Monthly Archives: October 2015

Mongabay.com: Papal encyclical draws harsh critique from Peru’s private sector

Elena Conterno, who heads Peru's fisheries group, is a fierce critic of the papal encyclical. Photo by Emilia Catanoso

Elena Conterno, who heads Peru’s fisheries group, is a fierce critic of the papal encyclical. Photo by Emilia Catano

He may be beloved in his home region of Latin America. He may enjoy 82 percent approval ratings in Peru, where three out of four people are Catholic.  But Pope Francis has some fierce critics. And Elena Conterno is one of them.  As Glenn Scherer summed up at mongabay.com:

  • Peru’s commercial fishing industry is sustainable, productive and well regulated, says Elena Conterno, but the illegal “artisanal” fleet of the poor is “growing too fast and unsustainable.”
  • “Why blame business?” Conterno asks of the Pope’s encyclical, when “the public sector is really lagging,” failing to regulate the environment and the climate, and provide for the poor.
  • “Who are the ones doing the most illegal activities? It’s the poor. Not the big companies,” she says. The Pope’s encyclical “is more than naïve. It lacks institutional analysis.”

A tense, compelling interview, start to finish with a the head of the Peru’s fishing industry,

1-Conterno