Pedro Castillo's Intermezzo and Mafia Takeover
The rural schoolteacher and leftist union leader Pedro Castillo was surprisingly elected president in a run-off election against the dictator's daughter Keiko Fujimori in 2021. However, he was politically inexperienced and made many mistakes. He appointed many ministers and high-ranking officials who had no qualifications and opposed the processes. In the fragmented and crime-ridden Congress, he had no majority and no experienced party comrades to push through his agenda. Then he also fell out with the Marxist party leader of his Peru Libre movement.
The various mafia and lobby groups tried to blackmail the inexperienced government and twice initiated a vote of no confidence, which Castillo narrowly survived. Within six months, Castillo went through four cabinets. Numerous of his employees and family members were suspected of corruption. For example, $20,000 were found in the bathroom of President's secretary Bruno Pacheco's office. The media accused him of pressuring members of the armed forces to promote people close to the president. The government quickly lost support.
In December 2022, Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress, which it considered a coup and removed him from office. Castillo's vice president, Dina Boluarte, was sworn in and immediately sided with influential mafia groups and right-wing lobbyists. Congress relaxed environmental regulations, and Boluarte accused Castillo of being financed by drug trafficking. However, she failed to provide evidence for this. However, the drug mafia took advantage of the political confusion to expand its positions, particularly in the Amazon region. Between 2015 and 2022, coca cultivation areas increased by 135%.
In December 2023, Boluarte pardoned Fujimori, who left prison amid widespread protests from human rights organizations. He was picked up by his daughter Keiko, who had thus achieved her political goal. In early 2024, the prosecution demanded 34 years in prison for Castillo for an attempted coup.
The short era of PPK (imprisoned) and his successor Martín Vizcarra (accused)
The engineer and former governor of the province of San Martin, Martín Vizcarra, came to the position by chance.
The different mafia and lobby groups attempted to blackmail the inexperienced government and initiated two votes of no confidence, which Castillo narrowly survived. Within six months, Castillo went through four cabinets. Numerous of his employees and family members came under suspicion of corruption. For example, $20,000 US dollars were found in the bathroom of President Secretary Bruno Pacheco's office. Media accused him of pressuring members of the armed forces to promote individuals close to the president. As a result, the government quickly lost support.
In December 2022, Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress, which was perceived as a coup d'état and led to his removal from office. Castillo's Vice President, Dina Boluarte, was sworn in and immediately aligned herself with influential mafia groups and right-wing lobbyists. Congress relaxed environmental regulations, and Boluarte accused Castillo of being financed by the drug trade. However, she failed to provide evidence for her claims. Nonetheless, the drug mafia took advantage of the political turmoil to expand their influence, particularly in the Amazon region. Between 2015 and 2022, coca cultivation areas increased by 135%.
In December 2023, Boluarte pardoned Fujimori, who left prison amidst significant protests from human rights organizations. He was picked up by his daughter, Keiko, who had achieved her political goal. In early 2024, the prosecution demanded a 34-year prison sentence for Castillo for an attempted coup.
Ex-President Ollanta Humala (imprisoned)
Elected in 2011, President Humala is a former member of the military who was stationed among others in the coca stronghold Tingo Maria. His party "Gana Peru" has been in the headlines because of connections to the drug mafia more than once.
The Congressional delegates Nancy Obregón and Elsa Malpartida have been expelled from the party because of their involvement in drug trade. Both are still subject to an investigation. According to drug researcher Jaime Antezana, the most important liaison between the government and the mafia was Walter Acha, an influential Congress member and former leader of the coca growers in the VRAEM valley, together with three other members of parliament from "Gana Peru". But according to Antezana, the other parties also have between two and three Narco deputies in their ranks.
The background for Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine's misconduct was also their relationship with the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. The Brazilian company is said to have financed their campaign with three million US dollars. The public prosecutor's office investigates money laundering and issued an arrest warrant against Humala and his wife Nadine in 2017.
The infiltration is even stronger at the local and regional level. During Humalas therm of presidency the federal prosecutors investigated against 19 of the 25 regional presidents and 90 percent of all mayors. The charges reach from corruption to money laundering, drug trafficking, pimping and murder. some of whom were convicted. The rising star among new parties was the "Alliance for Progress". Their leader, Cesar Acuña, has become a millionaire within few years, by owning a football club and private universities, -even though his own ex-wife accused him of money laundering. At this point he planned to move into the presidential palace. But the electoral council convicted him of buying votes and giving false statements when registering as a candidate and excluded him from the election. His party, however, continues to control the La Libertad region.The capital of the region is the port city of Trujillo, one of the main drug trafficking hubs in the country.
Ex-President Alan García (committed suicide in 2019 to avoid being arrested)
„In Peru, you are stupid when you are honest”, ex-president Alan García once told a staff member.
The leader of the Social Democratic "Apra" party has been president twice, the first time during the hot phase of the civil war from 1985 to 1990, when the drug mafia and the self-defense groups forged their alliance.The second time from 2006 to 2011. Both campaigns were, according to press reports, co-financed by the drug mafia.
