El Peringo

Does having security make you secure? Some comments on the situation in Lima, Peru.

2011-03-10T22:29:00.000-05:00

In this well written piece for LivinginPeru.com, Larry Pitman covers many of the security issues that affect those of us who call Lima home. As Larry's neighborhood had been suffering some instances of breakins and petty theft their neighborhood decided to band together and hire a private security person for their block.

Photo - courtesy of PUCP

Now, as with many things in Peru, this is a very informal procedure and consisted of the neighbors getting together, many meeting each other for the first time - this also might have something to do with crime in Peru as neighbors rarely know or for that matter recognize the person living across the street. At these meetings the neighborhood determines that they want a watchman on the street. Generally, a local man is hired to carry out security duties on the street. At first glance this man would hardly seem to put a scare into any evildoers and thieves that might be in the area. Their physical presence would hardly put a scare into school aged children let alone hardened criminal elements.

Photo Courtsey Patazas.com

However, with little money budgeted for a more formal security presence (as pictured at left) this is generally the best that the neighbors can do. At the very least it is somebody that is physically present, not including the several hours a day that they are found dozing at their posts. Catching a little shut-eye is the least of the concerns as these watchman are almost always giving little training let along access to any type of restroom facilities. Further complicating matters is that they do not have either a radio or a phone to alert the local municipal security of the police.

What they are good for though is keeping taps on the gossip of the neighborhood. They without a doubt would be able to make confirm if there was a spouse having an affair, if a local kid was sneaking out to smoke some "hierba buena" or who on the block doesn't take their trash out on time.

As Larry mentioned in the article on his block ever since they hired a local security guy there have been no breakins or petty theft so perhaps they security agents have a few tricks up their sleeves. At the very least they are always good to check in on the local gossip.

Lima: More Bus Stops per meter than any other city on earth

2011-03-04T08:23:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, the joys of living in Lima. Here in this wonderfully designed urban landscape we, the users of the "public" transport system, have the luxury of having more bus tops than street corners. How you might ask is this possible? Well it just is. Apparently, every person in Lima is a moving bus stop. It does not matter where you are if you stick out your arm and flick your index finger a bus, that just seconds before was careening down the boulevard, will come to a screeching halt. Not even Superman had this type of power. All it takes is a flick of the wrist to exercise power over the "public" transport system here in Lima. This hold true in all circumstances. The power is so great that each individual possesses that a bus will stop 3 or more times on the same city block to pick up or drop off passengers.

The only thing that is now required is for the Municipality of Lima to remove those ugly blue signs that faintly try to indicate where the "officially" sanctioned bus tops are. While they are at it they can also remove the bus top prohibited signs as, if we are going to be truly honest with ourselves, had little affect as to where the people boarded or disembarked their bus.

So instead of complaining about the lack of order and respect of the law in Lima's "public" transport system we users should rejoice in the fact that to some extent Lima has created what could be the world's first individualized mass transit system. Hats off to you Lima!

How Many Bus Stops Are There?

2011-02-25T11:06:00.004-05:00

Anyone who is familiar with "public transport" - term is used very loosely in this context - in Lima will be able to understand the question posed in the title.

Today, on my commute into work, as my bus/combi stopped at intersections, bus stops, where bus stops were prohibited, at stoplights, in the middle of the street, etc. I got to wondering if the diver or the cobrador know how many stops were on there route?

I ask this question because in must transport systems each bus travels on a particular route and has X stops along the way. Express buses have less and local buses have more stops. This is all normal. However, in Lima this is not something that is normal as bus stops exist only as a term. Yes, there are official stops with their blue sign saying paradero (bus stop in Spanish) and people will use therm but buses will stop wherever there are passengers. This

means stopping 3-4 times on the same block in some instances, waiting 30 seconds for a passenger to saunter to the bus from a alleyway, or simply parking and waiting at a stoplight as it goes through various changes trying to fill up the bus with as many people as possible. Do remember that there is always room for another passenger on a Lima bus!

This lack of a transport system that uses something as simple as a bus stop leads to all sorts of chaos and frustration. Traffic flows are disrupted, people take great risks crossing streets to hail their bus, and buses will rapidly stop causing those passengers standing to feel as if they are on some type of amusement ride (without the safety harness).

