Arequipa: former mayor Manuel Vera is investigated for irregular delivery of land

Robert Orihuela

In February 2018, when Manuel Vera Paredes was mayor of the Cerro Colorado district, said commune permuted (exchanged) a public domain land in favor of a neighbor of the Traditional Town of Pachacutec Viejo. This in order to continue with a road improvement work in the area. The new municipal management determined that the process was carried out against the legal norms and initiated a lawsuit to reverse the exchange. It also ordered that the responsibilities of the officials involved be determined. in the irregular delivery of the property, including Vera Paredes, who also seeks to return to the mayor’s office in these 2022 elections.

The first entity to determine the irregularity was the Comptroller Through official letter No. 461-2021, the head of the Institutional Control Body of the cerreña commune, Roberto Álvarez Loayza, informs to the mayor Benigno Cornejo Valenciathe adverse situation.

The document describes that in November 2017 the exchange of the land located in Pachacutec Viejo was proposed. In return, they indicate that a similar piece of land—owned by the commune—should be found to deliver it to the owner of the property. Later, the Urban Development and Cadastre management determined that a property located in the Ángel Ibarcena Reynoso urbanization could be exchangedin front of the Valle Blanco urbanization.

The beneficiary’s land —located in Pachacutec Viejo— was 494.39 square meters (m2) and had an approximate value of 96,900 dollars. While the property of the commune is 191.88 m2 with a similar value. The Municipal Council voted Agreement No. 22 in February 2018, authorizing the exchange of properties

But the problem that the Comptroller’s Office found is that the property of the commune had quality of good of public domain and was destined for parks and gardens. According to article 73 of the Political Constitution of Peru, the land had to “provide a service in favor of the community, therefore it is inalienable and imprescriptible.” For this reason, it should never have been delivered under exchange. In other words, another piece of land with characteristics for private use should have been found.

Start of processes

With all this information, on March 29, Cornejo Valencia signed Mayor’s Resolution No. 029-2022, authorizing the district attorney to initiate litigation to seek reversion of ownership of the property. It also points out that another piece of land must be found that meets the conditions to compensate the owner.

In addition, the resolution sends the proceedings to the Technical Secretariat of Disciplinary Administrative Processes to initiate investigative actions to determine the responsibility of the corresponding officials and servers.

Public Ministry must investigate

In this regard, Alderman Jesús Torres Gonzales pointed out that the Council of Aldermen has also requested that the proceedings be sent to the Public ministry to investigate those responsible; starting by Vera Paredes. “We know that the municipal attorney should also file the complaint for investigation. Let’s see how that process goes. We hope it progresses because there is a risk that this man (Vera Paredes) will return to the mayor’s office. We know that he is applying again and could stop the investigations against him, “he said.