This week there was some friction within the Government due to the strategy of the fight against drugs. Defense Minister José Gavidia indicated that the goal is for the Vraem (Valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers) to cease to be an emergency zone by 2026 - when the presidency of Pedro Castillo ends - and wants the 40 counter-subversive bases that are there to become 40 centers of production and development, despite the fact that the remnants of the terrorist group, the Quispe Palomino clan, persist. It is also a way to neutralize the Armed Forces (Armed Forces) struggling to maintain peace in an emergency zone.
The government wants to build communication routes to the area, such as roads, bridges and an airport in Pichari. However, the Armed Forces continue to fight in a place where on May 23, 2021, 16 people, including four minors, were killed at night in San Miguel de Ene, a very complex area partly dominated by narco-terrorism.
Peru21 tried to communicate with the Ministry of Defense to offer its defense, however, it has not received any response, despite the fact that the fight against drugs continues in Peru, especially in that place of combat.
For its part, the National Commission for Drug-free Development and Life (Devida) wants the concept of “self-eradication” of illegal crops to be implemented. And the ideology of Peru Libre, drawn up by the secretary general of the ruling party, Vladimir Cerrón, proposed the expulsion of the United States Agency for Development (Usaid), which works in coordination with the military bases in the area.
In the Vraem, where 90% of the coca leaf goes to drug trafficking, there are 46 counter-subversive bases and another five that do river control. The Peruvian newspaper specified that Gavidia had pressured senior military commanders to proceed with his intentions, but none of them gave the go-ahead.
Although some military bases have not produced the expected results, they always serve to deter narco-terrorists in the area. “Without the presence of these 'security milestones', they will move forward and recover the lost zone,” said one person who decided to safeguard his name.
POLITICIAN ANALYSIS
Rubén Vargas, former Minister of the Interior during Francisco Sagasti's administration, said that grassroots cannot become bases for development because we must work with local authorities and regional governments, something that does not concern the Defense portfolio. “The ministry must focus on ensuring that rivers do not continue to be the route of drug trafficking with impunity,” he said.
The Mindef, said Vargas, must be more aware of other problems such as, “to prevent Bolivian narcoplanes from continuing to violate our airspace with impunity.”
“I would say to the minister: take care of the security issues of the Vraem and don't get involved in something like development because it's absurd (...) that's pure demagogy,” he said.
Otto Guibovich, former commander-general of the Army and former congressman of the Republic, said that while development in the Vraem is possible, it is not yet adequate because of security, so “any attempt at forced development will not have sustainability.”
He also recalled that during the government of Alejandro Toledo, attempts were made to retreat the Armed Forces, which was of no use, since the remnants of the Shining Path were allowed to be reorganized in the Vraem.
“As long as those remnants are in the Vraem, it is necessary to have those bases because they somehow impede the advancement of Comrade 'Joseph' and his hosts. That's the problem. The easier we give them, they will move forward and that cannot be allowed,” said José Baella, former head of the Dircote.
The narco-terror group of the Quispe Palomino clan are making it out of the Vraem to the nearby cities: they attract young people to follow up and targeted executions that are being fought by the Armed Forces.
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