Teodoro Berru Zuritaa character very close to the brothers Dina and Nicanor Boluarte, and “spiritual advisor” to the head of state, declared to the prosecutor Carlos Ordaya Lopez who participated in a secret meeting led by the “presidential brother.” At the meeting, Nicanor Boluarte He described his plan to take over the State with authorities appointed during his sister’s government, with the ultimate goal of his party, Citizens for Peru, taking power:
“In 2023, near Nicanor Boluarte’s house, in the district of San Borja, where the house of a fellow countryman was, Dina Boluarte’s trusted team met to see the positions of trust and to see the issue of building the Ciudadanos por el Perú party. At that meeting, Nicanor Boluarte said that ‘we were going to have control at the national level of the 9,000 lieutenant governors of the annexes (or communities), about 200 provincial sub-prefects, 25 prefects in the 25 regions and 1,700 district sub-prefects. And that with that we are going to have the strength to form the party.’ At that meeting were Nicanor Boluarte, Victor Torres Merino, Edwin Ugarte Nina, Julio Sanchez, who was a countryman and part of the campaign, and Jorge Chingay Salazar.”
STATE TAKEOVER
Teodoro Berrú’s statement coincides with other witnesses who were part of the entourage of Dina and Nicanor Boluarte, which have been presented by prosecutor Carlos Ordaya López to support the request for preventive detention for 36 months for six alleged members of the criminal organization ‘Los Waykis en la Sombra’, among them, the brother of President Boluarte.
Nicanor Boluarte’s plan was to appoint, through the General Directorate of Internal Government, of the Ministry of the Interior, regional prefects and regional and district sub-prefects. In exchange for the appointments, they had to recruit and register members of the Ciudadanos por el Perú party to give continuity to Dina Boluarte’s Government in 2026.
Witness Teodoro Berrú did not hesitate to affirm that Dina Boluarte was part of his brother Nicanor’s plan, according to his confessions recorded in the request for preventive detention, a document to which L had access.to the Republic:
“Mr. Nicanor Boluarte advised Dina Boluarte Zegarra in the shadows, he hardly went to campaign meetings; however, when the elections were won, he took charge of the appointment of officials and the vice presidency when Dina Boluarte Zegarra assumed said position and when she was also Minister of Midis (Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion). Then, when he betrayed Pedro Castillo and Dina Boluarte assumed the presidency of the Republic, then Nicanor Boluarte took control of public management. I know this given that in the organic meetings of the trusted team to propose public positions in Lima and the regions where, among others, prefects and sub-prefects were illegally appointed, the one who signed the appointment resolutions of these last mentioned positions was Dina Boluarte and Nicanor Boluarte was the one who selected and proposed said officials, but as an advisor in the shadows, since he is the political ideologist of the current presidential administration.”
Berrú was initially promised the Lima sub-prefecture, but then it was given to someone else. So he went to find director Jorge Ortíz Marreros. After making his claim, he told Berrú: “Look, Dina Boluarte has the first word and Nicanor Boluarte has the last word. And if the latter calls, then the next day, I will draft the resolution (of appointment).”
According to witnesses, since Diana Boluarte was head of Midis, she coordinated with her brother Nicanor Boluarte the takeover of the state apparatus.
EVERYONE PAID FOR THE CHARGES
Unlike Teodoro Berrú, Gilmer Flores Fernández was appointed provincial sub-prefect of Cajamarca on the recommendation of Nicanor Boluarte. He was appointed by Jorge Ortiz himself, who is accused of being an accomplice of Nicanor Boluarte, on March 27, 2023. Gilmer Flores is another of the witnesses accredited by prosecutor Carlos Ordaya López, of the Special Team of Prosecutors against the Corruption of Power (Eficcop). Flores, who initially requested to accept effective collaboration, pointed out that Nicanor Boluarte’s organization made illicit payments for the appointments. The operator of the “presidential brother” for the appointments of authorities and the payment to them was the businessman Noriel Chingay Salazar, according to Flores. On February 7, 2023, President Dina Boluarte appointed her brother Nicanor’s friend, Noriel Chingay, as regional prefect of Cajamarca. She told prosecutor Gilmer Flores:
“Noriel Chingay talks with the sub-prefects (of the provinces) of San Marcos, Santa Cruz and Cajamarca, in order to locate new people, to be designated as regional and district sub-prefects, charging S/3,500 to S/5,000. (…) On August 17, 2023, Noriel Chingay called asking if they had paid for the designations of prefects in the Cajamarca region. (…) Answering yes. (…) Noriel Chingay had contact with Jorge Ortiz Marreros for the designations of the sub-prefects. (…) Nicanor Boluarte always communicated with Noriel Chingay, since he said he had communication with the ‘number two’ (Nicanor Boluarte)”.
To support his claims, Gilmer Flores provided the prosecutor with vouchers for bank deposits he made to Noriel Chingay and his brother Jorge Chingay. These individuals, members of Nicanor Boluarte’s inner circle, collected illegal payments for appointments to public office.
THE CHILDHOOD FRIEND
Probably one of the most relevant witnesses of the Eficcop is Victor Torres Merino. He is important because he is a childhood friend of the brothers Dina and Nicanor Boluarte, therefore, he has key information related to the alleged criminal organization ‘Los Waykis en la Sombra’. Torres ended up giving in and confirmed the information provided by the other witnesses. This is what he said:
“(I) received instructions from Nicanor Boluarte to generate a table in Excel, which contained the possible designations of prefects and sub-prefects in the different regions as a filter. So that once it is approved, (it is) coordinated with (Jorge) Ortíz Marreros (director of Interior Government of the Mininter), so that the latter coordinates with the president (Dina Boluarte), so that she can sign said designation if applicable.”
Victor Torres then confirmed that after the names of the authorities were defined, Jorge Ortiz Marreros coordinated with the head of state for their appointment. In other words, he fulfilled a decisive part of his brother Nicanor Boluarte’s plan:
“Nicanor Boluarte communicated directly with Jorge Ortiz Marreros in order to review the appointments. When Ortiz was given the proposals for prefects, he would pass them on to (the president) Dina Boluarte so she could decide. If it was referred to provincial or district sub-prefects, Ortiz had the decision to appoint them (because the president appoints the regional prefects).”
Eficcop has identified that through this mechanism, ‘Los Waykis en la Sombra’ appointed at least 50 authorities, but they do not rule out that as a result of the investigations they will exceed this number. What is evident is that the head of state appears to be involved in these events, according to the testimony of witnesses.
Nicanor Boluarte’s lawyer, Luis Vivanco Gotelli, said that the prosecution only has one witness whose testimony has not been corroborated.
THE DEFENSE: THERE IS NOTHING
Nicanor Boluarte’s lawyer, Luis Vivanco Gotelli, said that the prosecution only has one witness and that his statements have not been corroborated.
“With regard to the alleged evidence that would link my client to the commission of a crime, the only new thing is the statement of an effective collaborator. A statement that, in my opinion, has not been corroborated,” explained Vivanco. Therefore, there is no grounds for preventive detention, indicated the lawyer.
