Peru

In The Shadow Of The Andes

A stop on the global Israeli travel circuit, this time in Cusco, Peru.

Hilary Larson

Travel Writer

11/06/2012

If you’re not familiar with the international Israeli travel circuit, then it may come as a surprise that Cusco, Peru — fabled city of the Incas and gateway to Machu Picchu — has one of the liveliest Jewish scenes in South America.

What’s more, that scene is almost entirely itinerant, composed of visiting Israelis and the businesses that cater to them. Lima, the capital, has a settled Jewish community with synagogues and museums; Cusco has Hebrew-language tour guides and hummus on the menu.

From the shadows at the edge of Cusco’s central square, the peaks of the Andes are visible in the background. Photos/Elena Fihma

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Peru Recognizes Palestinian State

01/24/2011

(JTA) -- Peru joined several Latin and South American states in recognizing a Palestinian state.

“Today the government communicated to the ambassador of Palestine in Lima recognition of the Palestinian state as free and sovereign,” Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde said Monday, according to reports.

Belaunde did not specify the borders of the state endorsed by Peru.

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Berenson Released From Peruvian Prison

11/09/2010

(JTA) — Lori Berenson, whose imprisonment in Peru became a cause celebre, was released on parole from a Peruvian prison for a second time.

Berenson, 40, a Jewish New Yorker, left the prison in Lima on Monday after a court granted her parole. She had served 15 years of a 20-year sentence for aiding leftist rebels in a plot to overthrow Peru's Congress.

Berenson had been released on parole in May, but was ordered to return to prison in August because police failed to confirm the address in Lima where she would serve out the remainder of her sentence.

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