Former Army Commander said Pedro Castillo asked him to promote colonels

During the session of the Control Commission of the Congress of the Republic, the former commander-general of the army, José Vizcarra, ratified his version that President Pedro Castillo asked Colonels Carlos Sánchez Cahuamanca and Ciro Bocanegra Loayza to promote.

The former commander participated as a witness to the Parliament's working group, via virtual conference. He presented a series of screenshots of what appear to be messages that he would have shared with the president, whom he saved in his contacts like 'Profe'.

In this way, he confirmed that he was asked to promote the two colonels. In the case of Bocanegra, he asked him to promote him to the position of brigadier general.

“I asked the president that we only have the minister (of Defense, Walter Ayala) and him. Sure enough, he agreed. I explained to him again 'This gentleman I can't ascend'. The president listened to me quietly until, at the end, he said 'Well, Mr General, we will then respect the decision you have made as an institution'. But he said, 'I just want to ask you something. Tell me and can't we do anything for Mr. Ciro Bocanegra? He already insisted on one, just one,” he told the committee.

In addition, the messages he had received from the president show that he had asked him to contact the then Secretary of the Government Palace, Bruno Pacheco, which was strange for Vizcarra.

The president wrote to him on WhatsApp: “General, good afternoon, I ask you to talk to Bruno about some urgent issues.” Then I attach the contact of the former secretary.

“There was no topic (to discuss) with the secretary. Normally, the channel is the Minister of Defense,” said Vizcarra during his congressional testimony.

In this way, he confirmed that there was pressure on the part of Bruno Pacheco, who was already under a preventive detention order of 36 months in the case of the Tarata III Bridge.

“He sends me another message, which seems that he was forwarding it from the order that someone had placed him. It says: 'Army Commander Victor Hugo Torres Quispe for colonel, '” he adds.

In the screen messages you can see that this message had the notification that it had been forwarded from another chat. This would mean that the president was receiving requests or orders from a third person about which people to promote within the Armed Forces.

The chairman of the Congressional Oversight Committee, Hector Ventura, confirmed that he has already heard 25 witnesses in this case. Of these, the quality of 8 of these have changed to 'researched'.

WHAT IS THE PROMOTION SCANDAL IN THE ARMED FORCES ABOUT?

The case of promotions in the Armed Forces came to light when Pedro Castillo surprisingly removed the chief of the army, General José Vizcarra, and the head of the Air Force, General Jorge Chaparro, at the beginning of November 2021.

The two generals had been appointed by the president in August, they reported having received pressure from the then Minister of Defense, Walter Ayala, and former Secretary of the Government Palace, Bruno Pacheco, to irregularly promote officers related to the government. These promotions did not materialize.

Thus, the Office of the Prosecutor of the Nation opened an investigation on November 11 against Ayala and Pacheco, alleging alleged pressure on the chiefs of the Army and Air Force to favor some officers in the annual promotion process.

Both officials resigned and are now being investigated to determine whether they committed “the alleged commission of the crimes of abuse of authority and illegal sponsorship, provided for and sanctioned in the Criminal Code,” according to a document from the Prosecutor's Office.

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