There is no doubt that the political campaign for 2026 has already begun, and the Popular Renewal activist Máximo Adolfo Franco Bequer knows that well. On the night of Tuesday the 26th, this character celebrated the censorship of the Minister of Energy and Mines, Rómulo Mucho. “Finally, it has been possible in Congress to censure the minister who has been practically the key piece of the National Mining Society. “We are about to achieve that long-awaited expansion of the formalization process,” he said through a video broadcast on the Internet. But, Franco Bequer is not a simple militant of the extreme right, since his main role at the moment is to be the head of the paralysis of the country in order to achieve the extension of the deadline for the Comprehensive Mining Formalization Registry (Reinfo) continue to operate with impunity.
Franco Bequer is president of the self-proclaimed National Confederation of Small Mining and Artisanal Mining of Peru (Confemin) where illegal miners and miners who have not complied with the obligations to update their Reinfo have also infiltrated. He presents himself to the politicians in power as the representative of half a million workers. Ultimately, half a million votes for opportunist and populist politicians who will seek a seat renewal in 2026 or reach the Legislature for the first time. Has Franco told his miners that since July 2024 he has been part of the ranks of Rafael López Aliaga, the leader of Renovación Popular?
LOOK: IPSOS: The perception of the country’s decline intensifies
“The triumph of having removed the minister is a triumph that all miners should be happy about,” he told his members.
This newspaper tried to communicate with Franco Bequer without success, but a couple of days ago they sent us a communication to confirm that they want to extend the Reinfo for at least 24 more months.
On the Internet there is also another character who presents himself as a mining leader, but he is a potential candidate for Congress for 2026. He is the Peru Libre activist Adolfo Valverde. In his latest video he shows himself chewing coca leaves in front of Congress. Valverde is also part of Confemin and meets all the legal requirements to compete for a seat.
Both politicians belong to parties with benches that voted for the censure of Mucho and for the salvation of Julio Demartini’s minister, despite the fact that their sector gave rotten meat to the poorest children in the country.
Norma Yarrow, from Renovación Popular, told this newspaper that she knew nothing about Franco Bequer’s political affiliation to her party. “I voted for censure out of conviction. I have not met with the Lord,” he told Perú21.
MUTE PALACE
While the Executive Branch has preferred to remain silent about Congress’ decision to censure the Minister of Energy and Mines (Minem), Rómulo Mucho – alleging an alleged delay in carrying out the Small Mining and Artisanal Mining Law (MAPE Law). )—, in the sector and specialists there is uncertainty about who will take the reins of a key portfolio for the economic development of the country, especially after rumors that those close to the close circle of the questioned Oscar Vera are in the bolus
The former vice president of the Republic and former head of Economy and Finance Mercedes Araoz expressed her concern about the true motivations for the censorship of Mucho and demanded that decisions be made based on national and not personal interests.
“I regret it (censorship) because what it shows us is that illegal economies are taking power in the country. Here we have to talk seriously with Congress, that is, what do they expect? When they want to run for government in 2026, are they going to be dependent on those economies or are they going to face the organized crime that is behind them?” Araoz said.
THEY SEEK IMPUNITY
In statements to Perú21TV, for his part, the president of the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy (SNMPE), Carlos Gálvez, warned that Mucho’s departure from the cabinet shows that “we have a high participation in Congress of parliamentarians who are openly supporting illegality.”
“The ASM Law or the late presentation of this project that has been duly socialized for several months, is only a pretext. In reality, neither the illegal miners nor the congressmen who support them want an ASM Law, what they exclusively want is to extend the Comprehensive Registry of Mining Formalization (Reinfo) (…) which has generated open immunity for criminal offenses of those who are in illegal mining.”
Along these lines, he added that “it would be a tragedy” if a person close to the former Minister of Energy and Mines and today general manager of Petroperú, Oscar Vera, assumes the leadership of Minem “because for that you have to know the activity and have values, and the truth is that the people around the character (Vera) do not have them and neither does he himself and so there is a problem there,” he commented.
At the close of this edition it was learned that former Minister Carlos Herrera Descalzi entered the Government Palace.
PLEASE NOTE
- The Energy and Mines Commission of Congress will debate today a new report to expand Reinfo, which, according to this newspaper’s sources, would be a kind of blank card for illegal miners.
- The sources revealed that the document proposes extending the Reinfo for one year with an eventual extension if necessary.
- Having authorization to use explosives has been eliminated as a condition to remain in the Reinfo and as a cause for exclusion from the formalization process, having been denied registration in the Registry of Chemical Inputs and Controlled Goods.
- Furthermore, an express call to the Prosecutor’s Office and the PNP will not be required to guarantee the cessation of activities of those who have been excluded from the formalization process.
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