Movadef Ends Attempt To Register As Political Party

The Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights, known as Movadef, has given up on its attempts to register as a political party in Peru, local media reported.

Movadef is known to be the political arm of the Shining Path, an insurgency that terrorized Peru in the 1980s and 1990s as it sought to overthrow the state and implement its Maoist ideology. Some 70,000 people were killed in the conflict, with the Shining Path responsible for some 54%, a truth commission found.

The group’s effort to register as a political party has been widely rejected by Peru’s Read more…

Owner Of Drug Rehab Center Faces 8 Years In Prison

The owner of an unlicensed drug rehab center that was engulfed by a deadly fire over the weekend could receive eight years in prison, according to newspaper El Comercio, citing lawyer Mario Amoretti.

Raul Garcia Albornoz, owner of the Christ is Love center in Lima’s lower-class San Juan de Lurigancho district, turned himself into police following the fire on Saturday.

Peru’s Public Ministry opened an investigation into the cause of the fire, which broke out when two patients set fire to mattresses in an attempt to escape. The fire Read more…

Movadef Appeals Election Board Resolution

The Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights, known as Movadef, has appealed a resolution that prevents the group from registering as a political party and participating in elections, daily El Comercio reported.

The appeal was presented on Friday to the National Election Board, or JNE. “With the appeal presented, the JNE will program a public audience in the next few days to receive the arguments from the claimants,” said Virgilio Hurtado, the director of the JNE’s electoral school. The time frame for the decision is 30 days.

The JNE rejected Movadef’s request last week. In its resolution, the JNE said that Read more…

Peru, Colombia Sign Deal To Tackle Organized Crime On Border

Peru and Colombia agreed Wednesday to take joint actions to combat organized crime on their porous border region, state news agency Andina reported.

The agreement was announced by Peruvian Defense Minister Alberto Otarola and his Colombian counterpart, Juan Carlos Pinzon, in Bogota.

Otarola said the Andean countries agreed to work together along their Amazonian border to combat drug trafficking, illegal mining and logging, human trafficking and the Read more…

Ex-President Garcia Rejects Movadef As Party

Alan Garcia, Peru’s two-time president, came out hard Tuesday against allowing the Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights, known as Movadef, from registering as a political party.

Movadef has close links with the Shining Path, the Maoist-inspired insurgency that launched a bloody battle against the state during the 1980s and 1990s. The conflict led to some 70,000 deaths, with about 54 percent caused by the Shining Path, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Today, the Shining Path is a shadow of its former self, with little of its ideology and none of its original cadres intact. It reached its peak during the late 1980s, when Read more…

Legislators To Back Bill To Block Movadef Registration

Peruvian lawmakers from across the political spectrum said they will approve a bill that would prevent political movements with links to insurgents and other violent groups from becoming registered political parties and participating in local and national elections.

Congressman Yehude Simon of the center-right Alianza por el Gran Cambio alliance said that he will ask the president of parliament to include the bill in the next session.

“If there is a law it has to be approved immediately,” state news agency Andina reported Simon as saying.

Legislator Yohny Lescano of the center Alianza Parlamentaria group said he expects the bill would be approved unanimously, while Alejandro Aguinaga, of Fujimori’s Fuerza 2011 Read more…

Peru Vice President Omar Chehade Resigns

Peru’s second vice president, Omar Chehade, has resigned from his post following allegations of corruption early in President Ollanta Humala’s administration.

In his resignation letter, Chehade, who is also a congressman, said the allegations were “an unjust and excessive media and political campaign against me.”

“Despite my resignation as the second vice president of Peru, my commitment will be to continue supporting and collaborating unconditionally with the government from my position as a congressman,” Chehade said. Read more…

UN: Regional, Local Govts Need Greater Role In Anti-Drug Policies

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, said Tuesday that Peru’s regional and local governments should take on greater responsibilities in the Andean country’s anti-drug policies, state news agency Andina reported.

Flavio Mirella, UNODC’s representative in Peru and Ecuador, noted that regional and local governments manage solid resources that can be used to combat drug trafficking.

