Mexican Congress Approves Energy Reform; Peru Cracks Down on Social Protests; Costa Rica Spots Illegal Helicopter Landing Sites

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for December 18-20

CARICOM Nations Intensify Push for Slavery Reparations

Member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) continue to press their case for indemnities from European nations that engaged in the transatlantic slave trade following a Dec. 9 meeting of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. This meeting followed the international attention achieved by Caribbean heads of state during their September addresses to the UN General Assembly. Both Prime Ministers Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda and Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines used the UN bully pulpit to state their case. The latter will assume the rotating presidency of CARICOM in January 2014 and intends to make the reparations issue a cornerstone of his agenda.Fourteen countries have signed on to CARICOM’s position, which will focus on the governments of the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands. Several Anglophone Caribbean nations, Haiti, and Suriname, all CARICOM member states, were the respective colonies of the aforementioned European countries.  -Gregory Scruggs   Read More

Congress Easily Approves Energy Reform Plan; PRI, PAN Majorities Key to Passage

A little more than a year after taking office, President Enrique Peña Nieto has succeeded in reaching one of his most important goals: pushing through an overhaul of the energy sector, particularly the state-run oil company PEMEX . The reforms, which would allow increased private participation in Mexico’s energy sector, were approved by an overwhelming 353-134 in the Chamber of Deputies and 95-28 in the Senate. In gaining easy passage for his initiative, Peña Nieto benefited from strong numbers in both chambers of Congress, including legislators from the governing Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), the conservative Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), and their allies the Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM) and Partido Nueva Alianza (PANAL). The parties formed enough of a majority to overcome strong opposition from the center-left parties--the Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), Movimiento Ciudadano (MC), and Partido del Trabajo (PT). -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Crackdown On Peru’s Social Protests Intensifies Under President Ollanta Humala

Opposition to Peru's extractive industries, particularly mining, has resulted in a steady increase in socioenvironmental conflicts since President Ollanta Humala came to power. Authorities have countered by criminalizing social protests as a way to neutralize the people who are speaking out and weaken their social movements. During the Humala administration’s two-and-a-half years in power, nearly 700 people involved in social conflicts have been criminalized, meaning they have been formally accused of various crimes and subjected to judicial proceedings, according to the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH). -Elsa Chanduví Jaña    Read More

Chile’s Once And Future President Michelle Bachelet Wins Election Runoff In A Landslide

If ever there was a case of victory foretold, this was it. On Sunday, Dec. 15, former President Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010)--the hands-down favorite long before she even announced her candidacy--completed her re-election bid with relative ease, besting her rightist rival Evelyn Matthei by nearly 25 percentage points in Chile’s presidential runoff election. Bachelet, 62, made history eight years ago when she beat current President Sebastián Piñera to become the country’s first female head of state. With her 62% to 38% triumph over Matthei, Bachelet’s name will now go down in the history books again--this time as the first president since Chile returned to democracy in 1990 to win a second term in office. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar   Read More

Costa Rican Authorities Spot Illegal Airfields for Helicopters; President Says Finding Makes Organized Crime Nervous

Within a month's time, six clandestine airfields for helicopters were discovered during police operations next to makeshift camps inside sprawling rural properties in a mountainous sector in Costa Rica’s northeastern Caribbean area, close to the border with Nicaragua. Costa Rican authorities said investigations are focused on the structures being a part of an international organized-crime network’s operation in Central America--trafficking drugs northward, money and weapons southward. The findings took place from Oct. 8 through Nov. 8, after members of communities in the area reported having repeatedly sighted at least one helicopter, flying just above treetops, coming from the border area. Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said organized crime has thus been exposed in this country, and it makes them nervous. -George Rodríguez   Read More

Mexico, Turkey Commit to Negotiate Free-Trade Agreement in 2014

Mexico and Turkey have signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in trade, finance, security, and other areas including negotiating a free-trade agreement (FTA) and developing a joint strategy to combat organized crime. The two countries announced their new cooperation efforts in Ankara in mid-December following a series of meetings between Presidents Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and Abdullah Gül of Turkey. This was the first-ever state-level visit by a Mexican president to Turkey. During the meeting, which came at Gül’s invitation, the two countries signed 12 cooperation agreements. Leading the list of agreements was the commitment to work toward an FTA in 2014. -Carlos Navarro    Read More

