The Minister of the Interior, Willy Huerta Olivas, knew in advance of the arbitrary dismissal of Colonel PNP Harvey Colchado Huamaní as head of the Search Division of the General Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of the Interior (Digimin), confirmed La República by sources from this agency dependent on the Ministry of Inter.
Around 7:45 p.m. on Monday, September 12, Minister Huerta was informed that the head of the Digimin, General PNP (r) Whitman Ríos Adrianzén, ordered the replacement of Colonel Colchado.
According to the official statement of the Ministry of Interiorwhich was broadcast at 1 in the morning of September 13, the head of the office, Willy Huerta, was unaware of General Ríos’ decision and disavowed it.
However, Digimin sources told this newspaper that at 7:45 p.m. on Monday, September 12, the head of the Counterintelligence Directorate and interim head of the Digimin Intelligence Directorate, Colonel PNP (r) Luis Sánchez Lira, reported to Minister Huerta the departure of Colonel Colchado by decision of General Whitman Ríos.
Colonel Luis Sánchez informed Minister Huerta of the incident, rather than through social networks, From more or less 9:30 p.m., the memorandum that resolved the replacement of Colonel Colchado circulated, who acts as coordinator of the Special Team of the PNP.
There was no immediate response from the Ministry of the Interior about the untimely departure from the Colonel Colchado of the Digimin Search Directorate.
“The ministerial office has not authorized or validated the alleged disposition (of Colchado’s relief)”, reads the memorandum addressed to the Deputy Minister of Internal Order, General PNP (r) Abel Gamarra Malpartida, dated Monday, September 12 at 11:58 p.m. that day.
The document, signed by the head of the Cabinet of Advisors to the Minister of the Interior, José Gómez Reina, was published on the Ministry’s Twitter account on Tuesday, September 13, at 1 in the morning.
What is striking is that in the memorandum by adviser José Gómez It is pointed out that Minister Willy Huerta annuls the dismissal of Colonel Harvey Colchado, “in the alleged denial” of his replacement. But Minister Huerta was already aware of the irregular decision of General Whitman Ríos.
According to sources from the ministerial office, Minister Willy Huerta had been informed on Monday, September 12, at approximately 7:45 p.m. through a message sent by the head of the Counterintelligence Directorate, Colonel PNP (r) Luis Sánchez Lira, which attached the memorandum of the change.
“Mr. Minister, are you aware of this?” Colonel Luis Sánchez Lira asked Willy Huerta.
An hour and a half later, around 9:30 p.m. Minister Huerta replied to Colonel Sánchez: “I don’t know. Who authorized it? I will ask to be informed of this case.”
Whitman’s hand
According to the sources of the Corpac building, Colonel PNP Luis Sánchez Lira, head of the Counterintelligence Directorate and interim head of the Intelligence Directorate of the (Digimin), He was called urgently to report to the headquarters of the General Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of the Interior to sign some important documents ordered by General Whitman Ríos.
According to the sources consulted by La República, Colonel Luis Sánchez Lira found in his desk a sealed envelope containing the memorandum ordering the replacement of Colonel Harvey Colchado as head of the Digimin Search Division.
“Commander PNP Mario Hidalgo Yen has been designated as of the date head of the Search Division of the (Digimin), in this sense, please carry out the corresponding relief of the documentation, liabilities, logistical resources and others”, reads the memorandum No. 076-2022, dated September 12, 2022, and which was signed by General PNP ( r) Whitman Ríos Adrianzén.
Next, Colonel Luis Sánchez Lira prepared memorandum No. 023-2022 addressed to Colonel Harvey Colchado, indicating the respective replacement with PNP Commander Mario Hidalgo Yen, complying with the provisions of General Whitman Ríos.
However, said provision was annulled by the Minister of the Interior, Willy Huerta, four hours after Colonel Harvey Colchado was notified by Colonel Luis Sánchez Lira and of having been public in the media.
Due to the scandal derived from the dismissal of Colonel Harvey Colchado, General Whitman Ríos Adrianzén was removed from his position as head of the Digimin by the Minister of the Interior, Willy Huerta. The resolution was signed at 4:56 p.m. on Tuesday, September 13, 2022.
The objective. The purpose of the Mininter’s maneuver was to cough up Colchado from the Special Team. Photo: Andean
For his part, the former director of Digimin, General PNP(r) Whitman Ríos, argued in his defense on Canal N that at no time was Colonel Harvey Colchado removed from office as head of the Search Division.
And that, on the contrary, he was entrusted to exclusively take charge of the Special Support Team for the Prosecutor’s Office against the Corruption of Power.
According to the sources consulted, former Digimin chief General Whitman Ríos hardly acted on his own initiative when he fired Colonel Harvey Colchado. Much less outside the knowledge of Minister Willy Huerta.
ministerial rally
As a result of the incident, General Whitman Ríos has been removed from his position as head of Digimin.
“Up to a certain level I have the option to make changes, obviously I cannot place directors, because the directors come with a ministerial resolution. All changes are made by memorandum,” Ríos told Canal N.
He also assured that he had not committed any irregularity. during the time he served as head of the General Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of the Interior (Digimin).
“I have not withdrawn, they have withdrawn me, so the person who has withdrawn me should be asked why he did it (The Minister of the Interior). Confidence positions do not deserve any explanation, I simply put you in and take you out when I no longer need you. And if they don’t need me anymore, they retire me, simple as that,” he pointed out.
What is clear from the incident is that the government sought to cough up the Colonel Harvey Colchado Huamaní of the PNP Special Team, because President Pedro Castillo considers him his “enemy.”
To remove him from the PNP Special Team, the Castillo Government has attempted various maneuvers to fulfill its mission. For example, reporting him to the PNP General Inspectorate for his alleged functional misconduct, when the truth is that PNP Colonel Harvey Colchado complied with a court order when he intervened in the Government Palace to arrest Yenifer Paredes Navarro.
Colonel Harvey Colchado’s lawyer, Luis Naldos, declared to Radioprogramas that he found it unlikely that the Minister of the Interior affirmed that he did not know about the replacement of the officer.
“There is a document that it is not known who signed (ordering the replacement of Colonel Colchado) and that the minister (Huerta) did not know. We are saying that high-ranking signatures are forged at the heart of the Mininter intelligence apparatus,” Naldos said.
The official version that Minister Willy Huerta was unaware of the dismissal of Colonel Harvey Colchado and that it was a measure without consultation does not seem to hold.
The Executive Branch, not to mention President Castillo himself, has tried in various ways to cough up Colonel Harvey Colchado of the PNP Special Team that investigates acts of corruption involving family members of the head of state.
According to the sources consulted, the frustrated attempt to take over from Colonel Harvey Colchado sought to neutralize the officer as coordinator of the PNP Special Team that supports the actions of the Prosecutors against the Corruption of Power. That Minister Huerta alleges that he did not know anything about this maneuver is a version that does not have support.
revealing documents
Memorandum from the ministerial adviser José Gómez Reina to the deputy minister Abel Gamarra in which he requests the annulment of the replacement of Colonel Harvey Colchado.
The memorandum from Colonel Luis Sánchez to Colonel Harvey Colchado in which he reports his relief by decision of General Whitman Ríos.
