s hydrocarbon sector is facing a crisis.

Until the many headwinds including a lack of social license and ongoing civil conflict are resolved, Peru’s oil industry will remain under considerable pressure, impacting production and fiscal revenue. It will also weigh upon urgently needed investment by foreign energy companies to expand exploration and boost Peru’s limited oil reserves. It is important that the SNMPE’s plea to Peru’s central government and local communities in the Amazon doesn’t fall on deaf ears and Lima enacts appropriate policies to deal with the deep-seated issues which are impacting the country’s petroleum operations.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com

Peru protesters tear-gassed after president calls for truce


















1 / 17
Anti-government protesters clash with police in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Protesters are seeking the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the release from prison of ousted President Pedro Castillo, immediate elections and justice for demonstrators killed in clashes with police.

 (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

DANIEL POLITI
Tue, January 24, 2023 

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Peru's capital and were met with volleys of tear gas and pellets amid clashes with security forces just hours after President Dina Boluarte called for a “truce” in almost two months of protests.

The antigovernment protest Tuesday was the largest – and most violent — since last Thursday, when large groups of people, many from remote Andean regions, descended on the capital to demand Boluarte’s resignation, immediate elections and the dissolution of Congress.

“We can’t have a truce when she doesn’t’ tell the truth,” Blanca España Mesa, 48, said of Peru's president. Even though her eyes were watering from the tear gas, España Mesa said she was “happy because a lot of people came today. It’s as if people have woken up.”

Before last week, most of the large antigovernment protests that followed the ouster of President Pedro Castillo took place in remote regions of Peru, largely in the country’s south, exposing deep division between residents of the capital and the long-neglected countryside.

The crisis that has sparked Peru’s worst political violence in more than two decades began when Castillo, Peru’s first leader from a rural Andean background, tried to short-circuit the third impeachment proceeding of his young administration by ordering Congress dissolved on Dec. 7. Lawmakers impeached him instead, the national police arrested him before he could find sanctuary and Boluarte, who was his vice president, was sworn in.

Since then, 56 people have died amid the unrest involving Castillo's supporters, 45 of whom died in direct clashes with security forces, according to Peru’s ombudsman. None of the deaths have been in Lima.

On Tuesday, police fired round after round of tear gas as they blocked the passage of protesters, who seemed more organized than before. The smell of tear gas permeated the air and could be felt even a block away as people leaving work suddenly had to cover their faces to try to diminish the sting.

“Murderers,” yelled the protesters, some of whom threw rocks at the police.

Even after most of the protesters had left, police continued firing tear gas to disperse small groups of people in a plaza in front of the country’s Supreme Court.

“I have a right to protest in this country,” Emiliano Merino, 60, said as he was being treated by volunteer paramedics after pellets grazed each of his arms.

Boluarte had earlier called for a truce and blamed protesters for the political violence that has engulfed the country, claiming in a news conference that illegal miners, drug traffickers and smugglers formed a “paramilitary force” to seek chaos for political gain. She said numerous road blockades across the country and damage to infrastructure have cost the country more than $1 billion in lost production.

She suggested that the protesters who died with bullet wounds were shot by other demonstrators, claiming investigations will show their injuries are incompatible with the weapons officers carry. And meanwhile, some 90 police officers are hospitalized with bruises, she said: “What about their human rights?” the president asked.

The government has not presented evidence that any of the injured officers were struck by gunfire.

Human rights advocates say they are dismayed by the lack of international outcry from the regional and global community and are calling for condemnation of the state violence unleashed since Castillo’s impeachment.

Jennie Dador, executive secretary of Peru’s National Human Rights Coordinator, said the lack of international response makes it feel like “we’re alone.”

“None of the states in the region have done anything concrete,” she said.

Boluarte was notably absent from a meeting of regional leaders Tuesday in Argentina’s capital, where most avoided mention of the civilian deaths in Peru.

Human rights activists have acknowledged acts of violence by some protesters — including efforts to take over airports and burn police stations — but say the demonstrations have largely been peaceful.

Some of the leaders at the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States did blame Peru’s government for the violence.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric said there’s “an urgent need for a change in Peru because the result of the path of violence and repression is unacceptable.” Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a staunch supporter of Castillo, demanded an “end to the repression.”

During the summit’s closing ceremony, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández called for an end to “street violence and institutional violence that has taken the lives of so many people” in Peru.

“The international community has expressed concern, but really I think it could be more forceful,” said César Muñoz, associate director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch.

After some feverish closed-door negotiations in Buenos Aires in the afternoon, the situation in Peru was left out of the summit’s closing documents. “Peru is a prickly issue,” but pressure from some leaders had led to last-minute negotiations, said an official in Argentina’s Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to discuss policy.

