If the past few days are any indication of things to come, Peru's President-elect Ollanta Humala is in for a rough ride when he takes office on July 28. On Saturday, indigenous protesters in the country's southeast radically upped the stakes in their nearly seven-week campaign against the government's mining and oil/gas policies by taking over an airport in Juliaca, the business hub of the Puno department. Five protesters were killed by the police the previous day ...

Much of the world was shocked and titillated by news of alleged fat-stealing murderers in the Peruvian jungle. But the story may have a much more sinister underbelly. Could the allegation of homicidal liposuction possibly be a smokescreen to distract attention from other crimes, including, some local journalists say, the existence of a death squad that may be operating within the country's national police? The existence of marauding fat stealers was made public mid-November by General Felix Murga, head ...

Pregnant women in Peru are dying at scandalous rates, according to the author of an Amnesty International report into maternal mortality in the South American country. The report, "Fatal Flaws: Barriers to Maternal Health in Peru" found that hundreds of poor, rural and indigenous pregnant women are dying because they are being denied the same health services as other women in the country. It also concluded that the government's response to tackling the problem was inadequate. Peruvian government figures state ...

Peruvians have gone mad for the boxer Kina Malpartida, an unlikely sports figure in this South American country where soccer, even if not played well, is king. You see, Malpartida is a woman but she is idolized by the traditionally macho men of Peru because there is no equivalent male athlete in the country. Malpartida, known as "Dynamite" to her fans, is the World Boxing Association's female super featherweight champion. On June 20, she successfully defended her world title ...