The dire situation in Southern Peru continues due to the extreme temperatures in the region of Puno. Isabel Guerra writes in Living in Peru, the most vulnerable victims are children, who are dying from pneumonia and respiratory illnesses. To date, there have been 433 registered deaths due to the cold [es]. This is in comparison to the 480 deaths across Latin America due to the AH1N1 virus, which has received much more media and governmental attention.

However, there have been some strong and powerful images emerging from the region, including this video, that show the victims of this cold wave, which has caused quite a reaction from some Peruvians.

The harshness of the video impacted those that saw the video, which is shown in the comments section by those who criticize the journalists who made the video. For example, the YouTube user named beto1726 writes:

…cuanto morbo d stos periodistas el de ver y no aser ni mi***a si sabian q iban a encontrar a ninos sufriendo por q no llevaron ayuda de medicamentos desde lima asiendo en su canal una colecta entre tanto gerente q tienen…

The user Piacostar responds on behalf of the journalists:

No justifico … pero en honor a la verdad, los periodistas no somos médicos, ni abogados… solo informamos… es lo único que podemos hacer… e indignarnos como el resto del mundo… nuestro poder no va más allá que el de mostrar una realidad… cruda, es verdad, esperando que con eso se revele lo que sucede y quienes sí pueden y DEBEN hacer algo al respecto, LO HAGAN!

It is not only the cold and the governmental improvisation that is affecting the low-income rural population in Puno, but also the poor management of donations received from those with good intentions. Bobsparz from the blog Caviar de Cianuro [es] , writes about one example of donations not arriving to their intended destination:

hace días la SUNAT incautó 32 toneladas de arroz (en 630 sacos) de un donativo alimentario del PMA para la gente de Puno. Resulta que el organismo internacional contrató los transportes de la empresa Industria Arrocera de América (Induamérica) quienes a la vez contrataron a la transportista Flores Casas debido que excedía su capacidad logística para poder transportar los donativos hacia Puno. Las donaciones fueron de Lambayeque hacia Lima para luego enrumbar a Puno en 8 camiones de Induamérica y en 3 de Flores Casas. Los donativos llevados en la última empresa transportista nunca llegaron y parte de las donaciones se hallaron en un mercado de Ica.

Por el robo cometido 20 mil familias de la sierra sur que soportan el frío no podrán recibir su alimento correspondiente. En total no fueron 32 toneladas sino 100 las que se perdieron en el camino de Lima a Puno. Realmente vergonzoso.

Corruption is not the only problem that is presented to those who want to help the people of Puno. Barbara Drake, an ex-pat from the United States, writes in her blog An American in Lima:

In any other country, the Red Cross would be on the scene tending to victims and providing emergency services, but guess what? Peru’s Red Cross is a private, family-owned business that operates according to its own idiosyncratic methods, not those of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Society. The Peru Red Cross does virtually nothing during disasters and even less to prevent them.

Why can’t the International Red Cross intervene and help establish a true Red Cross in Peru? Because the family that “owns” the Red Cross in Peru has registered the name with SUNAT and technically “owns” the Red Cross brand in the country. If you think this is an outrage, join the club. The Peruvian government should intervene, rescind the name from private ownership and help get a real Red Cross established in Peru ASAP.

This situation is complex, and other structural problems are demonstrated during this crisis. Francisco Canaza of Apuntes Peruanos [es] has the opinion that the government's actions in this situation leave a lot to be desired. However, this is nothing new and he writes about some of the deep-seated issues (bold type is the blogger's emphasis):

La donación es un parche. El problema real es la desatención del Estado a aquellas zonas alejadas. La real obligación del Estado es proveer servicios médicos suficientes a todos los ciudadanos. Sin embargo, enfermedades simples degeneran en muerte en las comunidades de la sierra, por la ausencia de servicios de salud que puedan prestar atención oportuna. … (pero) La mortalidad se genera por el bajo nivel de defensas que los pobladores tienen por la limitada dieta.

Otro punto: Una simple caminata por zonas altas consume miles de calorías en poco tiempo. Los ciudadanos de Puno, Cusco, zonas de Arequipa, Ayacucho y Apurimac se enfrentan a caminatas extensas y su dieta no está adecuada para compensar el extremo requerimiento alimenticio. La ingesta de proteínas y calorías es bajísima en la sierra. La ingesta de carne, por ejemplo, es limitadísima. Sin embargo se promueve mil veces el reparto de leche como un gran logro. Peor aún, se insiste en modelos como el “papapán” que terminan por ser ridículos en su aporte dietético.

Finally, Rafo León writes in his column for the magazine Somos of the newspaper El Comercio about some interesting aspects of globalization and its harmful effects in the Peruvian altiplano. For example, many people use synthetic clothing instead of wool that is much warmer. Instead of constructing houses of adobe, which is generally the traditional housing material that best maintains warmth, they now are using brick and aluminum. The tarwi and quinua are foods that being used less and less in the children's diet and malnutrition increases.

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