Goodbye to the conceited Pedro Castillo. As announced by the government of Dina Boluarte, the appointments of prefects and sub-prefects at the national level are being left without effect as a result of the misuse of the positions in recent months.
Yesterday, a new batch of 312 district sub-prefects were separated from their positions by the head of the General Directorate of Interior Government, Benigna Aguilar Vera, who took the “cleaning” of this level of the State seriously.
From the beginning of the appointments of the questioned officials, it was revealed that most of them were hired due to their alliance with former president Pedro Castillo and organizations that provided him with support, including unions linked to Sendero Luminoso, such as Movadef, Conare- Sute, Fenatep and the Magisterial Party.
SIGHT: These are the prefects of Pedro Castillo who also fuel violent protests
THE FAVORITISM IS OVER
The elimination of these charges began on December 12, after the declaration of the former Minister of Defense – now Prime Minister – Alberto Otárola. “Today the dismissal of all prefects at the national level is being ordered. We have found there an element that has contributed to the destabilization of the regions and in localities where these prefects move, ”he said.
Indeed, several of these prefects were caught inciting the days of violent protest in favor of Castillo and demanding the resignation of Boluarte.
In the middle of the year, Perú21 identified more than 10 people – between prefects and sub-prefects – who had links with these radical groups. Despite the warnings, the Castillo government insisted on designating his allies.
Over time it became clear that, despite being civil servants, they publicly supported Castillo and acted as “portables.” Through a WhatsApp group they communicated and participated in marches in favor of the closure of Congress or against the vacancy (see box).
Given the situation, the president of the Decentralization Commission of Congress, Diana Gonzales (Avanza País), proposed a bill that seeks the elimination of these charges and was approved in the working group. The opinion is ready to be debated in the plenary session of Parliament.
During an interview with Peru21.TVthe parliamentarian said that these authorities spent in 2022 “more or less S/67 million” only on salaries and that she considered that this was “an unnecessary expense for charges with duplication of functions.”
Another of the arguments used by the commission to approve the proposal was that the money invested in this group was up to “greater than the budget allocated for the National Fire Department of Peru in all of 2022”, for whom around S/60 million is disbursed. .
By 2023, the budget for the General Directorate of Interior Government, on which the prefects and sub-prefects depend, increased considerably, exceeding S/80’721,684.
This newspaper also revealed that these authorities were handpicked by characters directly linked to Castillo.
They stirred up the protests
After the failed coup attempt by Pedro Castillo, protests over the closure of Congress, early elections and a new Constitution broke out. As Peru21 revealed in its December 19 edition, members of the Fenatep who were given prefect positions during Castillo’s administration were behind the violence.
According to the guidelines of the Ministry of the Interior (Mininter) published on the Government website, the role of the prefectures is key to promoting citizen security and internal order within the country, even in the most remote areas. However, during the first weeks of December, 26 prefects were identified who, from their regions and through social networks, fueled the social demonstrations that claimed the lives of more than 20 Peruvians.
At least six of them were linked to Fenatep, Conare-Sute and the Magisterial Party, all linked to the Movadef Senderista group. This newspaper verified that some coordinated their actions in the marches in WhatsApp groups, among them the prefects of San Martín, Tito Angulo Rivero, and of La Libertad, Pablo Ruiz Contreras. Likewise, the prefect of Junín, Brangil Mateo Blass, called for a march and use of violence through Facebook.
Keep in mind
- The first to appoint these prefects and sub-prefects was the former Minister of the Interior Avelino Guillén, who signed, on November 25, 2021, the first 13 resolutions, of which nine were related to unions in favor of Castillo.
- When the nationwide protests began, after Castillo carried out a coup and Dina Boluarte assumed the presidency, some regional prefects resigned their positions as a show of support for the former president. All demanded a new Constitution (through the Constituent Assembly), new elections and the closure of Congress.