“Peru has managed to fly under the radar,” said Marina Navarro, executive director of Amnesty International Peru. “Given the gravity of the situation, with this number of people who have died, we don’t see as much said about it as there could be.”

___

Associated Press writers Franklin Briceño in Lima and Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

Rights groups dismayed at lack of criticism for Peru abuses



1 / 17

APTOPIX Peru Unrest Police fire tear gas at anti-government protesters in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Protesters are seeking the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the release from prison of ousted President Pedro Castillo, immediate elections and justice for demonstrators killed in clashes with police. 

(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

DANIEL POLITI
Tue, January 24, 2023 at 9:30 AM MST


LIMA, Peru (AP) — More than 50 people have died in ongoing street protests in the weeks since Peru's elected leader was jailed, mostly demonstrators at the hands of police officers, but only a few international voices of concern have emerged.

The relative silence of much of the regional and global community has dismayed human rights advocates, who are calling for condemnation of the state violence unleashed since Pedro Castillo was impeached and imprisoned for trying to dissolve Congress.

Tuesday was another day of fury in Peru's capital as thousands of protesters took to downtown Lima and were almost immediately met with volleys of tears gas amid clashes with security forces that often blocked their passage. It was the largest antigovernment protest since Thursday, when large groups of people, many from remote Andean regions, descended on the capital to demand Boluarte’s resignation, immediate elections and the dissolution of Congress.

Previously, most of the large antigovernment protests were in remote regions of Peru, exposing deep divisions between residents of the capital and the long-neglected countryside.

On Tuesday, police often fired round after round of tear gas as the protesters seemed more organized than before and small groups of people tossed canisters back at police although that was not enough to stop their advance. The smell of tear gas permeated the air.

Jennie Dador, executive secretary of Peru’s National Human Rights Coordinator, said the lack of international response makes it feel like “we're alone.”

“None of the states in the region have done anything concrete,” she said.

Peru's new President Dina Boluarte was notably absent from a meeting of regional leaders Tuesday in Argentina's capital, where most avoided mention of the civilian deaths in Peru.

In a defiant news conference on Tuesday, Boluarte called for a “national truce.” She blamed protesters for the political violence that has engulfed the country, claiming illegal miners, drug traffickers and smugglers formed a “paramilitary force” to seek chaos for political gain. She said numerous road blockades across the country and damage to infrastructure have cost the country more than $1 billion in lost production.

She suggested that the protesters who died with bullet wounds were shot by other demonstrators, claiming investigations will show their injuries are incompatible with the weapons officers carry. And meanwhile, some 90 police officers are hospitalized with bruises, she said: “What about their human rights?” the president asked.

The government has not presented evidence that any of the injured officers were struck by gunfire.

Human rights activists have acknowledged acts of violence by some protesters — including efforts to take over airports and burn police stations — but say the demonstrations have largely been peaceful.

Some of the leaders at the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States did blame Peru's government for the violence.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric said there's “an urgent need for a change in Peru because the result of the path of violence and repression is unacceptable.” Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a staunch supporter of Castillo, demanded an “end to the repression.”

During the summit's closing ceremony, Argentina's President Alberto Fernández said his country “is also worried about what is happening in Peru” and called for and end to “street violence and institutional violence that has taken the lives of so many people.”

Activists say this attention is far less than what they would expect considering 56 people have died since Castillo's vice-president was sworn in to replace him on Dec. 7. Forty-five died in direct clashes with security forces, according to Peru’s ombudsman.

“The international community has expressed concern, but really I think it could be more forceful,” said César Muñoz, associate director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch. Regional leaders could emphasize “that the rule of law means there must be independent investigations of all the deaths.”

The crisis that has sparked Peru's worst political violence in more than two decades began when Castillo, Peru’s first leader from a rural Andean background, tried to short-circuit the third impeachment proceeding of his young administration by ordering Congress dissolved. Lawmakers impeached him instead, and the national police arrested him before he could find sanctuary.

After some feverish closed-door negotiations in Buenos Aires in the afternoon, the current situation in Peru was left out of the summit’s closing documents. “Peru is a prickly issue,” but pressure from some leaders has led to last-minute negotiations, said an official in Argentina’s Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to discuss policy.

“Peru has managed to fly under the radar,” said Marina Navarro, executive director of Amnesty International Peru. “Given the gravity of the situation, with this number of people who have died, we don’t see as much said about it as there could be.”

Boluarte said Tuesday that Castillo had only himself to blame for trying to avoid the numerous corruption investigations he was facing, and suggested that he was trying "to make himself into a victim of a coup when he was the perpetrator of his own coup.”

