LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s government on Friday rejected a pardon request from jailed former President Alberto Fujimori, saying he does not suffer from a terminal illness, in a move likely to aggravate tensions with the opposition.

Fujimori, 74, was imprisoned on corruption and human rights convictions stemming from his 1990-2000 rule, when he beat back hyperinflation and concentrated power to crack down on a bloody leftist insurgency known as the Shining Path.

LIMA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Petrobras plans to leave Peru, six high-level sources inside and outside of the company said, as the overextended state-run firm sheds assets abroad to focus on its domestic market.

The sources did not say how much the Peruvian assets – which basically consists of two natural gas blocks – could be worth. Globally, the company reportedly expects to generate about $9 billion from an asset sale program being carried out to help fund the development of enormous offshore reserves in Brazil.

LIMA, June 7 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Petrobras plans to leave
Peru, six high-level sources inside and outside of the company
said, as the overextended state-run firm sheds assets abroad to
focus on its domestic market.

The sources did not say how much the Peruvian assets – which
basically consists of two natural gas blocks – could be worth.
Globally, the company reportedly expects to generate about $9
billion from an asset sale program being carried out to help
fund the development of enormous offshore reserves in Brazil.

LIMA (Reuters) – Lower commodities prices are crimping growth in emerging markets like Peru even as growing confidence in the U.S. economy leads some central bankers to start preparing for life after stimulus.

Most policymakers see the U.S. economy heading toward an increasingly solid recovery, especially in the second half of this year, Peru’s Central Bank President Julio Velarde said during the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit.

LIMA (Reuters) – Venezuelan President-elect Nicolas Maduro won a collective show of support from South American leaders early on Friday in Lima as his plans to widen an audit of electronic votes helped calm tensions over the disputed election.

The last-minute meeting of the regional group Unasur ended in Peru hours before Maduro’s scheduled swearing in ceremony in Caracas.

LIMA (Reuters) – Venezuelan President-elect Nicolas Maduro was expected to get a collective show of support from South American leaders in Lima on Thursday, but also face calls to defuse tensions with his opponents over the disputed vote.

The last-minute meeting of the regional group Unasur was being held in Peru a day before he is to be sworn in on Friday.

LIMA (Reuters) – South American leaders will make a collective show of support for Venezuelan President-elect Nicolas Maduro on Thursday in Lima, officials said, as the United States and his opponents call for a recount of the disputed vote.

Venezuela Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said he would attend the last-minute meeting of the regional group Unasur in Peru a day before Maduro’s swearing in on Friday.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Hugo Chavez’s exit from the world stage may take the sting out of an ideological battle that has enveloped Latin America since a new batch of leftists started taking power about 15 years ago to challenge U.S. “imperialism”.

Fans say Chavez’s hyperkinetic energy is irreplaceable, and even before his death last Tuesday the appeal of his boisterous, hard line approach to economic and foreign policy had faded.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Hugo Chavez’s exit from the world stage may take the sting out of an ideological battle that has enveloped Latin America since a new batch of leftists started taking power about 15 years ago to challenge U.S. “imperialism”.

Fans say Chavez’s hyperkinetic energy is irreplaceable, and even before his death last Tuesday the appeal of his boisterous, hard line approach to economic and foreign policy had faded.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela will hold a presidential election on April 14, officials said on Saturday, as acting President Nicolas Maduro tries to benefit from an emotional outpouring for his late mentor, Hugo Chavez, and win his own term in office.

Maduro, a physically imposing former union leader who served as foreign minister and vice president under Chavez, has vowed to keep Chavez’s self-styled socialist revolution alive.