Jorge Montoya: "Castillo's coup d'état took place because the day before information came out about acts of corruption"

In the latest edition of the programme 'De Cara al Mundo' on Onda Madrid, we had the participation of Jorge Montoya, congressman of the Republic of Peru for the Renovación Popular party, who gave us the keys to the situation of political instability that the Andean country is going through after the violent protests over the arrest of the coup leader Pedro Castillo and the future of the Republic with the government of Dina Boluarte and the upcoming elections.

Is there a risk of political confrontation in Peru?

What there is now is a social upheaval generated by Castillo's followers, done on purpose in order to get him out of prison and return him to political activity, but that is not going to be possible. He has already been remanded in custody and the judiciary is going its own way. The people are very excited because they are being led and agitated by ex-terrorists or terrorists who are active again, who are everywhere in the country and are organised.

They have organised this to seize power, but they are not going to be allowed. A state of emergency has been decreed and the Armed Forces and the National Police have entered all parts of the country to bring calm and repel the threats of terrorist attacks that are happening in a drastic way.

We believe that we need one more week to calm the country down and continue with normal life. The Congress is in full activity, we have been debating all day and today we will continue to do so on the issue of bringing forward the elections.

When you mention the term terrorist it sounds very strong, do you have proof of this type of accusation?

Our penal code defines a terrorist as someone who carries out acts of violence against society, for example, setting factories on fire. The demonstrators took over, looted and set fire to a milk factory in Arequipa, they also knocked down a Telefonica tower, robbed houses and jewellery shops in the centre of Cuzco and set fire to 14 police stations. These are all acts of terrorism.

Do you think that the solution to the crisis in which Peru has been immersed since Mr. Castillo became president is to hold new elections?

No, that is not going to solve the crisis. The problem we have is that we are in a communist government. Castillo and Perú Libre, which is the party that brought him into government, is a communist party, as they themselves stated in their manifesto and in their government programme. At present, the person who has taken over from him, the vice-president, is also a communist. We are fighting against communism in this democracy in the institutions that are still free, such as the Congress. We are going to keep it that way. We are not going to allow them to break the constitutional order and to violate the democratic principles of our country. Our Constitution is the Bible.

We are sure that we are going to manage to maintain it, so far we are doing it with a lot of strength, with a lot of problems, but we are getting ahead. The country's economy continues to function, we are giving governance to the country and we are legislating according to the greatest needs. We are going to continue in this. Peru will stabilise in a short time.

Why has Peru's political situation deteriorated, and do you think it is Mr. Castillo's management that has brought Peru to this serious crisis situation?

No, what has led to this situation is corruption. Castillo set up a gang of robbers to take over the government and they started stealing from day one. The Public Prosecutor's Office has done an excellent job in tackling this type of crime. It has opened several investigation files against the former president and processes are underway waiting for the shielding and inviolability he has because of the position he held to be removed so that the judiciary can act.

Now we are going to start to see Castillo's real business. The theft of all revenues from the country. That is the biggest problem we have. Castillo's self-coup d'état was triggered because the day before he launched it, a series of information came out about acts of corruption provoked by him and by people in his circle that shocked everyone. Nobody imagined the level of corruption to which he had risen. When he found himself almost in jail, he unleashed a political programme in which he came out as if he were a politician who was a victim of circumstances and not a corrupt person who is being sought by the Prosecutor's Office.

This is what triggered the self-coup, which made no sense at all because he had no people to support him. No institution paid any attention to it and that is why it could be controlled. The Congress acted quickly, evacuated him and in less than three hours the problem was solved.

Despite the seriousness of the crisis, other branches of government, such as the Congress and the judiciary, have functioned independently.

Yes, they have. The powers have maintained their independence and each has denied the possibility of a coup d'état. That is how it was solved. The Constitutional Court also acted quickly to disqualify the claims made by the president and the Armed Forces, fulfilling their constitutional role, saw calm and democracy was put aside.

Is there any kind of foreign interference? Because the new Peruvian government has recalled ambassadors from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia for consultations. Do you think there is any kind of interference from outside in the political situation in Peru?

Unfortunately, yes. We are in the middle of the South American region and we are in the middle of the problem of the Sao Paulo Forum. The countries that follow the radical left and the left in general are taking over all the governments in the region. Peru is one more of them that is defending itself as best it can by having a communist government. Part of the region that has this colour is subverting the order in the country.

They are financing, giving money, so that they can move the marches that they are moving. All that costs money. The money comes mainly from outside and the other part comes from drug trafficking. The countries of the region have an interest in Peru falling into the clutches of communism, and we are not going to allow that. We have to return to the normality we have had for years where we lived in democracy, peacefully, with the problems of each country, but without this type of aggression.

Do you think that in a few months' time the conditions could be right for elections to be held so that the Peruvian people can give their opinion on what is happening and elect their new rulers?

This is not the case. The problem in this country is that we have no formed political parties. In the short time you mention, it is impossible for elections to be held in compliance with all the laws. We have a problem, apart from the change of government, which is our political variation. We need to finish the period in order to be able to make an orderly country with the political reforms that have to be made and the changes in the constitution that are necessary. And that takes time, it would take two or three years to do that.

What is said about a change of rulers is a period induced by Castillo in order to have control of the country and to be able to make a constituent assembly, that is his objective. He is not interested in a natural change of elections in a democracy, he is interested in making a constituent assembly.

An electoral process costs a lot of money: 1.5 billion soles would cost for this change of government, which has to be done anyway, but at the right time. To bring it forward is to create a budgetary cost that has to be taken into account. All these things are taken into account. In Congress, we invited the president of the National Jury of Elections, the head of the General Office of Electoral Processes and the head of the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status to explain to us the problems that would arise in the case of bringing forward the elections, that is, the time needed to carry out a complete process. Nothing can be done in an accelerated manner because that would mean breaking the situation that guarantees an electoral process, it would greatly lower the quality of the electoral result.

Do you think that Mrs. Boluarte will be able to maintain a certain stability in order to face the two years that you say are necessary to hold proper elections?

We would give her the stability she needs because what we want to do is a proper transfer when that happens. So with that there would be no problem on our part. We would keep her the way she is, knowing that she is a communist and knowing that we don't have it all with us.

Another thing is what the protesters and the supporters of Mr Castillo do, who are going to push for their objectives.

Yes, we are vigilant. The National Police are taking preventative measures, they have around 5,000 troops who were in the squares where they normally gather and prevented any kind of gestures that could have been made. Stability and calm were maintained. 

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.