Peru: Debate over tuna and liquor snafu

In the aftermath of the deadly August 15^th earthquakes in Peru two unusual stories have emerged:

* The Peruvian and Venezuelan governments quarreled over the handing out of tuna cans with the faces of Hugo Chavez and Peruvian opposition leader Ollanta Humala (image). Peruvian president Alan Garcia deemed the aid as “electoral propaganda” though the Venezuelan ambassador to Peru denied that “party politics” were involved in earthquake assistance from Venezuela.

* In the meantime, the Peruvian government has backtracked from a promotion of the country’s most popular liquor- Pisco. The drink’s label was changed to “Pisco 7.9” (the magnitude of the quake) and was meant as gratitude for international aid. Yet the initiative was stopped after a flurry of public and media criticism, particularly from the city of Pisco which suffered more than 300 deaths and major damage after the tremors.

Image- Living in Peru

Sources- Guardian UK, Seattle Times, UPI, BBC News, The Latin Americanist