Questions about Boluarte's sudden rise to power should not impede criticism over police abuses, human rights organizations say.

“There must be international pressure for this government to cease all types of repressive attitudes and that has nothing to do with emitting an opinion about the government’s legitimacy,” said Manuel Tufró, who leads the justice and security division at the Center for Legal and Social Studies, an Argentine human rights organization.

Boluarte’s government has made clear it won’t take any criticism lightly. After law enforcement raided a university in Lima where some of the protesters were taking shelter on Saturday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro tweeted that the Organization of American States must “examine Peru’s case.”

Prime Minister Alberto Otarola fired back, telling Petro to “worry about your own affairs.” Peru’s Foreign Ministry issued formal notes of protest against Petro and Bolivian President Luis Arce, who expressed support for the protests.

The European Union made one of the strongest statements, saying Monday that it “deplores the very large number of casualties since the start of the protests” and reiterates “its condemnation of the widespread acts of violence as well as the disproportionate use of force by security forces.”

The U.S. ambassador in Lima, Lisa Kenna, also surprised many observers earlier this month when she said it is “fundamental for law enforcement to respect human rights, the right to protest and protect the citizenry.”

Some analysts said the tepid regional response points to how Peru has lost prominence due to its political crises, with six presidents over the past six years.

“Peru as a country has lost presence,” said Oscar Vidarte, an international relations professor at the Catholic University of Peru. “It’s a chaotic country, a country that has become ungovernable, questioned in terms of democracy and respect for human life."

"Countries in the region have clearly turned their backs,” Vidarte said.

___

Associated Press writer Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

RIGHT WING CONGRESS

Protesters take to the streets in Lima after Peruvian president’s impeachment


Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Peru's capital Lima on Wednesday after Congress approved the impeachment of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, who has been detained at the Lima Prefecture headquarters.


Demonstrators in Peru (Archive) - CARLOS GARCIA GRANTHON / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOT© Provided by News 360

With a strong police presence, dozens of demonstrators have gathered in front of the Congress on Abancay Avenue with Peruvian flags, banners and horns to celebrate the dismissal of Castillo in a march that was announced on Tuesday under the name "Toma de Lima" (Take over Lima).

Related video: Peru's President Impeached by Congress After He Announces Rule by Decree (Wibbitz - News)  Duration 1:30   View on Watch

Peru Congress vote to oust President Castillo after shut-down threatMetro



Peru's president faces third impeachment attempt

Before Congress approved a motion of censure against him with 101 votes in favor, Castillo announced his dissolution, as well as the formation of a government of exception and a curfew from 10 p.m. (local time) until 4 a.m. to avoid altercations.

The Spanish Embassy in Peru has recommended Spanish citizens to avoid going near the areas where rallies are taking place in Peru and to limit travel "to the minimum necessary".

Latin American governments express concern over the political situation in Peru

Different Latin American governments have expressed their concern on Wednesday about the serious political crisis in Peru after the Congress dismissed President Pedro Castillo, who has been detained at the Lima Prefecture headquarters.


Archive - Pedro Castillo, Peru's ousted president - PRESIDENCIA DE PERÚ© Provided by News 360

"Argentina regrets and expresses its deep concern over the political crisis that the sister Republic of Peru is going through, and calls on all political and social actors to safeguard democratic institutions, the rule of law and constitutional order," the Argentine Foreign Ministry said in a message on its Twitter profile.

Related video: Peruvian President to reshuffle cabinet following resignation of PM (WION)
Duration 2:39
View on Watch

In the same line, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry has expressed itself, which has also made an appeal on the aforementioned social network to political actors to maintain "the rule of law and democracy".

For its part, the Brazilian government has issued a statement in which it assures that it follows "with concern" the situation in the country and in which it stresses that the measures adopted by Castillo are "incompatible with the constitutional framework", and therefore represent "a violation of the validity of democracy and the rule of law".

The Chilean Government has also reacted, which through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sentenced in a communiqué that it trusts that the crisis affecting "a brother country" can be solved "through democratic mechanisms".

The Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, has previously pronounced and announced that the Pacific Alliance summit is suspended. "Mexico regrets the latest events in Peru," he said.

Mexico is willing to grant asylum to Pedro Castillo

Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Wednesday that his country is willing to grant asylum to the hitherto president of Peru, Pedro Castillo.


Archive - Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador - Marco González/NOTIMEX/dpa© Provided by News 360

"If Pedro Castillo asks for asylum in Mexico, we will give it to him, but he has not requested it," Ebrard explained in an interview for the program Atando Cabos of the radio station Radio Fórmula.

