Occurrence of Chemical Contaminants in Peruvian Produce: A Food-Safety Perspective

The presence of chemical contaminants in agricultural products is a continued food-safety challenge in Peru. This country has robust agriculture potential, but its output of fruits and vegetables is severely impacted by massive mining activities, as well as poor farming practices, including the use of polluted irrigation water, misuse of pesticides, and inadequate postharvest conditions. This review examines the current scientific knowledge on the levels of pesticide residues, heavy metals, and mycotoxins on crops produced in Peru. The available data shows that several crop varieties are contaminated with these classes of chemical contaminants, and at levels that exceed the national and international permissible limits. The abundance of chemical contaminants in produce indicates a relevant food-safety issue, which increases the risks of chronic human diseases, like cancer—a leading cause of death in Peru. Finally, this review presents recommendations to address these contamination problems in produce grown in the Andean country.

Main generic frames in the media coverage of environmental popular consultations in Colombia

Guided by the Framing Theory, this paper presents the final results of a content analysis performed on a group of news from three cases of environmental popular consultations in Colombia, aiming to find the main generic frames on them to understand how the debate was shaped within the Andean country during 2017. The context of those consultations was that they took place on the first year without armed confrontation, after the peace agreement was signed, with former FARC guerrilla and when the national debate shifted from the war itself to social justice issues. Results showed that all of the collected stories had, at least, three frames that were mainly human interest, focused on portraying the human side of actors involved; conflict, displaying the disagreement between pro and con sides as well as proclaiming winners and or losers; and attribution of responsibility, putting responsibility on actors and groups involved, and offering solutions such as relying on congress or the highest courts to fill the legal gap. These findings confirm that environmental conflicts constitute a new form of crisis in the post-conflict Colombia.

Populizm religijno-polityczny Eva Moralesa wyzwaniem dla Kościoła katolickiego

The article shows the diffi cult problem of how to renew the dialogue between the Catholic Church, present in Bolivia since the sixteenth century and the populist regime of Evo Morales, nowadays expelled by the Bolivian opposition from his own country. The painful division of the Bolivian society into several distinctly separate groups is a huge missionary challenge for the Catholic Church in Bolivia. Catholicism cannot look indiff erently at the many social experiments conducted in the area of this very poor Andean country. What is required, is a radical change of the spiritual formation, which will lead effi ciently to a renewed reception of the Gospel in the free heart of the Bolivian nation.

Comparison of seismic provisions of Andean countries

This paper presents a seismic provisions comparison used in the countries of the Andean region. A brief summary of the Andean region seismicity, showing historical seismicity and the probability of earthquake occurrence in each Andean country and the overall zone is pre-sented; then a seismic provisions comparison is presented in tables taking into account the seismic hazard according to the peak ground acceleration, the site effects according to the soil classification and response spectra pseudo-acceleration. Finally, a static analysis of seismic force is carried out for each country in an intermediate-to-high seismic zone, the base design shear force is computed, and the results are compared.

Beyond copper: China and Chile relations

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the Chile–China diplomatic and economic relations in the light of the extension of the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and the Chile's accession to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2019.Design/methodology/approachThis study takes Chile as a case of study to identify the main upcoming challenges and opportunities for relations between China and Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries. The study examines news and official data on trade, investment and foreign policy.FindingsThe findings are twofold. First, the increasing and diversification of exports from Chile to China. Second, the participation of Chinese companies in public tendering procedures, which is increasing Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. The growing volume of trade does not make Chile's economy more dependent on copper exports, and Chinese investment may help solve the structural deficit in infrastructures of the Andean country.Originality/valueThis study presents an overview of Chile as a partner for China and evaluates the relationship's impact on the development of the former. Recently collected data on bilateral trade and investments are analyzed to contribute to the emerging literature on Chinese and Chile relations.

China’s Rise in Latin America

In November 2004 Chinese President Hu Jintao’s first tour of Latin America marked the beginning of a new phase in Beijing’s relationship with the region. Since then China has followed a three-fold political and economic strategy towards Latin America: first, to secure the provision of oil, minerals and agricultural products; second, to create access to new markets for the country’s growing export volume of manufactured products; and third to make sure that Latin American governments adhere to the ‘one China principle’ in their foreign relations. This is of particular importance vis-à-vis Latin America where China had previously lost diplomatic ground when some states officially recognised Taiwan. The article asks as to whether and what extent China and Latin America countries have become economic and strategic partners. Do Latin American governments play the China card to hedge against Washington? Special emphasis is given to the case of Ecuador which exemplifies the PRC’s growing prominence as an actor in Latin America. When Chinese foreign policy makers began to show some interest in Latin America during the early 1960s Ecuador was not a priority. However, the PRC has significantly strengthened its interests towards, and presence in, Ecuador since 2005. The provision of oil but also metals – primarily copper and cold - and increasingly agricultural products has taken centre-stage in Beijing’s strategy towards the Andean country. The article argues that while China’s influence in Latin America has undoubtedly increased significantly during the last half-decade, its role is still overshadowed by the US.