In In the 90s, García fled into exile among other nations to Colombia, where he made contact with members of the Cali cartel. The "Apra" is considered a pioneer of meddling drugs and politics. In 1980, in one of the first large-scale operations against drug trafficking, a truck with 475 kg of coca paste was seized. It turned out that it belonged to an influential businessman and financier of the "Apra", Carlos Langberg. In 1985, during the presidential campaign, there was a huge explosion in Lima. What turned out to have been a cocaine laboratory, was owned by a business partner of Langberg. The attorney of the accused was a certain Vladimiro Montesinos, a dark figure who should appear again in connection with drugs later. The charges against Langberg were dropped. In Germany in 1988, the "Apra" MP Manuel Angel del Pomar was arrested when he tried to withdraw money from a drug dealer’s account at the "Kommerzbank" in Berlin. García has been under investigation for money laundering and corruption for years. When the public prosecutor's office gathered enough evidence to arrest him in mid-2019, García committed suicide. According to the investigation, he had also accepted bribes from Odebrecht.
Ex-President Alejandro Toledo (wurde 2024 an Peru ausgeliefert und vor Gericht gestellt)
After a short transitional government following the overthrow of Alberto Fujimori, Alejandro Toledo from "Peru Posible" was elected president in 2001 for a five-year-term.
In a trial shortly after Toledo’s election, members of the drug cartel "Los Norteños" declared that in 1992 they had paid a million dollars to the businessman Fernando Zevallos and in order to haul their drugs, instructed him to launch an airline.
At that time, the airline had had already been under investigation in Chile and the USA, but the Peruvian judges considered the evidence insufficient and cleared Zevallos name.
In the years that followed Peruvian media found more embarrassing evidence linked to the case - including a vast network of favors (including free flights) granted by Zevallos to judges, prosecutors, police chiefs and members of the Congress. According to a former employee of Toledo and an informant of the US anti-drug agency DEA, Zevallos had also funded Toledo's election campaign. The accusations finally lead to Zevallos conviction to 20 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering, in 2005. There was no investigation of those who had protected him for years.
Another clan who rose under Toledo, was the family Sánchez Paredes, owners of a mining and real estate empire from the coastal province of La Libertad. Already in 2002, there were investigations of money laundering. But they were quickly dropped. Later photos were published where members of the family were posing with the Secretary of Agriculture from „Peru Posible“,José León. The investigation began only after the end of Toledo's presidency in 2007 and have progressed slowly. Again and again judges were being replaced and hearings postponed. Toledo was investigated in connection with the Odebrecht scandal of 2017. He evaded arrest by setting off for the USA. Peru has requested his extradition. The former World Bank employee has influential friends there.
Ex-President Alberto Fujimori (pardoned)
Fujimori (1990-2000) opened the circle of imprisoned ex-presidents. Like them, he was convicted of corruption. But there are also serious human rights violations. However, it was precisely his government that was closely linked to the Mafia, especially with Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel. According to a parliamentary committee, even the first campaign was financed by Colombian cartels.
The key figure of the business was Fujimori's intelligence adviser, Vladimiro Montesinos. He had forged an alliance with the Peruvian governor of the Medellin cartel, Demetrio Chávez Peñaherrera alias "El Vaticano". In a 2011 interview with Spanish newspaper ABC he said that he "paid $ 15,000 to the commander of the military base for each flight. That’s how I supported his fight against the guerrillas, so we were allies. The military provided me with an excavator and bulldozers which enabled me to transform a jungle road into an airstrip. All the airplanes I used for drug transport were government-owned."If someone wanted to do business in the jungle, it only happened with the approval of the military," said "El Vaticano," who was arrested in 1993 and later sentenced to 23 years in prison, in an interview.
During his trial, he testified that he had paid $ 50,000 a month to Montesinos. The business relationship folded, when Montesinos suddenly demanded twice that amount. But the arrest of the drug lord was not the end of the business, just a question of finding a new partner. One of the founders of Fujimori's party was arrested in 2000, because he used his fishing fleet to smuggle drugs. "After Fujimori's fall in late 2000, all investigations into drug trafficking were archived. 'The entire leadership of the drug mafia remained unperturbed,' criticized the later anti-drug prosecutor Sonia Medina. During a trial, he stated that he paid Montesinos $50,000 every month. Their business relationship broke down when Montesinos suddenly demanded twice the amount. However, the arrest of the drug boss did not mean the end of the business, only the partners were swapped. One of the founders of Fujimori's party was arrested in 2000 because drugs were smuggled on board his fishing fleet. 'After Fujimori's fall in late 2000, all investigations into drug trafficking were archived. 'The entire leadership of the drug mafia remained unperturbed,' criticized the later anti-drug prosecutor Sonia Medina."
After Fujimori's imprisonment, his daughter Keiko entered politics. Her goal was not only to gain power, but above all to free her father. To achieve this, the popular dictator's daughter destabilized numerous governments. In 2024, she succeeded in her plan: her father was pardoned by interim president Dina Boluarte. In return, she obtained the support of the Fujimori party Fuerza Popular in Congress. The release of Fujimori sparked international protests, especially from human rights organizations.