The attack that President Dina Boluarte suffered on Saturday during her visit to the Ayacucho region had immediate consequences for law enforcement. The next day, the head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINI), Roger Arista, was replaced by Luis García Barrionuevo, and this Monday the commander general of the National Police, General Jorge Angulo, was dismissed by Lieutenant General Víctor Zanabria. In addition, the president's bodyguard was completely changed.
The executive is aware that the incident represents an incalculable setback in its attempt to project an image of popularity that has been difficult to achieve since it came to power in December 2022 following Pedro Castillo's failed coup. Aside from the ease with which the security of the country's highest authority was breached due to the hairline fracture he suffered, the fact that he was confronted with it has symbolic significance for those who perpetrated it. She is the widow of a murdered protester and the mother of a murdered teenager who was at the Boluarte protests a year ago. Two victims of police and military repression.
Initially, only Ruth Bárcena Loayza could be identified, who lost her husband Leonardo David Hancco Chacca, a 32-year-old transporter whose chest was pierced by a bullet. Bárcena confronted Boluarte, who came up with the idea of handing out sweets during his first visit to a region where ten people died in the mobilizations. However, there was a second woman who took advantage of the commotion to pull his hair from behind. This is Ilaria Aime Gutiérrez, 38, who also lost her 15-year-old son Christopher Ramos Aime, who was fatally injured in the back.
Ramos made a living at the Ayacucho General Cemetery by cleaning niches and putting up flower arrangements. He had left school to help his mother and older sister as they prepared to apply to university. His life was interrupted in mid-December 2022 while he was crossing a street. The bullet hit his right shoulder blade and resulted in his death. “There is no justice for the people of Ayacucho. On top of that, they call my son a gang member. They say we are terrorists. We Ayacuchanos are humble people. He didn't do anything. He wasn't even in a confrontation. I just ask for justice,” Ilaria cried some time ago.
The attack on President Dina Boluarte has sparked a moral debate in public opinion. There are those who try to delegitimize Ruth Bárcena's pain via a TikTok; others limit themselves to defending the president and arguing that violence cannot be combated with violence; On the other side are those who claim that Boluarte lives in an alternative reality, that it cannot be possible for him to distribute smiles and sweets among the mourners, and that just as violence must be rejected, impunity must also be rejected.
According to the head of the Council of Ministers, Alberto Otárola, last weekend's aggression was an isolated event and he assured that the president would continue to visit the southern mountains of the country, where her fiercest opponents are. “The hearing was not negative. They welcomed her in the best way, the way they always welcome her wherever she goes. We saw the protest of 10 or 15 people using aggressive language. She will continue to travel around the country. You will go south and return to Ayacucho. Let there be no doubt because she is the constitutional President of the Republic and because she carries out works that benefit the most disadvantaged people in the country,” she said.
The first questions have already been raised regarding the new police commander, Víctor Zanabria. He was included in the tax investigation into the entry of police forces with tanks, tear gas bombs and a helicopter into the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in January 2023. General Óscar Arriola, head of the National Criminal Police Directorate (Dirincri), was appointed chief of staff of the police institution. Several heads have rolled and the waters have heated up after the tug of war. National unity seems to be a long way off.
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