PERU: LENDERS DELAY VOTE ON FUNDING CAMISEA GAS PIPELINE.
The administration of US President George W. Bush has been advocating approval for funding the controversial Camisea project to pipe natural gas from the rain forests in the Peruvian Amazon to the coast for possible export to the US. Opponents say the project, which would enrich some of Bush's largest campaign contributors, risks the destruction of the rain forest, threatens its indigenous peoples, and endangers rare species of wildlife. Those strong concerns brought an unexpected delay in the vote to fund the project.
The Bush administration wanted financial support for Camisea through both the US Export Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
On July 30, the IDB put off until Aug. 6 the vote on whether it would provide a US$75 million loan for the US$2.6 billion project. In addition to the US$75 million loan, IDB directors must decide whether to lead a consortium of private banks that will lend the project several hundred million dollars more.
IDB spokesman David Drosdoff said that the delay came at the request of IDB president Enrique Iglesias, who "wanted to give more time for some of the directors to consult with their governments."
Ex-Im Bank also put off until at least next week a decision on whether to approve US$200 million in financing for drilling operations in Camisea.
The intensive lobbying of senior US Treasury and IDB officials by project opponents, including Amazon Watch, Amazon Alliance, and Environmental Defense (ED), appears to have moved the Bush administration from supporting the project to leaning toward abstaining when a final vote is taken. A federal law requires environmental assessments to be completed 120 days before the US votes on a multilateral development bank loan. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) reportedly told Treasury that the Camisea project did not meet that requirement.
"If this [delay] can be translated into doing something about the problems that have clearly arisen in the project, instead of being just a delay for one week and then they'll vote to approve it, that would be huge," said Aaron Goldzimer of ED, one of the groups that are calling for a full review of the project.
Camisea a priority for Toledo
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, during a recent US trip, called the Camisea project "vital" to the financial rehabilitation of Peru, which has more than US$30 billion in foreign debt.
Peruvian officials say it would cut energy costs, replace...
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