Migrantes retornados de España y los Estados Unidos: Perfiles y situación laboral en Ecuador

Introducción: El retorno de migrantes ecuatorianos desde el extranjero ha tenido un aumento significativo en los últimos años provocando un inusitado interés académico y gubernamental hacia este fenómeno, por los retos que conlleva la inserción de esta población. En este sentido, el objetivo de este artículo es analizar los perfiles de quienes volvieron de España y los Estados Unidos, principales destinos de la emigración ecuatoriana, con la finalidad de identificar sus particularidades sociodemográficas y su situación laboral. Método: Se trabajó con los datos de la VI Ronda de la Encuesta de Condiciones de Vida de Ecuador del Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos en 2014. Se construyó una base de datos de migrantes retornados y se desagregó por países para analizar sus perfiles en perspectiva comparada, tomando en cuenta variables como sexo, edad, escolaridad, ramas de actividad y otras para aproximarse a los motivos y al año del retorno.Resultados: Los hallazgos muestran un incremento en los retornos después del 2010, año del último Censo de Población del país andino. A nivel comparativo, se observa una población más envejecida en los ecuatorianos que volvieron de los Estados Unidos, lo que pudiera tener relación con flujos migratorios más antiguos hacia ese país. También hay una baja participación en el empleo de las mujeres retornadas de ambos grupos, así como diferencias en cuanto al nivel educativo y a las ocupaciones laborales post-retorno. Discusión y/o Conclusión: A partir de los resultados se corrobora la hipótesis de perfiles diferenciados según el país del que retornaron los migrantes, lo que pudiera explicar su inserción en ciertos nichos laborales predominantes en cada grupo analizado. Introduction: The return of Ecuadorian migrants from abroad has increased significantly in recent years provoking an unusual academic and governmental interest on this issue due to the challenges associated with the insertion of this population. The object of this paper is to analyse the profiles and identify the socio-demographic characteristics and labour situation of those who returned from Spain or the United States, main destinations of Ecuadorian emigration.Method: We worked with data from the Sixth Round of the Living Conditions Survey of Ecuador carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and Census in 2014. A database of returned migrants was constructed and disaggregated by country to analyse their profiles in a comparative perspective, taking into account variables such as sex, age, education, field of activity, and others that allow the identification of motives and year of return.Results: The findings show an increase in returns after 2010, year of the last Population Census in the Andean country. At the comparative level, it was observed that returning Ecuadorians form a more aged population, which could be related to the older migratory flows towards that country. They also present a low employment participation of returned women of both groups, as well as differences in education levels and post-return occupations.Discussion and/or Conclusion: Based on the results, the hypothesis of differentiated profiles according to the country from which the migrants returned is corroborated, which may explain their insertion in certain predominant labour niches in each group analysed.

José María Moreno Galván y el Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende en Chile. Compromiso ético y estético. / José María Moreno Galván and the Salvador Allende Solidarity Museum in Chile. Ethical and aesthetic commitment.

En los años 70, el crítico de arte sevillano José María Moreno Galván participó en la Operación Verdad promovida por el presidente Salvador Allende en Chile, la cual buscaba mostrar de primera mano la realidad social y política que estaba viviendo el país andino, al tiempo de desmitificar las falsas especulaciones que se ocupó de alimentar la prensa tradicionalista europea. Fue entonces cuando Moreno Galván puso en marcha la creación de uno de los museos latinoamericanos más importantes de su historia: el Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende situado en Santiago de Chile. José María Moreno Galván and the Salvador Allende Solidarity Museum in Chile. Ethical and aesthetic commitment.In the 1970s, the sevillian art critic José María Moreno Galván participated in the Operación Verdad, promoted by the president Salvador Allende in Chile, which sought to show first hand the social and political reality that the Andean country was living, while demystifying the false speculations that the traditional European press was feeding. It was then that Moreno Galván started the creation of one of the most important Latin American museums of its history: the Salvador Allende Solidarity Museum located in Santiago de Chile.

Mass balance of Glaciar Zongo, Bolivia, between 1956 and 2006, using glaciological, hydrological and geodetic methods

The longest continuous glaciological mass-balance time-series in the intertropical zone of South America goes back to 1991 on Glaciar Zongo, Bolivia. Photogrammetric and hydrological data have been used to (1) check the specific net balance over long periods and (2) extend the mass-balance time series over the last 50 years. These data reveal a bias in the glaciological mass balance which can be explained by the field-measurement sampling network. Our study shows a large temporal variability of the surface mass balances in the ablation area and reveals strong relationships between independent surface mass-balance data coming from selected ablation areas with numerous data. It demonstrates the very large contribution (80%) of low-elevation ranges (one-third of the surface) to the specific mass balance and, consequently, the importance of the reduction of the area of the tongue. With these new results, Glaciar Zongo offers the longest and most accurate mass-balance series in any Andean country. The dataset shows that Glaciar Zongo experienced a relatively steady state over the period 1956–75, with even a slight mass gain over 1963–75, and a rapid and continuous decrease since then.