On September 27, the Government of Dina Boluarte declared a state of emergency in 14 districts of Lima and 1 of Callao, as a measure to protect the population against threats of extortion and hitmen. However, as the days go by, the numbers of these crimes have not decreased and the statements of the Minister of the Interior, Juan José Santiváñezhave often turned out to be lies, the most controversial being confusing the figures for the reduction of extortion and contract killings from 72% to 7.2%.
Now, Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén has indicated, in a press conference, that they would not only be evaluating extending the state of emergency to other districts of Lima and Callao, but they would also be considering that the Armed Forces (FF.AA.) are in charge of internal control and are supported by the National Police (PNP).
Dina Boluarte’s government does not know the reality of the country
In statements to La República, the former Minister of the Interior, Wilfredo Pedraza, assured that the fact that the Armed Forces took internal control would not mean anything because they would not be fighting the origin of organized crime, which is extortion. “I don’t see any situation that could mean a change in terms of security. The chief will no longer be a police general but an Army general, perhaps we will see a little more soldiers in the streets but that will not mean anything at all.” to improve security,” he said.
Likewise, he regretted that the Executive is not seeing the real problem of extortion, since according to his experience, the main way to combat these crimes has to be through intelligence groups that carry out short and medium-term investigations aimed at capturing who lead and promote these criminal organizations.
For his part, former Minister of the Interior Rubén Vargas, shared the panorama provided by Pedraza and described the Executive as a Government that is indifferent to the current situation that the country is going through. “After thousands of deaths recorded during these years of Government, they have not understood the nature of the problem in which we are involved, which is the overflow of criminal organizations that correspond to a comprehensive response from the PNP, the Public Ministry and the Judiciary,” accurate.
Vargas also explained that the Executive’s statements indicating that they plan to hand over internal order to the Army would only demonstrate that “it is a Government adrift, without any serious proposal to confront the natural phenomenon.”
The Armed Forces do not have the necessary logistics
In statements to this newspaper, the former PNP general, Eduardo Pérez Rocha, revealed that the Police currently has 135,000 troops and would need 50,000 more to be able to have a complete presence on the streets; while the Armed Forces – Army, Navy and FAP – would only have 122,000 registered. “They will not have the capacity to assume functions,” he said.
Furthermore, he added that if the PNP is kept in control of internal order, the institution does not have first-level logistics, not even its own patrol cars, since these would be being rented due to abandonment by the Government.