Energy-Reform Debate Set to Begin in Mexico; Peru President Humala's Popularity Plunges: Dominican President Medina Complets One Year in Office

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for August 28-30

Governing Party, Center-Left Opposition Offer Plans for Energy Reform

The chips are on the table now that the governing Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) and the opposition center-left Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) have rolled out their proposals to overhaul Mexico’s energy sector. The conservative Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) revealed its plan in July. The three proposals have a common goal—to ensure that any reforms to Mexico’s energy sector provide enough revenue to modernize the state-run energy companies, primarily oil company PEMEX, but also the electric utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). The three parties also share another proposal: a national petroleum fund that would administer future oil and gas profits. While some common ground exists in the three proposals, the major differences are on how modernization would be funded.  -Carlos Navarro    Read More

Peru's President Ollanta Humala Sees Popularity Plummet

President Ollanta Humala began the third year of his term on July 28 isolated politically, with the lowest approval rating since he took office and facing constant social protests against his administration. In the latest Ipsos national urban poll commissioned by the daily El Comercio in August, Humala's approval rating fell to 29%, four percentage points lower than in July, when it had dropped eight points; since April Humala's approval rating has declined 22 points, based on previous Ipsos polls. In the most recent poll, 64% of respondents said they disapprove of Humala "because he does not fulfill his promises/lies"; 53% "because of crime/a lack of citizen security"; and 38% "because prices are rising." At the same time, 38% believe "there is corruption in his administration" and 32% "that he has appointed the wrong people to public positions." -Elsa Chanduví Jaña  Read More

Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina’s Year of Promises

A year after President Danilo Medina took office, polls show that a majority of those surveyed approve of his administration. Despite worsening problems such as poverty and the high cost of living, the polls appear to show that Medina still enjoys considerable approval from his support base. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says that, between 1991 and 2012, the country’s GDP has increased by 5.6%. This is above the region’s average of 3.3% and, says the IDB, it has been made possible thanks to "a stable political and social climate." Nevertheless, the IDB also points out that the country’s public finances are in a vulnerable state because of low taxation (particularly tax breaks), the impact from natural disasters, and transfers made to fund public services, such as electrical energy.   -Crosby Girón     Read More

Venezuela's Polarization Shows No Signs of Subsiding

Venezuelan political leaders say that 82% of citizens believe that political polarization is harming the country and that the leaders of the governing Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) and the opposition Mesa de Unidad Democrática (MUD) should negotiate a new status quo to ensure a harmonious coexistence. The government and the opposition continue to resort to insults and disparagement whenever they refer to each other. Against this backdrop, all national sectors--politicians, business people, and workers--see the government and the opposition continuing to write new chapters in a narrative that has pushed the stability of the country to the brink. -Andrés Gaudín Read More

Snubbed by Major Cell Phone Companies, Zapotec Community in Oaxaca Installs Own Telephone System

Isolated from the outside world because of a lack of telephone infrastructure, residents of the remote community of Villa Talea de Castro in Oaxaca state began efforts in 2008 to convince the major telecommunications companies to bring cellular telephone service to the village. The residents were rebuffed repeatedly, as the cellular companies, including industry giant América Móvil, declined because the venture would be unprofitable. After repeated rejection from Telcel and other companies, residents of Villa Talea de Castro decided to explore other alternatives to install a means of communication. With the help of indigenous organizations, civic groups, and universities installed its own cell-phone system.  -Carlos Navarro   Read More

The Long Battle to Eradicate Homophobia in Belize

Activists are seeking to change Article 53 of the Belizean Constitution, which declares gay relationships unlawful, on the grounds that it is an infringement of basic human rights. Caleb Orozco, a health educator and president of the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM), is now leading a legal crusade to prove that Article 53 of Belize’s Criminal Code, which states that every person who has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any person or animal shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years, violates basic human rights. The National Aids Commission also favors the changes, but there is fierce opposition from Catholic and Protestant religious organizations. -Louisa Reynolds    Read More