Many people seek to put the blame on all of this on the bus drivers and their cobradores (fare collectors), but I see the situation differently. As the driver and collector receive a percentage of the passenger revenue it is in their interest to pick up as many passengers as possible and their compensation system would have to be changed to de-incentivize this practice. However, this does not entirely take the blame away from them. A second culprit in this are the municipal governments who have not even attempted to complete a study on the best areas to create bus stops. Instead they appear to have just randomly put up signs for bus stops and others to prohibit bus stops. Finally, the last and perhaps the greatest culprit in this whole mess are the bus users themselves. Their inability to make use of existing bus stops combined with their egoistical me first attitude form a lethal combination. Little do they know that if they were to walk a couple of extra blocks this would reduce the amount of stops and help all the reach their destination more rapidly and safer.

So, if you want to play a fun little game next time you are on a bus in Lima, ask the cobrador just how many stops are along the route as I am sure he/she will not have any idea as to just how many stops there are.

Illegal Immigrants make their way to Peru

2011-02-24T12:10:00.000-05:00

It looks like Peru's economic success is starting to attract people from other countries who are looking to get a fresh start on life.

Peru's Official Languages

2011-02-23T14:14:00.000-05:00

According to UNESCO's latest study on world languages in danger two of the more common languages of Peru were included ; Quechua and Aymara. Although some 6 million Peruvians speak one of the other, with quechua being the more prevalent of the two, they still managed to make the list of endangered languages.

More needs to be done to ensure that these two languages, officially recognized by Peru's Constitution, do not indeed become extinct. The fact that they are officially recognized is really just lip service as the Peruvian government does very little to promote or use their languages in its official business. Translators are rarely used during government speeches, bilingual workers in government offices, schools, and banks are scarce, and outside of Movistar forget finding a customer service agent on the phone.

Peru has one of two different options: One would be to follow the path of other countries, like Canada, that have a thriving minority language and begin to incorporate its other languages into the daily life of all its citizens; the second would be to remove quechua and aymara from the constitution as official languages.

Even with the potential increased costs, I would hope that the government adapts a model similar to what is done in Canada and other countries than watch to rich languages potentially die. It might be time to spend some of this economic boom money to invest in making Peru a truly multi-lingual society.

Peru Transit Laws Not Having Desired Effect

2011-02-22T14:43:00.000-05:00

Residing in Peru, and especially in the country's capital of Lima, one adapts to how things work or in some cases do not work. Several months ago there was a big announcement that the government would begin cracking down on pedestrians for a variety of offenses with the hopes that this would help make the streets safer and improve traffic flow.

Withing the first couple of days 10,000 some fines were give out throughout the country, with the majority handed out in Lima. However, as one can imagine, after the first couple of weeks there has been nary a mention of this new law and a simple observation of pedestrian behavior in the streets of Lima will show that the law has not had its desired affect on changing people's habits as is evidenced by a recent follow up study.

For us Peruvian veterans this does not come as all as a surprise as most times people in the country seem to believe that the law only applies when the authorities are present. Until there is a dramatic change in people's morales and values do not expect to see pedestrians waiting for the light to change to cross or using the pedestrian bridges to cross the expressway. Long live el vivo!

Is Lima Loud. And is it Excessive

2011-02-18T13:14:00.000-05:00

Recently, a report was published that indicated that Lima has a very high noise level. For those of us who live here that goes with out saying. Although the report measured in certain parts of the city the noise level it did not get into the real details of why? Outside of mentioning that there are some older vehicles that have loud motors and that the Lima driver honks the horn in excess the report did not look at to some of the underlying causes of this noise.

The single most important factor that this study should have included is the fact that almost all of this noise has one simple solution, changing human behavior. The streets are noisy because Limeños want it that way. That is the only conclusion that one can draw. Not honking the horn would result in a nearly 100% reduction in the street noise, getting the street vendors to stop whistling would also go a long way to providing a more peaceful environment.

