sounds like a very unpleasant place.

I really don’t see the logic in going over there to try to help these people. They are beyond help. Instead of spending millions to try to aid these riffraff, we should be using that money for our own citizens who actually possess moral judgment and not some backwards culture that treats others like trash. Give them a handout and they’ll stab you once you turn your back to take the rest of what you have

Dear Daily Lobo,

Andrew Beale should look for more information other than what just happened to him.
I am faculty at UNM and proudly Peruvian. It is funny that most of the stuff that he describes is not true.
Daily Lobo should review the notes before publishing them. You can’t just write something that sounds like a ‘blog’. I know many people, most of them from USA, that have been in Peru and they always want to come back because of the hospitality that they received.

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Dear Daily Lobo,
I am a UNM alumni, and like Victor Murray, also Peruvian. Andrey Beale’s description of his visit to Peru is very graphic but obviously guided by a complete ignorance on the country’s culture, history and its social and economic situation.
With a minimum effort, he would’ve found that even though poverty is an issue, we have successfully reduced it by more than 10% in just the last 3 years and that the Peruvian economy has been documented as the exception to the rule, since it has been almost immune the the financial crisis that has hit the rest of the world.
If Andrew would read real newspapers in Peru, instead of the equivalent to “yellow journalism”, he would have found that the whole incident of the fat thieves came to be in a critical political moment in the country. The amount of publicity and fact distortions resemble a smokescreen. The Times just published an article about that.
If Andrew would read some history, he would understand the “disturbing depiction of Jesus” he saw and he would also be more intelligent as to judge other culture’s religions and believes.
In summary, I hope Daily Lobo’s readers take Andrew’s article as what it is, an improvised, poorly documented article.

My name is Alicia Paz, and I graduated from UNM in 2008. I now work for the North Central New Mexico Council of Government in Santa Fe. I would like to answer the article by Andrew Beale.
First of all, I am really sorry that Andrew did not get to enjoy one of the new 7 wonders of the world! (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/world/asia/08iht-9web-wonders.6552216.html). Machu Picchu is arguably one of the most astounding sites in the world, not in vain visited by over a quarter million people every year (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/machu.html). I am going to go out on a limb here and say that Andrew’s experience in Machu Picchu depicts quite graphically the rest of his experience in Peru “in a dark corner.” The commentary is rather superficial and uninformed. It demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the people and culture.
I urge the readers to be very careful in taking this commentary to heart, and to do their own research on Peruvian culture and society.

Andrew Beale has written the worst article i have ever read.

Haha this article is great. It’s a first hand account of his visit to a country. First hand as in what he directly saw. I love the Peruvian posters that are spewing BS like “obviously guided by a complete ignorance on the country’s culture, history and its social and economic situation.” Because ignorance of some backwards, backwater culture is the sole reason as to why he almost gone ran over by some crazy taxi driver or why drugs are so popular. Give me a break! People like Victor Murray would have been the first to defend Nazi Germany back in the day

I’m dissapointed that the Daily Lobo published this article. Although the author is entitled to his opinion, I don’t see why Beale’s is valuable enough to publish. Rather than an intelligent arguement about the moral or economical state of Peru, it was a list of reasons why Andrew shouldn’t travel abroad. This would have fit better in a blog than in an actual publication.

It is very unfortunate that an amateur writer like Mr. Beale would be allowed to publish an article in the Daily Lobo that does not amount to much more than a page in a teenager’s diary. This article is nothing more than a misinformed opinion, which reflects his lack of appreciation and respect of other cultures and strongly highlights the concept of the “Ugly American”. The poor judgment of the writer reflected on this article not only insults a great nation, but it is also a disservice to the UNM community. Please, just do a Google search on Peru to learn about the beauty and greatness of this country!

Dear Daily Lobo,

I am a senior student at UNM and proudly peruvian. The form in which Andrew Beale depicts the main social and economic problems in my country are completely outrageous and reveals an enormous ignorance of Peru’s culture and history. It is really sad and disappointing that someone could have the opportunity to go to a different country and not be capable of appreciating and admiring the natural, historical and cultural richness of the place. As a peruvian, I know that there are many social problems that developing countries like my nation are facing and trying to overcome. However, this does not mean that peruvian people are not friendly, warm, and hard-working.

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Dear Daily Lobo,

I am a senior student at UNM as well, I am Ecuadorian. With all the respect mr. Beale deserves I must say that I am strongly shocked by this article. I went to Perú backpacking two years ago, from the northern border to almost Lake Titicaca. As I expected, everything was perfect and the people were trully nice to me and my friends (remember that Ecuador and Peru were at war for over a century but since 1998 we finally became good sister nations).