The head of Mexican diplomacy in 2019 offered political asylum to former Bolivian President Evo Morales. The former Bolivian president had formally presented the request to the Mexican government days before after allegations of electoral fraud. Two days after his departure from the country, Jeanine Áñez proclaimed herself president.

Ebrard, moreover, has shown himself to be "very concerned". "I am very attentive to the situation. The president (of Mexico, Andrés Manuel) López Obrador has asked me to inform him at all times," he said in statements to the aforementioned radio station.

After learning of Castillo's dismissal, the Mexican Foreign Ministry announced that the Pacific Alliance Summit, which was scheduled for next Wednesday in the Peruvian capital, has been postponed.

Dina Boluarte sworn in as Peru’s new president, the first in the country’s history

Dina Boluarte was sworn in on Wednesday as the new president of Peru, thus becoming the first in the country's history, since as vice-president, as required by the Constitution, she had to take office following the dismissal of Pedro Castillo by Congress.


The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte. - 

"I swear by God, by the homeland and by all Peruvians that I will faithfully exercise the office of President of the Republic, which I assume in accordance with the Constitution, from this moment until July 26, 2026", she said after receiving the presidential sash from the hands of the President of Congress, José Williams Zapata.

"I will defend national sovereignty, the physical and moral integrity of the republic and the independence of democratic institutions. I will comply with the Constitution and the laws of Peru, recognizing the freedom of worship and the moral formation of Peruvians", said Boluarte with his hand on the Bible.

"This difficult conjuncture puts all of us citizens on trial. Before being a politician, I am a citizen and a Peruvian mother who is fully aware of the responsibility that history places on my shoulders," she said later in her first speech as president of Peru.

"There has been an attempted coup d'état, an imprint promoted by Mr. Pedro Castillo, which has not found an echo in the institutions of democracy and the street. This Congress, in accordance with the constitutional mandate, has made a decision and it is my duty to act accordingly", she stressed.

In her first speech before Congress as president, Boluarte called for "the unity of all Peruvians", earning applause from the floor. "It is up to us to talk, to dialogue, to reach an agreement, something so simple, but so impracticable in recent months," she lamented.

"I call for a broad process of dialogue among all the political forces represented or not in Congress", said Boluarte, who asked for a "political truce to install a government of national unity" and "the support of the Public Prosecutor's Office to enter into the structures corrupted by the mafias".

Although during the last months Boluarte said that in case Castillo was dismissed by the Congress, she would go with him, the last actions of the already ex-president have made her change her mind and from the first moment she has been categorically against what she has defined as "a coup d'état".

Boluarte had combined her position as Vice President of Peru with that of Minister of Social Development until November of this year when Betssy Chávez was elected as the new Prime Minister.

Now she will have to deal with a Congress in which she does not have a bench and hardly any parliamentary allies to support her, after she recently left Peru Libre, and which for two decades has shown itself to be an ungovernable and hostile space towards all presidents.

Peru's president ousted by Congress in political crisis

Yesterday 

LIMA, Peru (AP) — The president of Peru was ousted by Congress and arrested on a charge of rebellion Wednesday after he sought to dissolve the legislative body and take unilateral control of the government, triggering a grave constitutional crisis.


Peru's president ousted by Congress in political crisis© Provided by The Canadian Press

Vice President Dina Boluarte replaced Pedro Castillo and became the first female leader in the history of the republic after hours of wrangling between the legislature and the president, who had tried to prevent an impeachment vote.

Boluarte, a 60--year-old lawyer, called for a political truce and the installation of a national unity government.

“What I ask for is a space, a time to rescue the country,” she said.

Lawmakers voted 101-6 with 10 abstentions to remove Castillo from office for reasons of “permanent moral incapacity.”

He left the presidential palace in an automobile that carried him through Lima’s historic downtown. He entered a police station and hours later federal prosecutors announced that Castillo had been arrested on the rebellion charge for allegedly violating constitutional order. Witnesses saw some small-scale clashing between police and some protesters who had gathered near the station.

“We condemn the violation of constitutional order,” federal prosecutors said in a statement. “Peru's political constitution enshrines the separation of powers and establishes that Peru is a democratic and sovereign Republic ... No authority can put itself above the Constitution and must comply with constitutional mandates.”

Fluent in Spanish and Quechua, Boluarte was elected as vice president on the presidential ticket that brought Castillo to power July 28, 2021. During Castillo’s brief administration, Boluarte was minister of development and social inclusion.

