A young South African kayaker following the Amazon River from source to sea is in stable condition after being shot and robbed by a pair attackers while on a Peruvian tributary.

David du Plessis, 24, was paddling down the Ucayali River near the province capital of Pucallpa, when two young men shot him numerous times, according to his father who spoke to the Vancouver Sun.

His mother told media sources that Du Plessis had decided to move closer to the shore after peculiar behaviour from some of the dolphins in the river.

“They started acting out of character by bashing his kayak. He didn’t want his kayak to break so he moved to the edge,” said Robyn Spence Wolff. Unfortunately, two men suddenly appeared from the jungle and Du Plessis’ close proximity to the shore put him within bullet range.  

“They set up an ambush and they shot him from the woods,” said his father Louis du Plessis. The first knocked him out of his kayak and into the water, where he was hit a second time as he swam to shore. The final shot hit him when he reached land, said Louis.

Du Plessis then ran 5km through the jungle to the nearest tribe begging for help, something that was almost impossible because of the damage done by the shrapnel.

“He tried calling out but because of the gunshot to his neck, no sound came out,” said Spence Wolff. “He managed to attract their attention and ask for help. They wanted money to help him and when he said he didn’t have any, they took him to another tribe where he was left in a boat for four hours while the people argued about who was going to help him, until he started vomiting blood.”

Du Plessis was then taken downriver in a motorized boat to Pucallpa and eventually flown to a hospital in Lima in large thanks to the beverage company SABMiller, according to his parents.

“When we first spoke he was crying and telling me to come and fetch him,” said Spence Wolff. “I didn’t think he was going to make it.”

In intensive care, it was discovered that he had lost some of his hearing due to shrapnel around his ears and neck, both his lungs were filled with fluid and collapsed, and shrapnel was lodged in his heart.

“If he had gotten shot with anything other than a shotgun he would not be here with us. He is very, very lucky,” said Louis du Plessis.

According to the latest update on his Facebook page World Wonderer – The Amazon, Du Plessis is out of danger and is waiting to find out whether or not the shrapnel around his heart has moved, which will determine the next medical procedure.

“He is in good hands surrounded by the spirit of love. He will pull through. I am going to Lima and will wait till he can come home,” wrote his mother on the Facebook page.

Spence Wolff found out about her son’s attack after she received a phone call from a man named Darwin who only spoke some English. The next few days were a torrent of Facebook updates and phone calls from people around the world trying to help Spence Wolff.

“I need help. Does anyone know anyone in Peru, Davey has had an accident in the jungle, and I do not know where to start,” she wrote on Facebook right after receiving Darwin’s call.

Now both Du Plessis’ father and mother will join him in Lima as he recovers from his traumatic experience.

David, often called “Davey” had set out on his trip in late July from the summit of Mount Mismi, which is believed to be the source of the Amazon. He planned on traveling down the giant river all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Regional police commander in Pucallpa, Col. Cesar Augusto Larrea, told The Associated Press that investigators had gone upriver to locate the attackers but no arrests have been made so far.

In a ceremony on Wednesday, Peruvian president, Ollanta Humala, announced a plan to build an international airport near Cusco which is situated by the well-known tourist attraction, Machu Picchu.

In order to create a new international airport, the president enacted a law to expropriate the land in the town of Chinchero to build the new facility.

The current airport, Alejandro Velasco Astete, is on the outskirts of Cusco and has been unable to withstand the volume of flights due to its limited daytime capacity. It also cannot support the size of major planes because of its geographical location in the hills.

In the recent ceremony, President Humala stated how the new airport was necessary to deal with these inefficiencies. He also announced an investment of US$460m into the project, as well as compensation to the farmers whose land was seized. The president said that the construction will “also generate more jobs and will permit modernisation and added value for the surrounding communities”.

Construction would make the airport closer to the former citadel of the Inca Empire as well as alleviate the traffic pressures from the city of Cusco, which draws an estimated 3,000 tourists per day.