Peru Pushes for More Investment; Banking Reform in Mexico; Golf Courses Part of Tourism Promotion in Cuba

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for June 26-28

Colombia's Peace Process Makes Significant Headway

After a half century of setbacks, so serious that they were manifested in a war that has taken a toll of hundreds of thousands of persons dead, exiled, or displaced, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the guerrillas of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) reached an initial agreement on the central issue of the conflict--which in 1964 led to the birth of the rebel organization: land ownership and use. On May 26, when the two sides, meeting for talks in Havana, Cuba, acknowledged signing the far-reaching agreement, the entire political spectrum, except the far right, applauded. Days later, on June 18, the government and the guerrillas resumed talks to work on the second point on the preset agenda: integration of the guerrillas into legal life and the guarantees they will receive, once demobilized, to participate in political activity. -Andrés Gaudín    Read More

Court Ruling, Political Potshots Challenge El Salvador’s 15-Month-Old Gang Truce

An experimental tregua (truce) signed last year by rival street gangs has cut El Salvador’s horrific homicide numbers by more than half. And yet, for all of its apparent success, the 15-month-old gang truce currently finds itself on shaky ground. A mid-May ruling by the Consejo Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) forced the government’s point man on the project, then Security Minister David Munguía Payés, to resign. Shortly afterwards, El Salvador’s main opposition party began to openly attack the truce, saying there will be "no more negotiating with criminals" should it win back the presidency in the February 2014 national elections. Gang leaders say they are still committed to the cease-fire, though just how much control they exercise over their tens of thousands of criminal underlings remains an open question. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar      Read More

Mexican Candidate Loses Election to Head World Trade Organization to Brazilian Rival

President Enrique Peña Nieto was hoping that strong support from the US, the European Union (EU), and Japan would be sufficient to elect Mexico’s Herminio Blanco as director of the World Trade Organization (WTO). But the vote from those countries—which comprise the majority of the members of the Group of Eight (G8) nations—did not give Mexico’s former trade secretary enough votes to overcome the strong backing that Brazil’s Roberto Azevêdo received from African countries and members of the five-nation bloc of emerging economies (BRICS), which include Azevêdo’s home country of Brazil, plus Russia, India, China, and South Africa. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala Declares Investment Promotion in "National Interest"

With the aim of reversing economic actors' loss of confidence following the slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter of this year, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala in late May declared investment to be in the national interest and announced seven measures to boost it. The measures announced by the president include creating a task force to oversee mining-investment projects in energy and infrastructure. The president also announced a supreme decree aimed at reducing bureaucratic hurdles for obtaining approval for environmental impact studies (estudios de impacto ambiental, EIAs). The decree calls for approving EIAs in less than 100 days. -Elsa Chanduví Jaña     Read More

Cuba Gambles on Golf and Moneyed Travelers to Increase Tourism Industry Income

Banned by Cuba's communist government for more than five decades, golf has returned to the island in style and has become the tourism industry's new, big venture. It is projected that the construction of eleven golf courses at five-star megadevelopments will attract well-heeled tourists who will leave more cash on the island. The Cuban government is holding talks with a dozen foreign companies, including Canadian, French, Italian, and Spanish firms, regarding the creation of eleven golf-related real estate developments, according to sources within the Ministerio de Turismo and as quoted by the official newspaper Granma. -Daniel Vázquez    Read More

President Enrique Peña Nieto, Congress Considering Reforms to Banking System that Would Boost Lower-Cost Credit, Promote Growth

In early May, President Enrique Peña Nieto and leaders of the three major parties teamed up to introduce a banking-reform bill that would boost bank loans in a country where credit availability is far behind other major economies in Latin America. Among other things, the legislation would offer commercial banks more incentives to lend to individuals and businesses as well as increase the role of government development banks in helping expand credit. The measure, which has yet to reach the floor of the Chamber of Deputies, also contains clauses that would increase the accessibility and accountability of financial institutions. -Carlos Navarro    Read More

Slow Progress in Colombia Peace Process; Panama Tax Haven for Germans; Questions about Press Prize for Veracruz Governor