However, as we know, changing human behavior is hard and by the looks of it Limeños have gotten used to a certain degree to this noise and prefer to complain about it than do something to solve it. It is everyone else´s problem but not mine is the classic refrain. The authorities also only pay lip service to this problem, perhaps because they can´t hear the complaints due to all the noise.

Here is another opinion on the same subject.

2009-02-05T08:45:00.003-05:00

In a country that has a virutal monoply on beer. I am not just referring to the fact that there is only one "national" brewery in Peru, but rather that there really only exists a blong lager style. Fortunatly, this is changing as Peru's best beer, Cusquena, has rolled out a new wheat beer for summer.

I am anxiously waiting to try this new creation. Hopefully, new flavors will follow. I am on my way to pick up a bottle to sample.

Combis piratas en Lima

2009-01-22T08:18:00.004-05:00

Maybe you have happened to catch the theme of my recent blog posts........Yes, that is correct that horrific state of transport in Lima. This next item - see the link to the story in Spanish from a great Lima newspaper Peru21.

The essence of the story is that there are thousand of informal combis - the little vans that somehow are considered public transportation - that circulate the highways and streets of Lima. By being informal they not normally not insured, the drivers are not paid adequately, and this basically gives them the right to do whatever they want - change routes, stop where they wish, etc.

Unfortunately, the authorities here in Lima really do not see this as a major problem and the typical citizen of Lima is also to blame as they - to save a couple of cents will continue to ride these death traps on 4 wheels until the authorities do something to get this vehicles off the streets.

Sadly, this solution is a long ways off in the future. Until then, when entering a combi do so with the knowledge that this is the cheapest unregulated thrill ride that you can find for under $0.25.

Enjoy!

What Goes Up....Does Not Go Down

2008-12-16T12:26:00.005-05:00

The never ending tranport issues in Lima are always front and center in the local press.

This story, summarized nicely in English by the folks at Living in Peru, mentions the fact that a couple of months ago when oil prices were at all time highs the transport units in Lima (remember there is not a public transit system in Lima) raised their prices in response to increased fuel costs.

Now that oil prices have tumbled student groups in Lima have begun to mention that student fares should drop to take into account the new lower prices for fuel. Apart from the students there appears to be little protest from the other users of Lima's transport units. A reduction in student fares should be immediately implemented but I would hold off on reducing the adult fare and hopefully the transport companies would use some of this profit to upgrade their 20th century buses for something more modern and cleaner burning.

Sadly, I do not hold out much hope for this as there has been very little initiative amongst the various actors that are involved in Lima's chaotic urban transport system for trying anything different. Someday these students will understand that companies will raise fares overnight but it will take months of public pressure before they will even consider dropping fares even 10 cents.

The Lima Traffic Situation is Laughable

2008-12-16T11:35:00.003-05:00

I had to chuckle to myself yesterday when I cam across the following headling from Lima's major newspaper, El Comercio, 68 Traffic Citations Given per Hour. Why this headline produced laughter is the fact that I could stand on almost any given street corner in this bustling city of nearly 9 million and give out 68 citations in about 15 minutes.

The story, in Spanish, indicates that there has been a reduction in the number of citations compared to previous years, which boggles my mind as the number of cars, buses, and other transport vehicles has been steadily increasing as Peru and especially Lima continues to enjoy an economic boom. It would make sense to assume (big assumption I know) that with more traffic on the roads the number of fines should increase because I can assure you that the typical Lima driver has not all of a sudden become civil and now obeys all traffic signs.

If you can understand Spanish give the story a read as it is truly a laugher.

2008-12-11T08:13:00.004-05:00

As much of the U.S. foreign policy lays in waste after nearly a decade of Bush administration policies, the U.S. relationship with Latin America is no exception.

In a piece for the Council of the Americas, former President of Bolivia, Jorge Quiroga, laid out a plan for the new Obama administration to re-establish the US./Latin American relationship through partical proposals that take into account the many common issues in this relationship.

Although many of these ideas are straigtforward many are new for people, who have not paid much attention U.S. policy in its own neighborhood.