Despite benefits for the economy, there is still concern as to whether the ancient attraction will be able to withstand an increase of tourist traffic. In 1999, with the help of conservationists, UNESCO released a study to the country saying that the increase in pedestrian traffic on the mountainous 48km Inca Trail ruined the geographical infrastructure and, therefore, increased the risks of landslides. Although Peru imposed regulations to the site with restricted access and increased entrance fees, the locals said that the site was still suffering. The report was released more than a decade ago, but the concern still remains.

Currently, tourists venture to Machu Picchu via an approximated 112km trek by foot, bus or train from Cusco. As an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the citadel is internationally protected and for various cultural and environmental reasons. Sitting 2,430m above sea-level and covering 32,500 hectares of tropical mountain forests, it stands as an impressive marker of human interaction within nature. The area also provides a protected environment for some the world’s rare species like the spectacled bear, dwarf brocket, ocelots, and the Andean condor. The UN’s cultural agency has called for Peru to remember to preserve the historical site.

President Humala’s announcement on Wednesday attempted to address the pressures saying that the airport project will not only help tackle poverty, but will also respect the ancient culture.

Peru has surpassed Colombia to become the world’s main producer of counterfeit notes despite the arrest of one of the alleged main counterfeiters Joel Quispe Rodríguez, according to Peruvian and US officials.

Peru now accounts for 17% of all counterfeit dollars in the United States according to Brian Leary a spokesperson for the US Secret Service. So far this year US$17m in false currency has been confiscated.

The change is a startling escalation considering the US only detected the counterfeit bills coming from Peru in 2003. The Andean nation has surpassed even Colombia, which was once responsible for producing 43% of US counterfeit dollars according to InSight, an organisation which studies organised crime in Latin America.

Peruvian police believe the Quispe Rodríguez family is responsible for the bulk of the counterfeiting industry.

Many Peruvians believed that with the arrest of Joel Quispe Rodríguez, who was arrested last year, the illegal industry would falter. However, Police suspect his brother, Raul Quispe Rodríguez, has taken over the operation of the fake money.

After an investigation that lasted several months, police said they arrested two more members of the family. They also seized nearly US$7m worth in counterfeit bills including Euros and Peruvian soles.

On the 2nd August, police seized US$2.3m that they believe was also produced by the Quispe Rodríguez family and headed for the US in tourist souvenirs.

César Cortijo, director of the Peruvian police criminal investigation, said most of the money is being exported.

“We found notebooks with drawings, to make [the bills] look like souvenirs. They had a compartment to hide dollars wrapped in carbon paper to make them invisible to x-rays,” said Cortijo to BBC Mundo.

Peru’s surging production of good quality fake bills has attracted international organised crime, according to a police officer who spoke to the newspaper, Peru21. Peruvian police arrested a Mexican man at Lima’s international airport who carried US$520,000 in false bills. They believe he is connected to the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel.

Peru’s government has vowed to strike “heavy blows” against money launderers working in the country, after admitting it had failed make an impact so far.

Peru’s military confirmed Thursday that five soldiers were killed after the patrol was attacked by the Shining Path rebels in the country’s central Junin region, over 300kms east of Lima.

The Armed Forces Joint Command stated that the soldiers killed from the 2^nd Infantry Brigade were ambushed on Wednesday night where four sergeants and a corporal as well as wounding four other sergeants and a non-commissioned officer.

This attack comes just three months after the country’s Defense and Interior Ministers resigned because of criticism over the death of eight police officers in the nation’s south at the beginning of May.

Allegedly, Shining Path rebels overtook a group of officials as they were pursuing rebel fighters who had abducted 36 workers from the gas fields in the southern Apurimac-Ene region of Cusco.

In the May attack, one officer was able to make it to safety after 17 days in the jungle with a wounded leg. The death of one of the officers caused the father to search the jungle for nine days for his son’s body. Together, these incidents called for the ministers to resign.

Confrontation between the Maoist group and the government has occurred in many of the coca growing regions, including the two incidents above. Recently, the United Nations on Drugs and Crime released a document showing that Peru was second, only to Colombia, as Latin America’s biggest cultivators of coca. Allegedly, the Shining Path rebels have joined with traffickers in order to keep the insurgency going.

