News stories by Milagros Salazar, page 8

Hundreds of Peruvian communities were displaced as they fled the 1980-2000 civil war. Today the government is pushing for urgent passage of a law that would facilitate the relocation of entire villages or neighbourhoods in mineral or energy-rich areas.

Although Huancavelica is the poorest region of Peru, it has more than just poverty, malnutrition and unmet needs. There are also women using their creativity, efforts and traditional indigenous knowledge to improve the diets of their families and communities.

China has become Peru's second largest trade partner, with interests mainly in mining and oil. However, it is viewed with caution by this Andean nation, because the Asian giant has a reputation for flouting environmental standards and labour rights.

Experts and activists in Peru complain that while mining corporations are cashing in on soaring metals prices, they continue to enjoy exemption from royalties and corporate taxes, if they reinvest their profits.

As if he were showing off a treasure, Dionicio Sarmiento holds up his seed potatoes with a smile. 'Look how nice they are, all ready to plant. It'll be a good harvest,' says the peasant farmer from Huancavelica, Peru's poorest province, where most of the population depends on subsistence farming.

For tourists and other visitors, Cuzco has a special fascination as the ancient capital of the Inca empire. But social scientists know it as one of the areas in the world with the highest rates of violence against women.

Peru is only one percentage point away from halving the proportion of its people living in extreme poverty, one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed by the international community in 2000, according to a United Nations report.

Leaders of the Achuar people are challenging a decision by the Peruvian government to declare that a clean-up effort by the PlusPetrol oil company in the northeastern Amazon jungle has been completed.

Sobbing, an indigenous woman dressed in black cries out as she sees us arrive: 'My son, my son, they have killed my son!' She is Andrea Rocca, the mother of Felipe Sabio, a young man who died in a clash between police and indigenous protesters in the northern Peruvian region of Amazonas.

Indigenous people taking part in protests near this town in the northern Peruvian province of Amazonas that ended in a bloody clash with the police last week are now focusing on drawing up a list of the dead and missing, amidst a climate of fear and mistrust.