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for April 24-26

Colombian Government, Rebels Struggle to Keep Peace Process On Track

Just when the government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the guerrilla Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) were showing clear signs of progress toward signing an agreement to end a half century of armed conflict, "those who live off war"--as the president called critics who contend that such social conflicts can only be explained using military language--made several alarmist statements aimed at destroying the dialogue taking place in Havana, Cuba. Spokespersons for the government and the rebels had made it known that in May they might announce an agreement on the first of six points--the agrarian issue--included in the conversations begun in November 2012.   -Andrés Gaudín   Read More

Cuba's Food and Sugar Production Remain Below Expectations Despite Reforms

Obtaining food remains a cause for daily concern in Cuban homes because of insufficient domestic food production despite agricultural reforms and plans of President Raúl Castro’s government to spend a record US$1.9 billion this year for purchases on the international market, where prices have increased dramatically.   -Daniel Vázquez   Read More

Panama Becomes Tax Haven for Wealthy Germans

Some of Germany’s richest families, including the Porsche and Jacobs families, have opted for registering their businesses in Panama, a country where tax loopholes persist, revealed German daily newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung in a report published in March. The newspaper obtained the information from British hacker Dan O’Huiginn, who published data regarding German multimillionaires who had registered their companies in Panama on his blog.   -Louisa Reynolds  Read More

Questions Arise About Veracruz Governor’s Commitment to Protect Journalists

The weekly news magazine Proceso and the administration of Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte Ochoa are at the center of the latest controversy involving the plight of journalists in Mexico. The controversy began on April 10, when Duarte announced that authorities had detained Jorge Antonio Hernández Silva, who was alleged to have killed Proceso reporter Regina Martínez in the state capital of Xalapa in April 2012. Under normal circumstances, Hernández Silva’s arrest would be a significant development in a country where authorities at all levels have failed to solve the murders of dozens of journalists. But a Proceso investigation raised strong questions about the arrest, primarily the inadequate evidence presented against Hernández Silva, a drug addict who was semi-homeless. -Carlos Navarro    Read More

State-run Oil Company PEMEX Inaugurates Electricity-Generating Plant in Tabasco State

In 2003, the Mexican Senate approved changes to the Constitution to allow state-run oil company PEMEX to produce its own electricity, and the decision appears to be paying off. Since that time, PEMEX has constructed a handful of small power plants to supply the oil company with electricity, but the largest project to date was a cogeneration facility inaugurated in April 2013, 10 years after the reform was approved. The plant--in the CPG Nuevo Pemex complex in Tabasco state, just outside of the capital city of Villahermosa—has the capacity to produce 300 megawatts of electricity and as much as 800 tons of steam per hour . -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Pardons Again on Political Agenda in Peru

In April, the hot topic in media news coverage was pardons, and the issue was firmly on the country's political agenda as well. A possible humanitarian pardon for convicted ex-President Alberto Fujimori was receiving extensive news coverage as were allegations that former President Alan García (1985-1990, 2006-2011) pardoned convicted drug traffickers. -Elsa Chanduví Jaña  Read More

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala's Cabinet Shuffle Signals Shift to Right

LADB Article ID: 78473
Category/Department: Peru
Date: 2012-01-20
By: Elsa Chanduví Jaña

Just 136 days into his term, President Ollanta Humala reshuffled his Cabinet, removing the left from the center of power, a move interpreted by many as an indication that the president has given in to pressure from economic power groups.

In the new Cabinet, sworn in on Dec. 11 and headed by the former interior minister, retired Lt. Col. Óscar Valdés Dancuart, 10 new ministers replace ministers from the original Cabinet who had a greater social orientation.

For the Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú (CGTP) and the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores del Perú (CUT Perú), naming Valdés prime minister shows that the Humala administration is moving to the right and toward militarization.

"There was an internal conflict between the different forces, between those who wanted to maintain the status quo in the service of big business and big capital and those who supported social organizations and progressive forces to make necessary changes to advance democracy," CUT president Juñio César Bazán told the daily La Primera.  "We can see that the policies of coming together and dialogue that are the mechanisms to resolve problems democratically are going to be left aside.  Valdés' record is one of being arbitrary in resolving conflicts, for example, in what happened in Cajamarca to provoke the state of emergency (NotiSur, Dec. 16, 2011)."