Shining Path is considered the country’s ‘leftist-communist’ guerrilla group and has been labelled a ‘terrorist organisation’ by some countries. It was founded in 1980 as a response to ‘bourgeois democracy’ and called for a world revolution towards Maoist-inspired principles. During its first decade, approximately 70,000 people were killed. Since the 1992 capture of the group’s leader, Abimael Guzman, violence has declined.

Gil Kerlikowske, U.S. Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), announced that Colombian cocaine production fell 25% last year and that Peru and Bolivia are now top cultivators and exporters of the drug.

At a conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, the ¨drug czar¨ called the new data “historic.”

Last year Peru produced about 325 tons of cocaine, and Bolivia produced about 265 tons. The ONDCP study also reports a 72% decrease in the amount of cocaine production in Colombia, from approximately 700 tons in 2001 to 195 tons in 2011.

Voz de América said that the news reflects the close alliance between Colombia and the U.S. to combat narco-trafficking. Through Plan Colombia, the US has invested about $US 6 bn since 2000 in order to improve the judicial system, strengthen Colombian democracy, help develop the country and improve the country’s security.

According to an article by EFE, Kerlikowske also said that cocaine use in America has fallen 39% since 2006 and cocaine overdose deaths are down 41%, from 6,726 cases in 2006 to 3,988 in 2009, as revealed by data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

The Peruvian community celebrated 191 years of independence from Spain over the weekend with an event on Avenida de Mayo between Chacabuco and Plaza de Mayo. Traditional dancers in colorful dresses twirled down the street to the stage at the base of the Plaza. Ave de Mayo was lined on both side with food vendors and the smells of grilled chicken, freshly fried churros and more tempted hungry passersby to open their wallets and fill their stomachs. Photographer Beatrice Murch was on hand to document a bit of the morning’s festivities.

Viva el Peru proclaims this ribbon on the side of the stand for grilled chicken.

Large bottles of Inca Kola, the bright yellow soda from Peru, are offered for sale in a stand along Avenida de Mayo.

Cakes by Don Beto tempt passersby on an early Sunday morning.

A Porteño checks out a hand-woven blanket for sale.

Sparks fly from the burning coals cooking skewered chicken.

Couples dance a traditional dance in full costume down Avenida de Mayo.

Women proclaim their Peruvian pride with red and white face paint on their cheeks.

The marching band plays the Peruvian national anthem at the base of Plaza de Mayo.

Two Peruvian bikers who custom modified their bikes admire each other's work.

The old traditions and the new media.

Starting old traditions out young.

A young woman poses for the camera during the festivities.

Outrage is spreading throughout Peru after a Supreme Court ruling has reduced the prison terms for an infamous government death squad who took part in the 1990s killings under the government of Alberto Fujimori.

The panel of Supreme Court judges said the massacre of 25 people amounted to “human rights violations” but not “crimes against humanity” for which the nicknamed Colina death squad, were originally convicted.

With the change in ruling the 15 members will be able to apply for parole. In Peru, defendants convicted of crimes against humanity are not eligible for parole. Those convicted of murder are eligible after serving two-thirds of their sentence.

The group’s leader, former military officer Santiago Martin Rivas, saw his sentence reduced from 25 to 22 years. Another member of the squad, Alberto Pinto, sentenced to 13 years, was released on Monday, while others also saw their sentences reduced. The remaining members will be eligible for reduced sentences for good behavior or working in prison.

Vladimiro Montesinos, the then-spy chief also had his sentence reduced to 20 years, from 25 years. Montesino however, will not be eligible for parole because of his numerous other convictions including smuggling guns to Colombian rebels.

Amnesty International is the latest national organisation to join a growing crowd of people and organisations speaking out against the ruling. Included is the current president of Peru, Ollanta Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, who tweeted that the, “Crimes of the Colina group and their mentors must not be ignored or forgotten. [The] Court ruling stains the honour of our country!”

The Colina group committed 53 murders in total during Fujimori’s war against leftist rebels. The ruling on Monday regards the murder of 25 people including an eight-year-old boy who was killed along with his father at a barbeque.

The president of the Supreme Court Javier Villa Stein, defended the ruling, saying in a TV interview on Monday that “to kill a child is a terrible crime but that doesn’t make it a crime against humanity.”

