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Peruvian lawmakers demand police chief’s removal after organized-crime killings
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Crime & Justice

Peruvian lawmakers demand police chief’s removal after organized-crime killings

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • Lawmakers from several Peruvian parties urged President Keiko Fujimori’s government to remove national police chief Óscar Arriola after four people were killed and a mining businessman was kidnapped in Trujillo.
  • Critics said existing measures, including states of emergency in Lima, Callao and Pataz, have failed to contain organized crime.
  • The government has sought legislative powers to address insecurity, but opponents said its request does not change the law protecting Arriola from removal.

Peruvian lawmakers are demanding the removal of national police chief Óscar Arriola after four people were killed and a mining businessman was kidnapped in the northern city of Trujillo.

the decency and responsibility to step aside

— Harvey ColchadoThe lawmaker urged national police chief Óscar Arriola to resign after the killings and kidnapping in Trujillo.

The calls come from politicians across the political spectrum and follow weeks of criticism over the government’s response to organized crime. Authorities have declared states of emergency in Lima and Callao, as well as in Pataz, the center of Peru’s illegal mining activity, but opponents say the measures have not stopped the violence.

Harvey Colchado, a former police colonel who now serves as a lawmaker for the center-left Ahora Nación party, accused the executive of again protecting Arriola. He urged the police chief to show “the decency and responsibility to step aside” and request retirement. Colchado also criticized the government for responding to the Trujillo killings and kidnapping by asking Congress for legislative powers to tackle insecurity.

not a single line

— Harvey ColchadoHe said the government’s request for legislative powers did not include a change to the law protecting Arriola from removal.

The government had promised to review a law that prevents the police chief’s removal for two years. Colchado said the legislative request contained “not a single line” changing the provision that protects Arriola, a measure previously backed by Keiko Fujimori’s Fuerza Popular party in the former Congress. “So do not shift to Congress a responsibility you did not even try to resolve,” he said.

the person who represents the failure of the fight against crime

— Indira HuilcaThe lawmaker criticized President Keiko Fujimori’s government for keeping Arriola in charge of the police.

Indira Huilca, also from Ahora Nación, said organized crime was advancing unchecked and called Arriola “the person who represents the failure of the fight against crime.” Rossana Alayza of the centrist Partido del Buen Gobierno said Arriola should have resigned, or been asked to resign, long ago. Diego Bazán of the right-wing Renovación Popular said the police chief’s resignation alone would not solve the problem.

the resignation of the commander general of the police will not solve

— Diego BazánThe Renovación Popular lawmaker said removing Arriola alone would not resolve Peru’s security problems.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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