Bazán was referring to the social conflict that erupted in November 2011 in the department of Cajamarca, in the northern highlands, because of residents' opposition to the development of the Conga mining project.  They considered it a threat to their water supply and to the preservation of the rich ecosystems in the area.

The government response was to declare a state of emergency in Cajamarca.

The Conga conflict led then Prime Minister Salomón Lerner to tender his resignation to Humala, saying, "Our leadership style has been one of dialogue and a search for consensus, avoiding confrontation among Peruvians, and one that reaffirms our democratic life and vocation."

The head of Perú Posible, former President Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), said that his party had decided to distance itself from Humala's party and therefore it would no longer hold any position in the executive branch of government.  Toledo explained that the alliance had broken with Humala because it did not agree "with the militarization of the government and the confrontation with social conflicts."

New scenario

While business people were pleased with the Cabinet shuffle, political analysts saw it as a turn to the right.
Humberto Speziani, head of the Confederación de Instituciones Empesariales Privadas (CONFIEP), expressed his associates' agreement with the makeup of the new Cabinet, saying, "It's the change that the country needs, less politics and better management, more efficient."

The Convención Nacional del Agro Peruano (CONVEAGRO) supported Luis Ginocchio's appointment as minister of agriculture, calling him a "great expert" who knows national agriculture.
In an interview with the daily La República, leftist sociologist and former Cabinet advisor Sinesio López said, "The government has gone from center-left to center-right.  The president decided to break with the left, whose support got him to the runoff, and, with Toledo, who in a certain way allowed him to win the runoff and become president.  But I think that the most important break is with the popular classes who voted for him."  López added, "In [Peru], those who have lost have always ended up governing."

Political analyst Carlos Meléndez agrees with López, telling La República, "Humala's election was a triumph of the left because it was a triumph of the demands that the left had wanted to raise and could not do so organically so it cut corners and did so using a military outsider."

"The issue is that in our countries elections are won with the left but are governed with the right," added Meléndez.  "Whoever is in the government palace has to look for points of support.  He cannot be supported by the social movement because it is fragmented, so he has to be supported by business people, the financial sector, the armed forces….And those people have a rightist agenda."

Writer Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in literature, defended Humala's decision to make Cabinet changes.  "It is normal for a president to look for a more cohesive government and one that responds to a unified policy; democracy is not in danger from that," said Vargas Llosa, insisting that the Humala administration is following the "roadmap" that it laid out in the runoff campaign.

It is true that Humala never said he was either leftist or rightist.  Early on he named Luis Miguel Castilla as minister of economy.  Castilla is a 42-year-old economist who studied at Johns Hopkins University and was vice minister of finance during the administration of former President Alan García (1985-1990, 2006-2011) and earlier worked at the World Bank.  His appointment calmed business leaders and investors, who are happy that Humala has ratified Castilla in the new Cabinet.

In that sense, for analysts like Carlos Reyna, "What we have had is a clarification of the direction of the government."

Troubling changes

Lerner's resignation resulted in all officials attached to the Presidencia del Consejo de Ministros (PCM) submitting their resignations, meaning that the changes continue little by little.  The most recent change was that of Ricardo Soberón, president of the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo y Vida sin Drogas (DEVIDA).Primer Minister Valdés announced on Jan. 10 that the new DEVIDA president would be psychologist Carmen Masías Claux, who had been assistant director of the Centro de Información y Educación para la Prevención del Abuso de Drogas (CEDRO).

In a statement the same day, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Transnational Institute (TNI) recognized Soberón's work at the commission.  "Soberón has played a fundamental role in promoting a debate on drug policy in Peru, proposing new and intelligent lines and incorporating key issues such as human rights and social inclusion.  In addition, he has promoted development of the new Estrategia Nacional de Lucha contra las Drogas 2012-2016, written by DEVIDA under his leadership," said the statement.
Masías Claux has said, however, that she will review the Estrategia, which was awaiting approval by the executive, "with the objective of enriching it."

