A friend abroad

29/03/2019

11/12/2018

Viñas Queirolo

04/09/2018

https://www.facebook.com/PeruDeEnsuenho/videos/249877475667099/?fref=gs&dti=200468800696284&hc_location=group

14/08/2018

Climate change has turned Peru's glacial lake into a deadly flood timebomb

Nestled beneath the imposing white peaks of two glaciers in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca, the aquamarine Lake Palcacocha is as calm as a millpond. But despite its placid appearance it has become a deadly threat to tens of thousands people living beneath it as a result of global warming.

A handful of residents of Huaraz, the city below the lake, can recall its destructive power. In 1941 a chunk of ice broke away from the glacier in an earthquake, tumbling into the lake. The impact caused a flood wave which sent an avalanche of mud and boulders cascading down the mountain, killing about 1,800 people when it reached the city.

Today the lake is even more potentially dangerous, swollen with glacial meltwater like an almost-overflowing bathtub. A temperature rise of 0.5-0.8C between the 1970s and the 2000s has seen a third of Peru’s ice caps vanish in the last four decades.

The city’s population has grown too. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, today Huaraz is about 15 times larger than it was during the last deadly landslide.

Flood wave modelling by the University of Texas shows how a breakaway chunk of glacier could displace up to 15bn litres of meltwater from the 70-metre deep, mile long (1.7km) lake, propelling a wave of up to 30 metres over a ridge of rocks and down the mountain.

“According to the authorities’ estimates, even if you were able to warn the people, there could still be about 20,000 fatalities,” he adds.

The people would have 30 minutes to evacuate, says Cesar Florez, a risk management specialist for the region’s government and the man ultimately responsible for the people’s safety.

For the poor, largely indigenous farmers in the verdant mountains around the ice caps, the problem is not too much water but too little. The Andean country is home to 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers and as they gradually ebb away, a water crisis looms. Climate change has made the weather unpredictable and the unseasonal melting of the glaciers has thrown the farmers’ existence into jeopardy.

01/08/2018

Festivity in the Andes

02/06/2018

For the second consecutive year, Peru won the title of Best Tourist Destination in the Americas at Shanghai World Travel Fair (SWTF) 2018, the Foreign Trade and Tourism Ministry (Mincetur) informed Friday.

Thus, the Inca country positioned itself as the favorite place for Chinese citizens to visit this year.

"This award recognizes the efforts undertaken by Peru to attract Chinese visitors," Tourism Ministry noted.

"This is evidenced by the fact that several Peruvian tour operators took part in the SWTF in order to conquer the growing market of Chinese travelers who want to explore other parts of the world, such as Peru," it added.

22/05/2018

Peru's national soccer team captain Paolo Guerrero arrived in Zurich to meet with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and request that he be allowed to participate in the major international soccer competition.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Tuesday expressed his deep understanding of Guerrero's disappointment in not being able to join Peru's national soccer team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

"However, the FIFA President also stressed the fact that the sanction had been imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after an appeal lodged against a decision of an independent FIFA judicial body," FIFA said in a statement.

Paolo Guerrero's visit to FIFA sought a way out of the 14-month ban imposed on him for an adverse analytical result in an anti-doping control after a Qualifiers match played in October against Argentina.

As is known, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last week increased a ban against Peru's top striker from 6 to 14 months, which results in him being precluded from making his debut in the 2018 World Cup.

22/05/2018

Boris Johnson escapes Brexit troubles to feed manatees in Peru

Boris Johnson has put the customs union row 6,000 miles behind him as he kicked off a by feeding rescued manatees in the Peruvian rainforest.

Johnson held talks on Saturday with the Peruvian president, Martín Vizcarra, highlighting the fact that he was the first foreign secretary to visit Peru for more than 50 years. The pair discussed cracking down on wildlife trafficking, and the economic crisis in Venezuela.

05/05/2018

Archaeologists have uncovered what may be the largest single mass child sacrifice event in human history.
More than 140 children were sacrificed at about the same time in Peru's northern coastal region, about 550 years ago.
The discovery was made near modern-day Trujillo, which lies near the centre of the ancient Chimú civilisation.
More than 200 young llamas were sacrificed alongside the children - all of which were killed in a single event.

05/05/2018

Just a few of the skeletons discovered in Huanchaquito, near modern-day Trujillo