Shortly before the impeachment vote, Castillo announced that he was installing a new emergency government and would rule by decree. He ordered a nightly curfew starting Wednesday night. The head of Peru's army then resigned, along with four ministers, including those over foreign affairs and the economy.

The Ombudsman's Office, an autonomous government institution, said before the congressional vote that Castillo should turn himself in to judicial authorities

After years of democracy, Peru is in the midst of a constitutional collapse “that can't be called anything but a coup,” the statement said.

International reaction was at times outpaced by events.

United States Amb. Lisa Kenna called on Castillo via Twitter to reverse his decree to dissolve Congress, saying the U.S. government rejected any “extra-constitutional” actions by the president to interfere with Congress.

A short time later the Congress voted to remove Castillo.

Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said via Twitter that given recent events in Peru, Mexico had decided to postpone the Pacific Alliance summit scheduled for Dec. 14 in Lima. He said he regretted the recent developments and called for democracy and human rights to be respected.

The administration of Chilean President Gabriel Boric lamented the political situation in Peru and trusted that the crisis would be resolved through democratic mechanisms. Spain's government strongly condemned the break in constitutional order and congratulated the country on righting itself democratically.

Castillo had said in an unusual midnight address on state television ahead of the vote that he would never stain “the good name of my honest and exemplary parents, who like millions of Peruvians, work every day to build honestly a future for their families.”

The peasant-turned-president said he’s paying for mistakes made due to inexperience. But he said a certain sector of Congress “has as its only agenda item removing me from office because they never accepted the results of an election that you, my dear Peruvians, determined with your votes.”

Castillo has denied allegations of corruption against him, saying they’re based on “hearsay statements by people who, seeking to lighten their own punishments for supposed crimes by abusing my confidence, are trying to involve me without evidence.”

Federal prosecutors are investigating six cases against Castillo, most of them for alleged corruption, under the theory that he had used his power to profit from public works.

The power struggle in Perú’s capital has continued as the Andes and its thousands of small farms struggle to survive the worst drought in a half-century. Without rain, farmers can’t plant potatoes, and the dying grass can no longer sustain herds of sheep, alpacas, vicuñas and llamas. Making matters worse, avian flu has killed at least 18,000 sea birds and infected at least one poultry producer, endangering the chicken and turkeys raised for traditional holiday meals.

The government also confirmed that in the past week, the country has suffered a fifth wave of COVID-19 infections. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 4.3 million Peruvians have been infected, and 217,000 of them have died.

The first president to come from a poor farming community in the nation’s history, Castillo arrived in the presidential palace last year without any political experience. He changed his cabinet five times during his year and a half in office, running through 60 different cabinet officials, leaving various government agencies paralyzed.

Although Castillo is the first president to be investigated while still in office, the probes are no surprise in a country where nearly every former president in the last 40 years have been charged with corruption linked to multinational corporations, such as the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.

Since 2016, Perú has been entrenched in political crises, with congresses and presidents trying to eliminate each other in turn. President Martín Vizcarra (2018-2020) dissolved Congress in 2019 and ordered new elections. That new legislature removed Vizcarra the next year. Then came President Manuel Merino, who lasted less than a week before a crackdown killed two protesters and injured 200 more. His successor, Francisco Sagasti, lasted nine months before Castillo took over.

Franklin Briceño, The Associated Press

Scientists assert 'alien mummies' in Peru are really dolls made from Earthly bones

A picture of a study carried out by the Institute of Legal Medicine of Peru on the 'alien mummies' that concluded that they are dolls made with animal bones is displayed in Lima

By Marco Aquino Fri, 

January 12, 2024 

LIMA (Reuters) - A pair of "alien mummies" that mysteriously turned up at the airport in Peru's capital last October have entirely Earthly origins, according to a scientific analysis revealed on Friday.

The two small specimens were described as humanoid dolls by experts at a press conference in Lima, and likely fashioned from both human and animal parts. A separate three-fingered hand believed to be from Peru's Nazca region was also analyzed, with experts ruling out any connection to alien life.

"They're not extraterrestrials. They're dolls made from animal bones from this planet joined together with modern synthetic glue," said Flavio Estrada, an archeologist with Peru's Institute for Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.

"It's totally a made-up story," Estrada added.

The two figurines turned up in the Lima airport offices of courier DHL in a cardboard box, and were made to look like mummified bodies dressed in traditional Andean attire. Some media outlets subsequently speculated about possible alien origin.

Last September, two tiny mummified bodies with elongated heads and hands with three fingers were featured at a Mexican congressional hearing, generating widespread media coverage. Mexican journalist and UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan claimed those bodies were about 1,000 years old and recovered from Peru in 2017, but not related to any known species.

