Armed Forces and Politics

El Mercurio de Valparaiso, Friday, October 4, 2019

In relation to an opinion column I wrote and published on Thursday, September 19, in this same outlet, which discusses the Armed Forces and politics, the recent events in Peru serve as a good example of military involvement in politics and provide a perspective that had not been included in Chile.

Not only did the high command of the institutions and the police present themselves before President Vizcarra that same night, expressing their support and thus approving the actions taken, but also on Wednesday, October 2, the president of the now-dissolved unicameral Congress, Mr. Olaechea, stated in the newspaper El Comercio of Lima: “It is illusory to think that one who does not have the support of the Armed Forces can govern.”

Every day one learns something, and except for the ousted congressmen, no one else in Peru has complained that the armed institutions have openly intervened in the politics of that country.

Richard Kouyoumdjian Inglis
Vice President AthenaLab

Source: El Mercurio de Valparaíso