While the population they must serve faces increasingly complicated problemssome authorities prefer to distance themselves with questionable trips. In recent weeks, the mayor of Lima and president of the Renovación Popular political party, Rafael Lopez Aliaga; the regional governor of La Libertad and top leader of the Alliance for Progress (APP), Cesar Acuna; and the congresswoman Patricia Chirinosrepresentative of Callao, stood out for controversial itineraries after leaving by plane, while their fellow citizens were experiencing insecurity, protests, states of emergency, among other difficult difficulties, a situation that adds to previous episodes.
The crisis due to the wave of extortion hits the country and especially Lima and La Libertad, which lead the statistics of complaints for this crime from January to August of this year, according to the National Police. Callao is in fifth place, after Piura and Lambayeque.
López Aliaga traveled to Spain at the end of last month. He left Peru on September 25 and returned on Wednesday, October 2.
That week, he met with the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the mayor of that city, Luis Martínez-Almeida. Both are conservative politicians, from the Popular Party that allied with Vox, a Spanish far-right group.
In addition, he attended a charity dinner organized by the Lima Foundation, a non-profit organization, to raise funds to supply drinking water to poor populations in the hills of the Peruvian capital.
At this event, he was with the ambassador of our country in Spain, Luis Iberico, former congressman and APP activist; and the cardinal and former archbishop of Lima, Juan Luis Cipriani. He also coincided with the former presidential candidate for the Popular Action party Alfredo Barnechea.
The Lima Foundation is chaired by Javier Cipriani, brother of the former bishop of the capital. “It is a private NGO (non-governmental organization) attached to the Municipality of Lima (…). “It is dedicated to reinforcing the social work that our mayor does,” Javier Cipriani said about the entity last June on Andrés Hurtado’s television program, Chibolín, which he used to visit. He was appointed to the position by López Aliaga with a resolution from the Mayor’s Office. He is also a member of the board of directors of Emilima, the Municipal Real Estate Company of Lima.
City administration officials allege that López Aliaga “traveled with authorization from a council session.” However, the last license was for September 12 and 18. “It always regularizes effectively in advance,” comments Councilor Aron Espinoza, from the opposition party Podemos Perú.
The need for López Aliaga to go to Spain is not clear if the president of the foundation, which organized the event, was present. In Lima, insecurity and extortion fueled concerns and protests and strikes grew.
In Congress, the Renewal bench did not respond to the demands of transporters who were victims of extortion and were leading a strike.
Since last May alone, there have been eight licenses requested and granted to López Aliaga.
Last July, he used a license to fly to Trujillo and Iquitos to carry out party activities. In the jungle, he was even presented as a presidential candidate at a conference for fusion with a regional movement.
“He says that he has a party that he leads and he cannot leave it. That has to be evaluated,” said councilor Luzi Toro, from the Esperanza Front.
Returning to Peru this month, he came out to defend his former advisor Hurtado, Chibolín, and improvised proposals in the face of insecurity: equip the police, increase the intelligence budget, open prisons for “urban terrorists,” among others. In addition, he alleged that he traveled to bring 15 million dollars for water networks and supported the minor one that requires an operation.
As a northern sheikh
Acuña went to the city of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, after obtaining a license from the La Libertad Regional Council citing “personal reasons.” Despite the crisis in the country – where he is considered a de facto ally of the Government of Dina Boluarte – and the crime in his region, he preferred to take a break. His daughter Kelly posted photos of the Apepist leader and northern governor at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, wearing a dignitary’s robe.
“I believe that as people we have the right to rest. Also, remember that I have been working for more than 43 years and I think I have all the freedom to rest,” he said last May when he requested leave for 40 days in sections.
Last year, when doing the same thing, he explained that it was a vacation. “The only thing I am doing, and what I am going to do in the future, is planning my vacation without any enjoyment,” he commented.
For this year, it has requested sections from May 24 to June 1, from July 28 to August 8, from October 4 to 13 and from December 11 to 19.
While he was enjoying himself dressed as a sheikh, a group of Trujillo residents arrived at their regional government protesting the insecurity caused by the death of Trujillo councilor Gladys Baltodano Rodríguez, murdered in an assault.
“The indolence and indifference to the people’s pain is regrettable. Mr. César Acuña has already left the country again, he has just used his license again. Indolent in the face of the pain of this family that has lost a loved one,” commented lawyer Greco Quiroz, former counselor of La Libertad, at the sit-in.
Another trip, this time on secondment, is investigated by the Comptroller’s Office. In April, the northern governor went to China for 11 days to the ‘Smart City, Smart Campus’ event in the city of Shenzhen. It was reported that he had taken the opportunity to make arrangements in favor of the César Vallejo University, his company.
Vice Governor Joana Cabrera asks to extend the emergency to Pataz and Virú for 30 days.
Chirinos Confesses
Chirinos traveled to the United States to support the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, former North American president and candidate of the Republican Party who will face Kamala Harris, current vice president and candidate of the Democratic Party, in November. The legislator, elected by Callao, reported on her social networks that she was in Miami, in the state of Florida, to join the proselytizing activities of the Republican known for his harshness with Latin American migration.
Then, he went to Ecuador, where in an interview he acknowledged that the right-wingers who control Congress dominate Boluarte. “The Peruvian right had it and continues to endure it. We can limit some things about their behavior and decisions; However, from time to time his leftist streak escapes him and we are there as Congress to correct it,” he confessed.
Meanwhile, Callao was in the news for a massacre in a van in which four people died, and its district, Ventanilla, entered a state of emergency due to the wave of insecurity.
Chirinos is one of the congresswomen with the most licenses in this Parliament.
“Our representatives from Callao do not prioritize projects against insecurity. While Ventanilla is in emergency, innocent people are murdered and the mayors and the governor ask for a state of emergency throughout Callao, Chirinos abuses the right of leave and prioritizes his support for Trump in Miami and addressing the Ecuadorian press with a shameful speech by acknowledging that ‘Congress has to support the president.’ For her, insecurity in Callao is not a priority,” says former legislator Miguel Gonzales, who chaired the Investigative Commission on Callao in 2020 and 2021 and considered Chimpum, a group that Chirinos was a member of, a mafia.
Data
Fans. Last December, congressmen Norma Yarrow and Alejandro Muñante, from Renovación popular, went to Argentina to celebrate the inauguration of Javier Milei; and Patricia Chirinos and Alejandro Cavero, from Avanza País.
Ranking. The regions with the most complaints of extortion from January to August are Lima (5,708), La Libertad (3,469), Piura (1,359), Lambayeque (553), Callao (441) and Ica (413), according to the National Police.
Reactions
“We have the most traveled governor (Acuña) in the country in a region that is bleeding. It makes me ashamed and angry. We liberteños suffer and the Lord on vacation. “There is complete disinterest.”
Marylia Cruz, political scientist (PUCP)
“We have the most traveled governor (Acuña) in the country in a region that is bleeding. It makes me ashamed and angry. We liberteños suffer and the Lord on vacation. “There is complete disinterest.”
Robert de la Cruz, counselor of La Libertad
“We do not see Chirinos debating insecurity or supervising, but instead promoting friendly projects with criminal organizations. Could it be that he misses the Chimpunera mafia that he served?”
Miguel Gonzales, former congressman for Callao
