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WORLD NEWSFriday 3 June 2016
Shadow of jailed ex-leader hangs over Peru election Caribbean Briefs
FRANKLIN BRICENO
Associated Press
LIMA, Peru (AP) — The shad-
ow of an imprisoned former
president looms over Sun-
day’s Peru election, which
has become in many ways
Fuerza Popular presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori is greeted by supporters as she arrives for a
campaign rally, in Lima, Peru, Thursday, June 2, 2016. The South American country is gearing up
for a tight June 5th runoff between Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former President Alberto
Fujimori, and former World Bank economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
a referendum on the lega-
cy of Alberto Fujimori’s iron- former Wall Street banker
handed rule in the 1990s.
Many of the nation’s ru-
ral, indigenous poor have
flocked to the support of his
daughter Keiko, grateful for
her father’s success in rout-
ing guerrillas who preyed
on their communities.
But tens of thousands have
marched in the streets of
the capital against the re-
Report asks whether Puerto Rico debt issued illegally announced Thursday
DANICA COTO
Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)
— A commission created
to audit Puerto Rico’s debt
is questioning the legal-
ity of government-issued
bonds in a report released
Thursday, saying the strug-
gling U.S. territory might
not be responsible for pay-
ing a portion of the money
owed.
The report comes as the
U.S. Congress is debating
how best to help Puerto
Rico as it struggles to re-
structure $70 billion in pub-
turn of any Fujimori, haunt-
ed by the memory of the
elder’s bloody crackdown
on dissent and corrupt gov-
ernment, which have him
serving 25 years in prison.
Even leading politicians
from the left have endorsed
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
Recent polls showed Fuji-
mori opening a small lead
over Kuczynski, though
within the margin of error
and with a large number of
voters still undecided. Fu-
jimori had 45 percent sup-
port in a GfK poll of 1,508
people taken May 23-25
compared with 41 percent
lic debt. The island is widely ly issued.
expected to default on a
$2 billion payment due July
1.
The commission, whose 17
members were in part ap-
pointed by Puerto Rico
legislators, found in its pre- doing so.
audit report that millions of
dollars of debt might have
been issued in violation of
the island’s constitution.
They say that is significant
because previous court rul-
ings have found that some
U.S. municipal agencies
were not responsible for
paying debt if it was illegal- used to refinance a 1987
for Kuczynski. The survey foreign debt and slashed
had a margin of error of 2.5 poverty by more than half
percentage points. in the last 15 years, accord-
The two candidates have ing to government data. It
focused mostly on fighting became the world’s third-
crime and corruption. But largest copper producer
the success of the winner’s and a major player in the
gold market. But more than
a dozen mining projects are
now stalled, including the
country’s two biggest, Tia
Maria and Conga, which
had been expected draw
(AP Photo/Martin Mejia) a combined $6 billion in in-
vestment. Many also face
administration is likely to militant resistance from lo-
depend most on an ability cal communities fearing
to keep investment flowing pollution or the loss of their country. Former Prime
to a mining industry that water and farmland.
has been ravaged by low It was Alberto Fujimori who
international prices. opened the country to
Peru’s economy soared in mining in the 1990s after
recent years on the back reclaiming much of Peru’s
of mining, which now rep- countryside from Maoist
resents about 15 percent rebels and adopting free-
of gross domestic product. market policies that helped
Thanks to record foreign in- spur the economy.
vestment, Peru reduced its His daughter, a former con-
gresswoman who served
as first lady during much of
his term, is capitalizing on a channels of prosecution.”
well-funded campaign as
well as those who remem-
ber her father fondly.
Kuczynski, once president
of a U.S.-owned mining
company in West Africa,
has gotten a powerful
boost from those fearful of
the Fujimori name.
“None of the candidates
inspires confidence. We’re
going to defend ourselves
against the imposition of
mining,” said Marilu Marro-
quin, a farmer leading pro-
tests against the Mexican-
owned Tia Maria copper
mine project in southern
Peru.q
debt.
The 44-page report states The report also said Puerto
that Puerto Rico has bor- Rico is spending more gov-
rowed more than $30 bil- ernment revenue on debt
lion to finance deficits since than is allowed by the con-
as early as 1979, though its stitution.
constitution prohibits it from “A court may rule that
Puerto Rico borrowed with-
The constitution also bars out authorization to do so,
the government from issu- with the consequence that
ing loans for more than 30 Puerto Rico may be barred
years, but the commission from issuing further debt in
found that the government the future to finance defi-
has long done that. cits, it may be forced to
For example, a debt was raise taxes, or alternatively, Promise Zone, which in part
incurred in 2014 to repay declare the debt unpay-
debt from 2003, which was able for lack of authoriza-
tion,” the report said. q
Haiti prosecutor
withdraws travel
bans for officialsÂ
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)
— A Haitian prosecutor
has withdrawn a travel
ban he issued against nine
former electoral officials
and 11 Cabinet ministers
in ex-President Michel
Martelly’s government.
Port-au-Prince prosecutor
Jean Danton Leger earlier
this week issued the order
to prevent the people on
the list from leaving the
Minister Evans Paul and
ex-ministers had blasted
Leger for issuing the ban
against them and fought
against it. Leger never
specified a reason for
issuing the ban. He did not
respond to Thursday calls.
But a late Wednesday
statement he signed said
it was cancelled “pending
referral to the ordinary
Justice Minister Camille
Junior Edouard had said
the interim government
had nothing to do with the
prosecutor’s decision.
US: Puerto Rico
nets $25M more
for school mealsÂ
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico
(AP) — The U.S. secretary of
agriculture says his agency
will invest $25 million more
a year to help Puerto Rico
pay for public school meals
amid a dire economic
crisis. Tom Vilsack also
during a three-day trip
to the U.S. territory that
the federal government
will help strengthen rural
communities in the island’s
eastern region. He said part
of eastern Puerto Rico has
been selected as a federal
gives local communities an
advantage when seeking
grants or other federal
assistance. Vilsack said
AmeriCorps volunteers also
will visit the eastern region
where an abandoned U.S.
naval station is located
in an effort to revitalize
communities there.q