Yesterday, Castillo arrived at the Pentagonito, as the barracks is known, before 10:00 am, when the patrols had already been reviewed. In the place he was received by the Minister of Defense, Joseph Louis Gavidia.
Premier Aníbal Torres, meanwhile, received greetings from the Armed Forces. and the PNP, two institutions that he has offended on more than one occasion, the last time being on July 7, when he said: “We would already like our police forces and Armed Forces. provide the same security to the whole country”, comparing them with the peasant patrols.
Other ministers, some congressmen – mainly from the left – and the new president of Parliament, Lady Camones (APP), also attended.
The event became a kind of private parade, with a president who not only arrived late, but also hastily left aboard a car on the Pan-American South highway, without facing the population that was waiting outside the military headquarters. with signs and megaphones.
They were citizens who were in the real parade, the one that was lived very effusively outside the Pentagonito with the Chavín de Huántar commandos.
Honor and glory
Entire families, young people and civil groups accompanied in an emotional display the legitimate heroes who in 1997 rescued 72 hostages that the terrorist group MRTA kidnapped in the house of the Japanese ambassador in Lima.
With one voice, they intoned the National anthemwith one hand holding a Peruvian banner and the other on his chest, surrounding the heroes who gave their lives for the country in their fight against terrorism in the 80s and 90s.
While the veterans who in previous administrations were the guests of honor at the Military Parade were deployed through the streets of San Borja, the attendees gave them their support with applause, carrying signs expressing their rejection of Pedro Castillo.
Colonel (r) Jaime Cabrera, Chavin de Huantar commandcondemned the fact that the Government prepared an apocryphal detachment to march inside the barracks instead of the brave soldiers.
in conversation with Peru21.TVAdan Doria, another commando, spoke about the reasons that motivated the Head of State and Minister Gavidia to leave them out of the official parade.
“On the 25th anniversary of Chavín de Huántar (the silver anniversary), the commandos do not tilt our sword towards the president for their own reasons. We fight terrorism, we have comrades who have died fighting terrorism, that’s why we don’t bow the sword to the president. Many of the commandos, that same day, left and others stayed seated without applauding the president’s speech. I think this was a retaliation“, lament.
He added that there is a legal framework that supports them. “There is a law (Law No. 29031) that qualifies us as heroes of democracy and it is because of that law that both the heroes of Chavín de Huántar and the GEIN lead the parades for National Holidays. The president and those responsible for the event have attacked this law”, he expressed.
GEIN rejects Castillo and Gavidia
Intelligence group that captured Abimael Guzmán was also snubbed by the government
One day before the Military Parade, through their official Twitter account, the members of the Special Intelligence Group of the National Police (GEIN) They sent a strong message to President Pedro Castillo.
“Mr. Pedro Castillo, you will be able to remove the GEIN from the National Holidays parade, but not from the hearts of Peruvians. Fortunately, his government’s nightmare is ending. Long live Peru!”, they expressed.
The officers – now retired – who managed to capture the leadership of Sendero Luminoso, including its leader Abimael Guzmán in September 1992, have always raised their voices against acts of corruption linked to the government. Everything indicates that this cost them their rightful place in the national parade.
The former GEIN Joseph Louis Gil He rejected the actions of both the head of state and the defense minister, José Luis Gavidia.
“The degree of submission of the Minister of Defense towards Castillo, a president linked to Sendero and corruption, is unacceptable. Mr. Gavidia does not represent the Armed Forces, he does not represent the forces of order, he is no longer an authorized voice to honor or make claims about the heroes of Peru.”, he asserted to Peru21.
He added that replacing national heroes with young men from the militia (in the case of the Chavín de Huántar commando) is unfortunate. “They have put a sacha (false in Quechua) Chavín, this type of ridicule should not be tolerated”, he narrowed down.
José Williams: “He is a ruler without a vision of the State”
Interview with Mayra Calderon
Congressman of the Republic and also the chief who led the Chavín de Huántar operation in 1997. In conversation with Peru21.TV, Joseph Williams He ruled on the decision of the Ministry of Defense to separate the veterans from the Military Parade.
How do you see President Pedro Castillo’s decision?
This is another folly of the Government and the Defense sector. Years ago, by choice, they invited the members of the patrol that carried out the Chavín de Huántar operation and also invited the members of the ex-GEIN group that captured Abimael Guzman. This year there has been no such gesture of inviting ex-combatants and ex-members of these military and police organizations, and I believe that it has been a mistake.
What message does this leave?
This represents a lack of wisdom that leaves several open messages about the fight against terrorism, when, rather, what should be done is to show that one is against terrorism, against Marxism that did so much damage to the region and to Peru. . One expression of all this would have been to invite those who have fought against terrorism. It is in protest that we made a movement outside the barracks, but more than commandos, there were hundreds of people who marched with a huge flag in protest against the government.
Why do you think they were not invited to the military parade?
One of the reasons is because, being in a retired situation, we have every right to raise our voices and we represent many soldiers and police officers who have fought against terrorism, And so we did. The other thing is that it has been a lack of vision not to invite us, a ruler who does not recognize those who have given their lives in the fight for Peru is a ruler without a vision of the State. Not only does he earn the discontent of veterans but also of the citizenry that does recognize the heroic actions of these retired policemen and soldiers.
Keep in mind
- “As we stated, they saw the need to put young people who did not participate in the operation”, said the former head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, Cesar Astudillo.
- 126 days were the hostages of the MRTA in the residence of the Japanese ambassador before being rescued by the Chavín de Huántar commando, in April 1997.
- “This has been a political decision that represents an affront to the Nation and to the soldiers of the country.“, held Jaime Cabrera, former Chavín de Huántar command.
- While Castillo remained inside the Pentagonito, a large police contingent blocked the entrances to protect him from the rejection of the population waiting outside the military headquarters.
- After indicating that they would not invite the Chavín de Huántar commandos and police (r) from the GEIN, the Ministry of Defense was forced to retract. However, both groups say they never received an apology or an official invitation.
- “The reaction was late, the insult was already done. We parade outside the CGE for our population“, held Alex Segura, former Chavín de Huántar commando.