Most experts later dismissed them as a fraud, possibly mutilated ancient human mummies combined with animal parts, but certainly from Earth.

At the Lima press conference on Friday, which was organized by Peru's culture ministry, experts did not say that the dolls found in the DHL office were related to the bodies presented in Mexico, and they stressed that the remains in Mexico are also not extraterrestrial.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Will Dunham)

Peruvian researchers rule out aliens as the creators of 2 mysterious dolls
Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert,Associated Press
Fri, January 12, 2024 


Forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada from Peru's prosecutor's office shows a doll, which was seized by authorities before it was shipped to Mexico, during a press conference to explain what it is made of at the Archeology Museum in Lima, Peru.Martin Mejia via AP

Two humanoid dolls seized from a shipment to Mexico have been studied by Peruvian forensic experts.


Rumors circled that the dolls had been created by aliens, but experts found that wasn't the case.


Instead, the mysterious figures were found to have been made of paper, glue, and animal bones.

At least we know they're not aliens, forensic experts in Peru said Friday about two humanoid doll-like figures and an apparent three-fingered hand that was seized by customs authorities in the South American country last year from a shipment heading to Mexico.

After studying the objects, forensic experts with Peru's prosecutor's office said human hands made the objects with paper, glue, metal, and bones from humans and animals.

The findings quash some people's belief that the figures come from an "alien center or come from another planet, all of which is totally false," said forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada, who led the analysis.

"The conclusion is simple: they are dolls assembled with bones of animals from this planet, with modern synthetic glues, therefore they were not assembled during pre-Hispanic times," Estrada told reporters. "They are not extraterrestrials; they are not aliens."

The prosecutor's office has not yet determined who owns the objects. Officials on Friday would only say that a Mexican citizen was the intended recipient of the objects before customs agents seized them in October.

Dolls seized by authorities are displayed during a press conference to explain what they are made of at the Archeology Museum in Lima, Peru.Martin Mejia via AP

The country of Peru has long inspired speculation about alien visits to Earth, with its famous Nazca lines and iconic temples of Macchu Picchu drawing the attention of skeptics who argue extraterrestrials are the only explanation for such tremendous feats of engineering and ancient architectural development.

But the lack of scientific evidence to support those theories doesn't stop them from trying to pass off mysterious discoveries as proof of otherworldly visitors.

Mexican journalist José Jaime Maussan and some Mexican lawmakers became the subject of international ridicule in September when he went before the country's congress to present two boxes with supposed mummies found in Peru.

He and others claimed they were "non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution."

In November, Maussan returned to Mexico's congress with a group of Peruvian doctors and spent more than three hours pressing the case for "non-human beings" that he said were found in Peru, where he made similar claims in 2017. A report by the Peruvian prosecutor's office that year found that alleged alien bodies were "recently manufactured dolls, which have been covered with a mixture of paper and synthetic glue to simulate the presence of skin."

"They are not the remains of ancestral aliens that they have tried to present," the 2017 report stated.

Experts on Friday showed reporters a couple of 2-foot-long dolls dressed in red, orange and green clothes. They said examinations showed the bones of birds, dogs, and other animals were used to create the dolls.

Meanwhile, an alleged three-finger hand was subjected to X-ray examinations. Estrada said the "very poorly" built hand was created with human bones.

They're not aliens. That's the verdict from Peru officials who seized 2 doll-like figures
Associated Press
Updated Fri, January 12, 2024



Forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada from Peru's prosecutor's office shows a doll, which was seized by authorities before it was shipped to Mexico, during a press conference to explain what it is made of at the Archeology Museum in Lima, Peru, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. According to Estrada, two dolls and a three-fingered hand are constructed of paper, glue, metal, human and animal bones.

 (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Aliens they are not. That’s what forensic experts in Peru said Friday about two doll-like figures and an alleged three-fingered hand that customs authorities in the South American country seized last year from a shipment heading to Mexico.

The forensic experts with Peru’s prosecutor’s office said the objects were made with paper, glue, metal and human and animal bones.

The findings quash some people’s belief that the figures come from an “alien center or come from another planet, all of which is totally false,” said forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada, who led the analysis.

“The conclusion is simple: they are dolls assembled with bones of animals from this planet, with modern synthetic glues, therefore they were not assembled during pre-Hispanic times,” Estrada told reporters. "They are not extraterrestrials; they are not aliens.”

The prosecutor’s office has not yet determined who owns the objects. Officials on Friday would only say that a Mexican citizen was the intended recipient of the objects before they were seized by customs agents in October.