Soberón was strongly criticized last September when he announced the temporary suspension of eradication of coca fields, since the plan for controlling illegal coca-leaf fields called for "bimonthly pauses" in eradication.  His decision was reversed quickly by then prime minister Lerner.

Soberón's plan to combat illegal drugs included stemming the sale of chemicals used to make cocaine and setting up controls in the customs posts through which drugs leave.  To achieve real and definitive eradications, he said, protocols of action are needed to allow safeguarding the integrity of the police, those involved in the eradication, and coca producers in the drug-trafficking areas.

For the new DEVIDA president, the policy on eradicating illegal coca fields—pushed by the US government—is not DEVIDA's responsibility but that of the Ministerio del Interior.  Masías Claux has indicated that she will put more emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation.

As if responding to Masías Claux, Soberón said in an interview published by Noticias Ser, a publication of Asociación Ser, "I wish her every success but it seems to me a mistake that the body in charge of drug policies in Peru is dedicated to just one aspect and leaves interdiction, control of supply, and eradication in the hands of the police.  To exercise leadership in such a complex area implies having the capacity to see the problem and lead the process and the debate; that is the fundamental aspect that we wanted to stress but it made many uncomfortable."

The appointment of Masías Claux, known as a Fujimorista, is seen as a step backward by those hoping that the Humala administration would apply a more effective and humane anti-drug policy.
Another minister in Humala's new Cabinet who has caused concern among many, especially those in women's organizations, is the lawyer Ana Jara, who has been appointed to head the Ministerio de la Mujer y Desarrollo Social (MIMDES), replacing Aída García Naranjo, a leftist feminist.  Jara is a member of the conservative wing of the Iglesia Evangélica and a member of the Partido Nacionalista Peruano (PNP), founded by Humala.

In an interview with journalist Beto Ortiz on the television program Abre los ojos, Jara insisted that in most rape cases, once the woman has contact with her child, "something supernatural happens," a tie that makes her love the child.  She also came out against the morning-after birth-control pill.

"We think it's necessary to call on the minister to recognize women's human rights a little more and address what her leadership role as minister of women means; if not, we're in an absolutely worrisome context," Jeanette Llaja, legal representative of the Defensa de los Derchos de la Mujer (DEMUS), told the Internet platform La Mula (lamula.pe).

Jossy Cárdenas, coordinator of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Flora Tristan's program on sexual rights and citizenship in health, told the same news outlet, "[Jara], as a public official, has the mission to advocate for women's rights.  We must consider that a protocol set by the state indicates that one method is to provide a woman with emergency oral contraception to avoid an unwanted pregnancy.  If the state does not confront the situation of women who suffer sexual violence and become pregnant as a result, there will be no support for them."

As head of MIMDES, García Naranjo started the campaign "Stop the hand! Machismo kills and mistreats women," which provoked an intense debate in the executive and in Congress regarding whether femicide should be considered aggravated homicide.

On Dec. 1, Congress approved a law stating that "if the victim is or has been the spouse or cohabitant of the perpetrator or linked to him through a similar relationship, it will be considered femicide and will carry a penalty of at least 15 years."

Before passage of the femicide law, not all such crimes were punished equally, because the Penal Code only considered the crime aggravated homicide if the victim was a spouse or domestic partner.  On Jan. 10, the crime of femicide was incorporated into the Penal Code.

Data from the Observatorio de Criminalidad of the Ministerio Publico indicate that 245 women were killed by their partner or former partner between 2009 and 2011.

In addition, women who were allegedly victims of attempted homicide at the hand of their partner or ex-partner will now receive free medical attention.  MIMDES reported that women victims have received free medical attention in hospitals in the departments of Lima, Cusco, and Arequipa.

Still pending is approval of the Plan Nacional de Igualdad de Género 2012-2017, aimed at changing the situation of inequality—for every illiterate man there are three illiterate women, for example—and exclusion that jeopardizes women's rights.

Feminist and women's organizations fear that under the mandate of a new minister the crusade to defend women's rights initiated by her predecessor will be interrupted.