The ruling also determined that Fujimori gave the group medical insurance, state funds, automobiles, weapons, and training.

Many worry that the decision will be used to push for the release of Fujimori, who is currently serving 25 years for crimes against humanity. He has already tried to appeal his sentence once but was unsuccessful.

Following a wave of anti-mining protests, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala appointed six new ministers to his political cabinet on Monday. Humala had previously replaced half of his Cabinet in December, when he promoted Oscar Valdés from interior minister to prime minister in an attempt to mitigate social unrest in the country.

According to Reuters, Juan Jimenez, a former justice minister and well-known human rights lawyer, will now replace Valdés as prime minister.

Valdés, a former army officer, led a violent crackdown on protesters opposed to Newmont Mining’s $5 billion Conga project in the northern region of Cajamarca which left 17 dead and resigned amid heavy criticism.

Jimenez maintained that the Cabinet would use dialogue as a means of solving social conflicts and would establish a political system with clear and definitive answers on how to address mining problems in Peru.

The newly appointed minister also announced that as part of efforts to maintain stability, the Executive Branch would launch a “comprehensive restructuring” and “reengineering” of the Conflict Management Office of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

The cabinet change comes after an Ipsos poll showed that Humala’s approval rating fell to a new low of 40% this month. Cabinet changes, however, are not totally infrequent in Peru. Many leaders have been known to shuffle their cabinets on 28^th July, Peruvian Independence Day.

This year´s independence day marks the anniversary of Humala’s first year in office.

The General Confederation of Workers (CGTP) in Peru is marching today in solidarity with the anti-mining movement in Cajamarca. The CGTP has called a “national day of struggle” and is demanding the removal of Prime Minister Oscar Valdés.

Mario Huamán, secretary general of the CGTP, has said marches will take place in the capital, Lima as well as in ten other locations across the north and south of Peru.

“We will not be striking,” Huamán said. “This is a set of activities by teachers unions, construction workers, rural workers, young people women and leftist organisations.”

He added that the marches were in solidarity with “the struggles of the people of Cajamarca in rejecting the Congo mining project planned by the Newmont company from the United States.”

The march coincides with the second day of demonstrations taking place in Cajarmarca organised by the Frente de Defense. The North Andean region and its people will suffer from the project, according to the group.

Earlier this month Cajamarca was declared under a state of emergency following a police crackdown in which five people died and 21 people were injured.

“Valdés is to blame for all the social upheaval happening in the country. It is due to the repressive policies he has applied in order to bring economic benefits to the hands of a privileged few,” Haumán said.

The union will also ask Peruvian president Ollanta Humala to “find solutions to the unresolved issues; layoffs, rising costs of living and public safety.”

Yesterday, Humala announced his intention to set up a working group with representatives opposed to the mine in Cajamarca. The group will be mediated by two religious representatives from the Catholic Church, Bishop Miguel Cabrejos and Father Gastón Garatea.This announcement follows a meeting held by Humala with two groups protesting the mine.

Protests began in 2011 against the North American mining company, Newmont, which plans to dry four lakes in the high regions of Cajamarca to extract copper and gold. Last May, Cajamarcans declared a protest with no defined end point.

The death toll has risen to five as tension escalates over the Conga mining project in Peru. On Friday, Jose Sanchez Huaman, a 29-year old farmer from Cajamarca, was reported to have died after receiving a bullet to his head from police in Celendín, where dozens of protesters have been attempting to take over the municipal government.

The regional president of Cajamarca, Gregorio Santos, confirmed the report and expressed his outrage via Twitter. On the social network, he declared those killed during the protests to be victims of President Ollanta Humala and his dictatorship in the capital.

Many of the 1.4 million people living in the mountainous and tropical state of Cajamarca have been rebelling for more than a month against the controversial gold-mining project that is expected to cause massive ecological damage to the water supply in the region.

Newmont, a US mining corporation, was recently granted approval by the Peruvian government to start the project after agreeing to take additional measures to preserve the environment.

Currently, the state of Cajamarca, which includes the provinces of Celendín and Hualgayoc, are in states of emergency and under military control.