Mexican journalist José Jaime Maussan and some Mexican lawmakers became the subject of international ridicule in September when he went before the country's congress to present two boxes with supposed mummies found in Peru.

He along with others claimed they were “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution.”

In November, Maussan returned to Mexico’s congress with a group of Peruvian doctors and spent more than three hours pressing the case for “non-human beings” that he said were found in Peru, where he made similar claims in 2017. A report by the Peruvian prosecutor’s office that year found that alleged alien bodies were actually “recently manufactured dolls, which have been covered with a mixture of paper and synthetic glue to simulate the presence of skin.”

“They are not the remains of ancestral aliens that they have tried to present,” the 2017 report stated.

Experts on Friday showed reporters a couple of 2-foot-long dolls dressed in red, orange and green clothes. They said examinations showed the bones of birds, dogs and other animals were used to create the dolls.

Meanwhile, an alleged three-finger hand was subjected to X-ray examinations. Estrada said the “very poorly” built hand was created with human bones.

Peru’s Oil Industry Is An Environmental Disaster

Editor OilPrice.com

Fri, December 30, 2022 

As an intense political crisis engulfs Peru, the country’s beleaguered oil industry continues to suffer from conflict with local communities. For nearly three decades a swath of environmentally damaging oil spills, pipeline leaks, and other contaminating discharges have wreaked havoc on Peru’s Amazon Basin and coastline. This is driving anti-petroleum industry protests in Peru’s Amazon, many of which have turned violent, over the last decade leaving the industry in crisis. Those demonstrations are responsible for production outages, dwindling energy investment, and foreign energy companies withdrawing from Peru. The social license of Peru’s crisis-torn petroleum industry continues to deteriorate despite efforts by the national government in Lima to gain greater community cooperation and reboot operations. The latest political crisis, where tensions have boiled over into days-long violent anti-government demonstrations, since leftist President Pedro Castillo was arrested after attempting to dissolve congress, will sharply impact the petroleum industry which has long been an environmental disaster.

Oil spills remain a hazard in a country where environmental protection, especially of the Amazon, has not been a significant government priority for decades. Those spills and other environmentally damaging incidents are fueling community anger with Indigenous peoples claiming they are wreaking damage to their ancestral lands. According to a report from (Spanish) Oxfam and Peru’s National Coordinator for Human Rights (CNDDHH – Spanish initials), between 1997 and 2021 there have been 1002 oil spills in Peru with 566 in the Amazon and 404 on the coast. It is the 200,000 barrel-per-day Northern Peruvian Pipeline (ONP – Spanish initials), used to ship oil from the Amazon to the Pacific port city of Bayovar, that is drawing considerable negative attention. The Oxfam report shows that the ONP alone was responsible for 111 oil spills for the 24-year period starting in 1997.

The ONP’s latest oil spill occurred (Spanish) on 16 September 2022, when the pipeline spewed an estimated 2,500 barrels of crude into the Cuninico River a tributary of the Marañon, which is a river that eventually flows into the Amazon River. The crucial industry pipeline is owned by state-controlled Petroperu which in a statement (Spanish) claimed that the spill was the result of intentional damage or sabotage of the pipeline. The energy company asserts that the spill occurred because of a 21-centimeter cut that was made to the pipe. The ONP, which is the only effective means of transporting oil from the Amazon to the coast, has long been the target of sabotage. Peru’s National Society of Mining, Petroleum, and Energy claims the pipeline has suffered 29 such acts over the last nine years and various industry participants are blaming local Indigenous communities. Those spills have disrupted local water and food supplies including damaging regional fisheries as well as crops.

Such events are fueling considerable community anger and distrust which is being fanned by the perception that Lima is unwilling to address many of the deep-seated social and economic inequalities that exist in Peru’s Amazon. This is creating a tinderbox that regularly ignites unrest that includes anti-oil industry demonstrations, road blockades, seizures of pipeline pumphouses, and oilfield invasions. In response to the September 2022 spill, a river blockade was mobilized by the Asociacion Indigena de Desarrollo y Conservacion de Bajo Puinahua, a civil society and environmental protection coalition. That saw a boatload of tourists detained on 3 November 2022 only to be released the following day. Then on 25 November 2022, a barge traveling to Brazil carrying crude oil purchased from Canadian small-cap driller PetroTal was seized and the crew taken hostage, only to be released 48 hours later.

