Can I get a witness? Who among us ever heard about Peru's President getting special powers

[Judi Lynn]

on various occasion? Well, we just don't hear about it in time to pitch fits, and chew the curtains to show our outrage, which the world DOES want to know about, because we're so special!

This isn't right, is it? Why are they keeping secrets from us?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_7Se7iswAanA/SOvS9iPj_OI/AAAAAAAADGY/Nertzguv3QA/s320/alan_garcia_sssssh2.jpg
Some instances:

Peru leader gets emergency powers
Sat, 28 Apr 2007 05:20:22 -0500
Summary:

Analysts say Mr Garcia will use the 60-day period to toughen jail sentences for cocaine production and trafficking and close up what many in the government see as loopholes in the current legislation against the illegal drug trade.

This is very worrying. The Peruvian Congress has overwhelmingly backed a measure that grants President Alan Garcia the power to “rule by decree” in areas relating to “nine specific types of crime.”

These areas include changing the laws on drug trafficking, but also the broad category of “organised crime” and “terrorism” which could net union activities and will almost certainly hit organized coca growers who have recently staged blockades against forced eradication policies.

Garcia says that “the war against violence involves everyone. A heavy hand is what the people want and we will do it legally.” Legally, that is, by making government arbitrary.

More:
http://www.guerrillanews.com/headlines/14057/Peru_leader_gets_emergency_powers
(includes Guardian link)

Peru to vote on divisive land law
by rahul | August 21, 2008 at 11:56 am


Promises to revise a controversial land law in Peru have halted widespread protests just days before a vote by congress that might see the legislation repealed.Alan Garcia, the Peruvian president, passed the law by presidential decree earlier this year as part of free trade negotiations with the US. It allows for the sale of tribal lands, prompting thousands of indigenous farmers to protest saying they fear the loss of land to foreign companies.Ahead of Friday's vote, Garcia attempted to garner support for the law, arguing in a televised speech that repealing it would be a "historic mistake".Sixty-five tribes have mobilised against the law, which they say will speed the loss of their land and force them to migrate.Late on Wednesday they temporarily ended their 10-day protest after a pledge from the congress president that he would revise the law.The law allows an indigenous community to approve the sale of tribal lands by simple majority vote - eliminating a provision that had made it nearly impossible to develop communal property.Garcia said on Wednesday that a repeal would condemn Peru's Indian and rural communities to "another century of backwardness and misery".Protesters are threatening to stop the flow of natural gas and oil through two pipelines in the Amazon jungle. Their action threatens energy supplies.Thousands had clashed on Wednesday with police in the jungle city of Bagua and nine civilians were treated for injuries.Peru's congress has agreed to vote on the law's possible repeal - on the condition that protesters unblock roads and suspend demonstrations.

State of emergency

Garcia decreed the law using special legislative powers he was granted to implement US requirements for a free trade pact between the two nations. A state of emergency had been imposed when protesters occupied oil and electricity plants in the Amazon basin. Alberto Pizango, leader of the Inter-Ethnic Association of the Peruvian Forest, said: "We're not afraid of the state of emergency." After talks with Javier Velazquez, the congress president, in Lima on Wednesday, Pizango agreed a 48-hour truce.About 12,000 indigenous people have been protesting since August 9. Their land is estimated to contain billions of dollars' worth of timber, minerals and oil. On Sunday, clashes between 800 demonstrators and police left at least four people injured.The state of emergency, which lasts for 30 days, covers the eastern provinces of Bagua, Utcubamba and Datem del Maranon and the southern district of Echarate.

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/peru-vote-divisive-land-law

President Garcia declares 30-day state of emergency to quell indigenous protests in Amazon

Energy, Environment, Feature, Human Rights, Mining, Politics - Posted on August, 19 at 12:22 am

President Alan Garcia declared a 30-day state of emergency in three Amazonian provinces and one department after negotiations between Environment Minister Antonio Brack and indigenous rights groups broke down Friday and a violent confrontation left eight police officers and one protester injured on Sunday.

Legislative Decree Nº 058-2008-PCM, which was published Monday in official state daily El Peruano, provides for the suspension of constitutional rights such as the freedom of assembly and movement in areas “perturbed by violence and prevented from functioning normally,” and gives Peru National Police the authority to arrest people and carry out raids without a warrant.

More:
http://www.peruviantimes.com/president-garcia-declares-30-day-state-of-emergency-to-quell-indigenous-protests-in-amazon/

Emergency Is Decreed In Two Cities in Peru
Reuters
Published: Saturday, February 8, 1986

President Alan Garcia Perez tonight imposed a state of emergency in Lima and the neighboring port city of Callao, instituted a curfew to curb violence by leftist guerrillas and extended a freeze on the official rate of the national currency through the end of the year.

In a televised speech, Mr. Garcia said the armed forces would be in charge of internal security with the power to enforce the emergency decree, which suspends a wide range of constitutional rights.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEED7153FF93BA35751C0A960948260

Peru Economy Grows, But Problems Abound
Scandal, Protests, Guerrillas Plague President

By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, November 16, 2008; Page A16

LIMA, Peru, Nov. 15 -- These should be good times for president Alan García.

His country posted 9.9 percent economic growth in September at a time when world economies were crashing. He nailed down a free-trade agreement with the United States and is negotiating similar accords with China, Japan, Singapore, Canada and the European Union. The wealthy are eating seviche in beachfront restaurants of the capital while luxury high-rise apartments keep going up around them.

"Anything could happen in 2009 and 2010," García told investors at a business conference last month. "Except a recession in Peru."

And yet, times are tough for García. He purged his cabinet amid an ongoing scandal over whether officials in his government received bribes in return for oil exploration concessions. He has declared a state of emergency in four provinces to quell violent social protests over distribution of mining revenue. The Shining Path, which terrorized the country in García's first term from 1985 to 1990, recently launched a series of attacks. And his approval ratings had sunk to 22 percent in October, the lowest level since he took power a second time in July 2006.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/15/AR2008111502289.html

You recall he also closed 4 radio stations, a tv station, a couple of years ago, and not a word trickled out from our own corporate disinformation media about it. DU'ers who know almost stumbled across the news as if by accident. Amazing, isn't it?

http://delucio.com.nyud.net:8090/blog/wp-content/images/Alan_Garcia_1.jpg

Garcia, wearing those boogie shoes again.