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It seems like both Mr. Beale and Mr. Bottomfeeder have been trapped in a bubble and are unaware of the cultural differences between the US and Latin America. It is obvious that they have very poor cultural knowledge regarding what’s outside of this country.

Another embarrassment for UNM. The writer is trying to sound cute but just comes across profoundly ignorant and arrogant. He set out with the bias to trash the place so found the most unflattering things to write about. The same could be done of anywhere on earth. I could describe my recent trip to Barcelona in terms of drugs, crime, taxi-drivers and prostitution also, but that would give a terribly shortsighted view.

My name is Juan , I just came recently to New Mexico (two days ago), and my friend invite me to walk around the UNM campus and I read the BS about my country, I said: what a hell?.

It is not fear that daily lobo did it ,looks that is not a responsable journal, because how is posible that Daily Lobo just published BS without any corcern about that UNM has many succesfull peruvian students and faculty members.

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I do not waht to say about daily lobo , I was thinking , it was a responsible university newspaper, but now I am realizing that it is just a teenager media.Too much about to say about education in USA, wheres are sociology and anthropology courses here, people can not just publish article in the way ,it is hurting a nation , a idisincracia.

No more american voluntering in order to protect our people.

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Dio drando does not know what is talking about.He said moral,what a fuck ,just look around you, your ex president, the chicanos, the multi killers,the mafia, the putas in central avenue, the websites (LONELY WIFES WANTS TO HOOK UP, AFFAIRS ON LINE),altered food( they say is organic), manipulated media.

Randall is simply other kid,this is just for you; marihuana here is more popular , go to duck pond around 1 am , and cocaine uff and sex in the streets crazy, one week ago I saw one white with a black having sex in the parking lot of Mac Donals which is in front of UNM campus.

I know this seems odd to you Andrew, but Jesus died covered in His own blood for us. The fact that he shed his blood for us makes him a great God even if we prefer not picture Him that way.

I’ve not been to Peru, but always wanted to visit. No personal insight into this article. Although there are no perfect countries (because they are all inhabited by people) I’m not surprised at the surprise mentioned by some bloggers to the printing of this article. At any rate, don’t be too hard on the Daily Lobo, it is not a sophisticated university paper because UNM is not a sophisticated University. And don’t take it personally because they will publish anything. I will say that, to their credit, they do not appear to show much favoritism about what they will print. They appear to have lost their main stem identity with the erosion of their complete liberalism and pro-illegal immigrants base of readers. This began to deteriorate about 2 years ago. I think that although that’s still a strong flavor for the Lobo, they are unsure what to print, and so they print everything.

I would like to respond to the Peruvians who are reacting to the article written by Andrew Beale. Since I am his mother, I may be biased. I agree that this is not his best piece of work ever but would like to respond with some of the facts that he left out when writing his impressions of Peru.
I have been here 2 1-2 months volunteering in Cusco. I have previously worked in Mexico, Nicaragua and Mexico so have some other experience in poor countries.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
I find it interesting that none of the men seem bothered by the extremely high level of domestic violence. The study done in the Santiago neighborhood replicated the results of a WHO study (2000 – 2003)which included over 1800 women in Cusco and found Cusco to have one of the highest levels of domestic violence in the world. WHO found that 69% of the women had experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner.
http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/fact_sheets/per/en/index.html
POVERTY
One of the young men that is mentioned, running to jump on a moving bus works 6 days a week, 12 hours a day to earn 350 soles ($113.00) per month. He travels from Ica to Lima and back every day. He supports his mother and 2 other children. He tells me he has no money left but somehow was able to save for a watch. He´s very proud of this watch which cost him 49 ($16.00) soles. Where I lived and worked, many people earned about 150 soles per month ($45). Dismissing this level of poverty as equal to that in parts of New Mexico allows us to ignore the inequality between the North and South. I think you would agree that even our poorest of poor can buy watches.
RELIGION
The Catholic Church in Peru is very conservative. Each month, parishioners gathered in a group with a priest to talk about their lives. Each in turn told a most horrible story of extreme poverty, illness and family troubles. The response from the priest was almost the same each time. God is testing you, God only sends us what we can bear, reward will come, etc. This priest has an SUV, a driver, a cook, a maid and flies to Lime for his health care. His church, in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Cusco is one of the wealthiest with lots of gold and silver. This contrasts highly with the nuns and priests that I worked and lived with in Mexico who are some of the humblest and best people I have ever met. When the priests in Mexico counsled people, there was some direction to bettering their lives or amelioating their pain, not just empty platitudes. This particular Jesus was one of the most graphic that I´ve seen but I do kind of like it.
DOGS
I´ve only seen one dead dog on the road. An incredible record. I´ve seen several nasty dog bites in the clinic.
POLITICS
The current President was also an ex-president. In his previous term, Peru had 7500% inflation and a guerrilla group, the Sendero Luminoso became powerful. He was followed by Alberto Fujimori who seems to have defeated the Sendero Luminoso by arresting their leaders but permitted many human rights abuses by the military. He is currenly in jail, serving time in jail for corruption which was captured on film. Peru then re-elected Mr. Garcia. Fujimori´s daughter appears to be one of the strongest candidates for the next election. I know the U.S. has not had stellar presidents of late, but this is the best Peru can do?
PEOPLE/LAND
Beautiful people and beautiful land, some of which reminded me alot of New Mexico. The altiplano is very similar and I have some photos that everyone would think are shot in New Mexico. My students are wonderful as were some of the people I worked with in the clinic and met in Cusco. The beaches, the mountains and the ruins are wonderful. The art and the food are great.

