News stories by Ángel Páez, page 5

The Peruvian government is taking advantage of the broadcasts of the World Cup football games in South Africa to air an ad touting a reduction in the poverty rate from 48 to 34 percent between 2005 and 2009 as an achievement of the administration of President Alan García.

Human rights groups in Peru are complaining about drastic setbacks in the attempt to hold members of the security forces responsible for crimes against humanity committed during the country's counterinsurgency war.

The 40th General Assembly of the Organisation of American States, held in the Peruvian capital this week, failed to issue a decision on the reinstatement of Honduras, and instead served as a forum for Argentina, which seeks sovereignty over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, and for Bolivia, in its fight for access to the Pacific Ocean.

Peru will not extradite Wong Ho Wing, a Chinese citizen wanted by the courts in his country for a crime that carries the death penalty, until the Inter-American Court of Human Rights rules on his case, according to a letter from the government to which IPS had exclusive access.

The Peruvian Congress has opened proceedings to demand that U.S. businessman William Kallop pay the Treasury 482.2 million dollars -- taxes on the 900-million-dollar sale of a petroleum company and other debts to the government.

Peru's armed forces are gearing up for an unprecedented offensive against a surviving faction of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) Maoist guerrilla organisation, which began an armed struggle to seize power in the country 30 years ago.

The Peruvian government refuses to change the contract it signed with Consorcio Camisea to export natural gas to Mexico, as demanded by the governors of the southern provinces of Arequipa, Cuzco, Moquegua, Puno and Tacna, who are worried about shortages of local supplies.

The 'Glass of Milk' Programme, created in 1985 in Peru to provide a nutritional supplement for the most vulnerable population, specifically children up to six years old and pregnant and nursing women, is undermined by poor oversight, according to an audit by the Comptroller General's Office.

The acquittal by a Peruvian court of two soldiers and a police officer charged with the forced disappearance of four peasant farmers in the Andean highlands region of Ayacucho is viewed as a serious setback by the families of victims of human rights violations during the 1980-2000 civil war.

The indefinite postponement of the purchase of five Chinese tanks and a failed test of Israeli missiles have called into question the transparency and effectiveness of major military purchases in Peru.