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Andean Group - May 2012 (ISSN 1741-4466)

PERU: Vrae operation continues to harm Humala

The Camisea gas field workers recently kidnapped in the Valley of the Apurímac and Ene rivers (Vrae) by a remnant of the Sendero Luminoso armed group may have been released unharmed by their captors [RA-12-04], but the security forces involved in ‘Operation Freedom’ - the operation launched to rescue the workers - sustained casualties that have now taken a political toll on the government led by President Ollanta Humala. The two ministers responsible for the operation, Defence Minister Alberto Otárola and Interior Minister Daniel Lozada, have been severely questioned in congress, which has moved to censure them due to their inability to provide accurate and timely information regarding the events unfolding in the Vrae. Realising that their positions looked increasingly untenable, Otárola and Lozada submitted their resignations on 10 May. Their decision was intended to spare the government a bigger political crisis by shielding the prime minister, and possibly even the president, from having to face continued criticism in congress. However, it seems that the government may be scathed further by the problematic operation.

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