Dio Brando — I am also Peruvian and don’t appreciate being called “riffraff” nor do I have a “backward culture.” I understand your desire to help out citizens of this country, but there’s never any harm in lending a hand to others in need — no matter their nationality. Who says aid needs to stop at the border?
And you want to talk about treating others like trash? You don’t have to look very far. Who was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing? A U.S. citizen. Who kidnapped and raped a Elizabeth Smart? A U.S. citizen. Let’s not pretend only foreigners commit crimes.

In regards to the article, it should not have been on the front page. You want to give us your opinion, put it on a page designated for opinions or post it on your blog. And after the incredibly libelous caption in today’s paper, maybe you guys should start thinking about how you would feel if someone wrote a story about your country in that manner or made up a story about you. You have a responsibility to report the truth, so do your research first, double check your sources and think about the implications of your work. And Andrew, if you’re going to describe things as “disgusting,” “strange,” etc., learn about what you’re writing…it might make you see things differently.

To Sally:
Regarding your facts: – We ARE bothered about the high level of domestic violence in some areas of Peru. Is that news to you? – I do agree with you that poverty in several areas of Peru is not comparable to poverty in NM (even adjusting the income levels). But it seems that you take comfort in the fact that even the poorest of poor in NM can buy watches! Impressive! – On religion: your experience is biased as most of the priests I have met in Peru were as humble as those you met in Mexico. Regarding the ‘empty platitudes’, well that’s your opinion. – Politics: I really dislike your patronizing attitude. The emergence of such political figures is due mostly to the fact that there is still a large deficiency in public education that creates a large education inequality among Peruvians, although it has been slowly improving. So, instead of mockingly asking if ‘this is the best Peru can do?’ you should have tried to understand the root of the problem.

The problem is not the facts you are stating, which I don’t think are being denied (at least most of them). Every Peruvian is aware of those facts; they are not news AT ALL.
The problem is the way Andrew wrote his ‘article’ and the fact that it went to the Daily Lobo newspaper. To say the least, it’s a disappointing article and shows condescension toward and a lack of respect for the Peruvian culture. It is also written in a shallow manner, sounding more like someone’s personal journal (the likes of which I haven’t seen in any travel forum or blog) than an article for a newspaper.

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I am also a Peruvian student at UNM, and I am disappointed with the portrayal of Peru in this article. The writer was clearly in Peru for a very short period of time— eight days is certainly never long enough to gain a holistic view of a different country and a different culture. Consequently, we are given a series of snapshots, blatant descriptions of what the writer saw and his immediate reaction to them. If anyone thinks that this information can accurately portray Peruvian society, they are sadly mistaken. If the Daily Lobo wanted an article about a South American country and culture, they could have talked to the many Peruvian students at UNM who have far more experience with both its positive and negative elements. Like any country, Peru has its social and economic issues, but also has beauty and uniqueness that should not be undermined. Overall, I did not find this to be a proper or professional article; I would have preferred for the writer to supplement his experience with research and interviews, acknowledging that his time in Peru is not representative of the culture as a whole.

It is so sad that a future journalist doesn’t have any idea how to write an article. He needs to open his mind and learn about other cultures. Peru is the most beautiful country, had a lot of problems as many of other countries. Next time try to focus in the positive things. By the way, the FAT selling story wasn’t true.

The quality of this article and the attitudes displayed in it are repugnant. The Daily Lobo should be ashamed of lowering their standards to hire Andrew Beale as a reporter: he is not a fit representative of any newspaper or of UNM as an institution.

Dear Daily Lobo,

I am a UNM alumni, and like several others, also Peruvian.

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