Amazon ID. The heat of the jungle also begins to heat the electoral panorama. In Bagua Grande, Utcubamba, the name of José Arista It appears in gigantographs next to an orange K. During our visit, the contrast was evident. While in the walls names were hung on campaign, in the houses the concern was another: the drinking water.
With more than 130 thousand inhabitants, Bagua Grande Keep suffering constant cuts. Water is a privilege that accentuates poverty. “In his time as governor did practically anything. The great work he left was the Cajaruro -Bagua road, and it is full of holes. With the water, the same: he promised to bring it, millions were spent in files and we continue the same. Now he returns, but people already woke up: I do not think they continue to give him the vote,” says Cristina Hernández, founder of the Citizens collective of Utcubamba.
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Despite coming to power with water as one of its proposals, more than ten years after the closing of its period as governor (2011–2014), the problems continue. Even so, Edge He promotes himself and defends his new political attempt: “I was already regional president and worked everything I could.”
T -shirt change
In an interview with a local media, Arista acknowledged that he has received the invitation of Popular Force of Keiko Fujimori To candidate the Senate. He said that the formal decision will be taken at the end of this year, but that he already travels his region to “make contact with friends” and tote the land.
Last May, Humberto Acuña He published a photo in networks with edge, announcing it as jale: “Welcome to Alliance for Progress (…) We are excited to have you as a candidate for the Senate of the Republic. ”For the former Minister, it was only a“ coffee conversation ”and that there was never a formal agreement with that party.
Asked about the stigma of corruption that drags Fujimorism, he replied: “That stigma is all parties. Particularly, Keiko has never been authority, he has never stolen, has never been corrupt. He has been unjustly imprisoned, for these prejudices. What we have to demonstrate the new paintings is that that can change.”
For him, being a senator would be an opportunity to “coordinate in Lime“What local authorities cannot do due to lack of resources and time.” My experience and contacts in the capital will help the region, “he says.
Condorcanqui rejects it
In Condorcanqui, the province most beaten by illegal mining, the Arista candidacy Find resistance. Rosemary Pioc, leadersa Awajún, sentence: “Here we will not allow it. Neither as a governor nor as a minister had a look for Condorcanqui. In Amazonas they know him as the ‘most incapacious’. We already know what management comes if he wins. We reject him, as well as all those who had a position and did nothing.”
Pioc remembered the recent blockages in the Fortaleza River, where Awajún communities and Wampis protested against the illegal mining that contaminates with mercury the water and the fish they consume. “Arista as a minister never arrived, he never had a presence in Condorcanqui. And now he wants to come in campaign, when he always defended pro -extractive positions. We rejected him,” he finished.
When he was Minister of Economy of BoluarteArista promoted a “regulatory shock” to accelerate investments and defended that even informal mining should pay, which generated criticism in areas where pollution is already unsustainable.
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Murky background
Arista is not a debutant. He was regional governor (2011–2014) and Minister of Economy in three governments: the unstable of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, The very brief of Manuel Merino and the rejected management of Dina Boluarte. In Amazoncitizen voices repeat an idea: seeks the Senate as a political exit against their judicial debts: accumulates more than 30 fiscal folders for alleged crimes of collusion, abuse of authority and against public administration.
In it Lava Jato casehe Public Ministry It included it among the 15 former officials that, as Vice Minister of Finance in the Government of Alan García, facilitated indebtedness with the CAF for US $ 350 million. That money allowed Odebrecht It would make line 1 of the Lima Metro in more than US $ 400 million.
But the shadows do not end there. In February, a fourth power report revealed that while dispatched as Minister of Economy of Dina BoluarteArista managed in parallel the urbanization of his Villa San Juan real estate project in Pucallpa. The Grupo Tao company, of which he is a founding partner, submitted applications to the Municipality of Coronel Portillo with the aim of enabling housing lots. Although Arista said he retired from Management, he maintained 70% of actions. The complaint coincided with its exit from the cabinet, after rejection of the population and attempts to censors.
The Republic He sought the version of José Arista for this report. He contacted him up to three opportunities. When he was explained that the consultation was about his electoral aspirations, he stopped responding.
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The electoral curtain
In Utcubamba, edge gigantographs are still hung. In Condorcanqui, Awajún leaders warn that they will not let him in. And in Bagua GrandeDuring tours of this reporter, the claim for drinking water was repeated in streets and squares. Between the heat of the jungle and the campaign that starts, its last name divides again Amazon.
With him, there are already several ministers and former ministers of the Dina Boluarte regime who point to the new Bicameral Congress. In the south, JUAN JOSÉ SANTIVAÑEZcurrent Minister of Justice, paints walls in Arequipa with the colors of Alliance for Progress.
The contradiction does not escape anyone: the parties that support the regime, Popular Force and app, now seek votes in regions where they generate more rejection.