Reducing Traffic Stress in Lima

2008-12-10T16:39:00.002-05:00

Living in Lima, Peru comes with all the joys of a city of nearly 9 million people with a transport system deisgned for a tiny fraction of this number. With the Peruvian economy booming more and more people are purchasing, many for the first time, cars. Behind the wheel of their new cars these people take their vehicles onto the already congested city streets. The good news is that they streets are so congested that it is hard to see what a few more cars will do to make things any worse. Within a year or so the transport situation in Lima will reach a point of no return.

Added to this problem are the thousands of "buses" (I use this term lightly as many of them decades ago lost any quality that would have made them a bus) cruise the streets looking for passengers. As their is very light, read not at all, enforcement these transport units (better term) are allowed to do whatever they want including stopping and picking up passengers wherever they wish. If you really want to have some fun ask a Lima transport unit driver how many bus stops are on his route and I gurantee that he will be unable to answer the question.

Thankfully, there appears to be some one at least trying to make this situation a bit better for everybody and it comes from a most unlikely source, the Dept. of Labor (Min. del Trabajo) http://www.elcomercio.com.pe/ediciononline/HTML/2008-12-10/regularan-jornadas-laborales-choferes-transporte-publico.html. They announced that the will be cracking down on the companies that make their drivers work 12+ hour days without a break. This is with the goal of reducing the hours of the drivers and thus their stress and levels of drowsiness, which will hopefully correleate to less accidents and a happy driving experience for everybody.

I do not hold out a lot of hope but something needs to be done to try to confront this transport beast that has become unbearable here in Lima so here's to the Dept. of Labor!

U.S. Media Talking about Latin America!

2008-11-28T10:35:00.002-05:00

Finally, a major U.S. media source has begun a discussion about Latin America. I for one hope that this becomes more of a trend as the U.S. has for to long ignored its southern neighbors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/opinion/28fri1.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Long-term U.S. goals

2008-11-28T09:49:00.002-05:00

David Brooks, NYT columnist, hits the nail on the head on how the U.S. needs to get out of its short-term mindset and begin to construct a long-term economic vision. I especially like the long-term capital gains idea to not begin to reduce rates until an investment is held for 3-5 years. Right on Mr. Brooks!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/opinion/28brooks.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Peru and Venezuela

2006-05-06T18:12:00.000-05:00

Hugo Chávez is back at it again. For somebody that criticizes the U.S. for meddling in other countries affairs he is sure not practicing what he preaches. While harshly attacking the U.S. he has conveniently adapted many of the strategies that the U.S. has used for centuries to advance its causes across the region. From verbal scare tactics to petro-bribery he makes sure that he is more than just heard.

Chávez has the innate ability to get under peoples skin and very few resist the urge to fight back. We all know someone who manifests this behavior be it a friend, co-worker, or neighbor. Try as we might we consistently fall into their trap and cannot resist lashing out, which is exactly what they desire.

This whole situation is currently unfolding in Peru. As Peru moves closer to its runoff election between Ollanta Humala and Alan García, Chávez has begun to escalate his rhetoric and become bolder with his actions. Recently, he has been very up front in supporting the candidacy of Peru’s Nationalist Candidate Ollanta Humala. In addition to supporting Humala, he has simultaneously been criticizing the potential opponents of Humala. His harshest criticism has been reserved for Peru’s former President Alan García, the probable opponent of Humala.

His attacks on García have been unrelenting and he has classified García as a lying, thieving, git to put into words of an English friend of mine. True or not, Chávez has let his ego get the best of him this time. By calling out García, Chávez has perhaps bitten off more than he can chew. Say what you want about his policies but García is one of the most skilled orators and craftiest politicians in the Western Hemisphere, on par with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. As the saying goes García could sell ice to an Eskimo.

The spat has also involved the current Peruvian administration of Alejandro Toledo. In a tit-for-tat both countries have withdrawn their ambassadors. Remember that international diplomacy is nothing more than four year olds fighting over a toy in the sandbox. Its mine, no its mine, you are playing dirty, no you are. Use larger adult words and you have what some would call an international diplomatic crisis. They are now at the stage where they begin to throw sand at each other. Sadly, there is no mother who can enter and put some order and discipline to the situation.

Now it is time to take a step back form the sandbox and watch these two children have at it.