Members of President Humala’s cabinet have stirred up controversy because of ties to a former member of Alberto Fujimori’s government.

According to El Comercio, Wilver Calle, Peru’s new Minister of Interior, and Adrian Villafuerte, a presidential advisor, are both close friends of General Cesar Saucedo, a former Minister of Interior and Defense during Fujimori’s government.

Villafuerte served as Saucedo’s assistant and personal secretary from 1997 to 2000, during his time as minister, and was one of the few military men who were promoted during that time, El Comercio said. Saucedo has been imprisoned since 2002 for acts of “illicit enrichment”.

Meanwhile, Calle has come under fire for his backing of Fujimori’s auto-coup in 1992, a move that Humala had been severely critical of in the past. Calle was a signatory on the act that approved Fujimori’s auto-coup, and allowed him to dissolve Congress.

The act also rejected claims regarding human rights violations carried out by the state in the early 1990’s, according to La Republica.

Congressman Luis Iberico questioned why Humala chose to call upon Calle, given his ties to Fujimori’s government.

"The President, who strongly criticized those in the military who signed the act, will have to explain why he chose a military man who signed an act that he himself has questioned so much,” Iberico said.
 

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