When he had not yet assumed the Interior portfolio, Juan José Santiváñez indicated, in a WhatsApp conversation with PNP Captain Junior Izquierdothat the head of state should act in favor of Congress and power groups in order not to be removed from office.
“The popular force has asked Aunt for four ministries and he has chosen two. If Aunt does not rob them, he will be vacated tomorrow,” reads the message.
Whatsapp chat between Santiváñez and ‘Culebra’. Photo: Capture of Latina
He made this comment in the middle of a conversation where he asked Izquierdo, known within the PNP as ‘Culebra’, to share with him the resolution ordering the search and seizure of Dina Boluarte’s house. However, when he did not get it, he asked if there were plans to arrest Nicanor Boluarte.
“What happens is that I need to define my final points, as they say. So, what I want to know, more than anything, is if there is any issue right now against the brother. It is important to me, mainly for the information,” he said in an audio to ‘Culebra’.
That is, the request was made one day after the raid on Dina Boluarte’s houseThis leads Junior Izquierdo’s lawyer, José Carlos Mejía, to postulate that Santiváñez’s objective with this information was to win the president’s favor.
“According to the context, according to the minister’s own voice, because it is irrefutable, it is unquestionable that it is his voice, because it is an audio message. Mr. Santiváñez Antúnez intended to have this information in order to gain merit with the president and achieve his goal that weekend of being Minister of the Interior,” the lawyer told Punto Final.
He also added: “Unfortunately, the Minister of the Interior, Juan José Santiváñez Antúnez in the communication he had with my client during this year. I think he thought that my client could have access to all the files, to all the ongoing investigations, and that is something that does not happen.”
Minister of the Interior denied the veracity of the messages
From the Ministry of the Interior, Santiváñez Antúnez denied these accusations. The aforementioned media obtained the press release from the Mininter, who affirmed that the current minister has never asked information about Nicanor Boluarte.
“Minister Juan José Santiváñez did not hold any position in the public sector or in the Ministry of the Interior on March 30 of this year. In addition, he has never requested information about citizen Nicanor Boluarte. (…) Therefore, the Minister of the Interior does not recognize any audio or any information in this regard, making it clear that in the event of any accusation in this regard that seeks to insinuate anything, he will take the corresponding legal actions,” they said.