While the blockade was lifted on 14 December 2022 it sharply impacted operations at PetroTal’s Block 95, which contains the company’s flagship Bretana oilfield. The blockade forced PetroTal to sharply reduce production which from the end of November 2022 plunged to around 4,500 to 5,000 barrels per day, or roughly a third of the 14,000 barrels per day being pumped prior to the blockade. This event will impact Peru’s overall oil production because PetroTal, despite being a small-cap intermediate driller, is the Andean country’s largest oil producer. The region containing Block 95 has long been at the center of violent demonstrations against Peru’s oil industry. Some of the worst protests occurred in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic magnified many of the key issues and inequalities being experienced by Indigenous communities in Peru’s oil-rich Amazon. During August 2020, PetroTal was forced to shutter operations at the Bretana field after protestors attacked the ONP’s number 5 pump station and then violently clashed with police near the oilfield. The intensity of the skirmish left dozens injured among the police and demonstrators with three protestors later dying from their injuries. It wasn’t until 30 September 2020 that PetroTal was able to restart the Bretana field, while it took until 29 December for the ONP to restore full operations allowing PetroTal to recommence oil deliveries for sale in the pipeline.

The river blockade and earlier violent protests occurred because local Indigenous communities are seeking to pressure Lima into recognizing the severity of the oil spills and declaring a state of emergency. It is claimed that for many incidents the oil spills are not fully cleaned, and slicks linger contaminating water supplies and nearby land as well as damaging fisheries. The unraveling of the social license for Peru’s oil industry and the intensity of the community conflict in the Amazon saw energy companies abandon various blocks in the area. Canadian intermediate oil producer Frontera Energy abandoned Block 192 because of recurrent community blockades, while Chilean driller GeoPark handed Block 64 back to Peru’s government.

It is not only Peru’s Amazon that is being affected by oil spills and other industry-related environmental incidents. In January 2022, a pipeline being used for a routine tanker discharge at the Repsol-owned La Pampilla refinery, on Peru’s coast near Lima, ruptured spilling an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 barrels of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. The spill, which is classified as Peru’s worst-ever coastal environmental disaster, left a deep slick on 25 beaches and polluted three marine reserves. This further tarnished the reputation of Peru’s already troubled oil industry leading to further community dissent and weighing heavily on its social license. For these reasons there is little respite ahead for Peru’s oil industry which has a long history of oil spills and environmental degradation which typically impact the Andean country’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

Peru political crisis: Congress picks third new president in a week

Francisco Sagasti, a member of the centrist Morado party, will serve as Peru's interim president until July 2021. His election follows a week of protests that prompted his predecessor to resign.


Centrist lawmaker Francisco Sagasti was selected by Peru's Congress as the country's newest interim president on Monday, after a week of political upheaval that saw the resignation of two presidents.

Sagasti won 97 of the chamber's 130 votes to clinch victory over his leftist rival, Rocio Silva Santisteban, who failed to secure the majority vote.

"We will do everything possible to return hope to the people and show them they can trust in us,'' he said in his first remarks after being selected as Peru's caretaker president.

Sagasti, a 76-year-old former World Bank official and member of the centrist Morado party, will be sworn in at a special congressional session on Tuesday.

He will serve as Peru's interim president until July 2021. His predecessor, Manuel Merino, quit after only five days in office following deadly protests.

Sagasti, a respected academic, now faces the task of bringing the country together following a week of upheaval

"I thank the population for all the effort. We regret the death of two citizens. This generation of young people has given us a lesson in how to redirect the destiny of the state," said Mirtha Vasquez, who was elected as the new speaker of the Congress in the same session.
A bid to end political upheaval

Sagasti's appointment is the latest attempt to end a week of political turmoil after Peru's Congress ousted President Martin Vizcarra last week in an impeachment vote over corruption allegations and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

His impeachment was supported by 105 legislators — more than the 87 votes needed for the two-thirds majority required to remove Peru's president. 

Vizcarra, popular among many Peruvians for his anti-corruption agenda, has denied all charges and challenged his dismissal in the country's Constitutional Court. He is still awaiting the ruling.

Prior to his impeachment, Vizcarra attempted to curb parliamentary immunity for lawmakers, angering the legislature. Half of the lawmakers in Congress are currently being investigated for their alleged involvement in crimes ranging from money laundering to homicide.

Interim president Manuel Merino resigned after protests

Vizcarra's successor, Manuel Merino, faced opposition from the public soon after his appointment. 

Critics decried the vote as a "coup," leading to street protests. A crackdown by police ultimately led to the death of 22-year-old Jack Pintado, who was shot 11 times, including in the head. The second man killed, 24-year-old Jordan Sotelo, was hit four times in the thorax near his heart.

Public prosecutors have opened an investigation into Merino and his interior minister over the suppression of the protests.

Sagasti inherits a broken economy, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Peru also has the world's highest per capita death rate from the coronavirus.

am/rs (AP, AFP)

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