“The responsibility should also be shared at the regional and local government Read more…

Peru’s New Drug Chief: Country “Let Down Its Guard” in Eradication

Peru’s new anti-drug chief, Carmen Masias, said that the country “let down its guard” last year in the eradication of illegal coca crops, the raw material used to make cocaine.

In an interview published by daily El Comercio, Masias said that Peru’s five-year anti-drug strategy will be reviewed and approved by President Ollanta Humala’s cabinet on Wednesday.

Masias, who was appointed earlier this month to head the National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs, Devida, said that Peru eradicated about 10,000 hectares of coca last year and is expected to eradicate 14,000 hectares this year.

Masias, a psychologist and former deputy head of the non-government drug prevention institution CEDRO, said that during the first five months of Humala’s administration, the message about eradication was unclear. “I think there could have been a more precise message. It was worked on internally, but you have to be explicit and say that the fight against drugs will be firm, that eradication – while not the only [measure] – is absolutely indispensible,” Masias said.

Masias was referring to her predecessor, Ricardo Soberon, and his plans to move away from attacking the coca growers and instead focus on attacking the structures of drug trafficking organizations, including money laundering.

Masías’ statements indicate a return to the tried and not-too-effective strategies of at least the past 10 years —despite eradication programs, coca hectares have increased from 40,000 to 60,000 in that time— and Valdes has also removed much of Devida’s autonomy, according to Soberon, by blocking its direct access to Dirandro, the drug police agency and instead placing it under the Ministry of Interior’s general administration office.

A lawyer and expert in the illegal drug trade, the outspoken Soberon was head of Devida for about five months and was in favor of a stronger intervention in drug policies by his institution, changing the focus from interdiction and forced crop eradication to a more comprehensive program to incorporate active participation of coca growers in the changes.

His appointment was strongly criticized by some local media, including El Comercio, the political opposition and some analysts of Peru’s drug trade, for his past ties with coca growers.

Soberon fights back

In an interview with Ideeleradio on Monday, Soberon said he had disagreements with cabinet chief Oscar Valdes, who was previously Humala’s Interior minister, about the role of Devida.

His proposals clashed with U.S. and U.N. drug policies, which concentrate on forced eradication, and shortly after his appointment to Devida he was not included in a fact-finding trip to Pucallpa with Valdes and military and police hosted by the U.S. Embassy.

Soberon criticized recent statements made by Masias and Valdes on the greater emphasis to be made on user prevention.

“I would have liked to believe that the idea of  drug policy reform would continue,” Soberon said. “But the first statements and the facts surrounding my leaving the post lead me to believe that Devida is enroute to becoming a State-funded NGO for drug prevention.”

Soberon said he believed that President Humala was being maliciously misinformed about his 2012 Coca Reduction Plan so that drug policies will continue to be a failure.  He also questioned the fact that police general Juan Zárate, head of Corah, the Upper Huallaga eradication program, has remained in Corah for 25 years and “that apparently no cabinet chief or even President has been able” to terminate his services.

Soberon also rejected accusations by congressman Luis Iberico, by Masias herself, and insinuations by cabinet chief Valdes that he had padded the Devida payroll and was earning a “golden” salary. “The salary I had of 15,600 soles was the same that the others before me received, including Romulo Pizarro and Nils Ericsson and every other drug czar in [Devida's] history,” he said, adding that the additional staff was hired to strengthen the seven Devida zone offices.

Peru Aims to Eradicate 14,000 Hectares Of Coca in 2012

Peru’s government plans to eradicate 14,000 hectares of illicit coca crops this year, Interior Minister Daniel Lozada has announced, according to state news agency Andina.

The figure would represent a 40 percent increase from 2011, Lozada said during a presentation to the Congressional defense committee.

“We ended last year with 10,269 hectares eradicated, which was above our goal and for this year we are planning to eradicate 14,000 hectares,” Lozada said.

The United States has been the main financial backer of Peru’s anti-drug policies, Read more…

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