Retirement of general who led counter-terrorist operation in the Vraem revoked (La República [Spanish] - 12/23/2020)

Retirement of general who led counter-terrorist operation in the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro rivers (Vraem) revoked (Spanish)

Space gained. The head of CEVRAEM, Major General Miguel Gonzales Bojórquez, will take the place left by resigned Major General Walter Córdova Alemán.

Ángel Páez 

The resignation of the general commander of the Army, Major General Walter Córdova Alemán, who accepted President Dina Boluarte on December 19, left a vacancy for a divisionary that the armed institute must necessarily complete. To cover the space, former Defense Minister Alberto Otárola revoked the retirement pass for renewal of cadres of Major General EP Miguel Gonzales Bojórquez, according to La Republica sources.

The new head of Defense, Jorge Chávez Cresta, processed the disposition of Otárola, who has assumed as president of the Council of Ministers.

On November 11, the Army announced the retirement of EP Major Generals Miguel Gonzales Bojórquez and Juan Cevallos de Barrenechea.

The decision adopted by former Army Commander General Walter Córdova Alemán drew attention because General Miguel Gonzales had played a key role in the so-called Operation Patriot, executed between August 11 and 15 of this year. The large-scale military action managed to reach the 'command center' of the terrorist Víctor Quispe Palomino, comrade 'José', who since 1999 has been entrenched in the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro rivers (Vraem).

Operation Patriot received recognition from the Army itself, the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and the Executive. The foreign press also highlighted the design of what is considered one of the most important operations against the criminal organization calling itself the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP) in an extremely complicated geographical area.

During Operation Patriot, General Miguel Gonzales Bojórquez was in charge of the Vraem Special Command (CEVRAEM).

The announcement of the retirement of General Miguel Gonzales did not resemble a decoration, far from it.

But the resignation of General Walter Córdova Alemán allowed the opportunity to continue at least for another year in activity, during which time he could eventually complete the actions to eliminate the MPCP from the Vraem, which acts as a sustenance of drug trafficking.

According to information gathered by this newspaper, the revocation of the retirement of General Miguel Gonzales Bojórquez will make it easier for the Army to have the 14 division generals indicated in the law.

Moreover, it is not the first time that such a measure has been adopted. Former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski retired Major General César Astudillo Salcedo, because he was under investigation, which affected the institutionality of the Army. When Kuczynski reported the case and concluded that Astudillo was not involved, he reinstated him and appointed him commander general of the Army in 2017.

As is public knowledge, Major General Walter Córdova Alemán was replaced by Major General David Ojeda Parra, which implies modifying the leadership of the military institute.

Yesterday morning, Defense Minister Jorge Chavez Cresta denied the version that circulated about the alleged reinstatement of General Walter Cordova. Chavez said the restructuring would be implemented in accordance with the rules in place.

When General David Ojeda assumes the General Command of the Army, the position of Chief of Staff of the military institute should be occupied by Major General Carlos Ríos Aguilar, current inspector general of the Army. It remains to be determined who will take Rios' place.

The new general commander must also evaluate the renewal of the general commands of the Army divisions, among other relevant commands.

Generals David Ojeda Parra and Carlos Ríos Aguilar (1 and 2) are from the Heroes of São Paulo promotion (1986). General Miguel Gonzales Bojórquez belongs to the Andrés Avelino Cáceres promotion (1987). Before December 31, there will be news of the changes.

Data

Results. Although Operation Patriot failed to capture Victor Quispe Palomino, comrade 'José', it destroyed his main hideout.

Intelligence. The operation provided security forces with key information about the criminal organization, having access to computer memories, notebooks, USB and other equipment with relevant data on their sources of financing.