Lima. The Peruvian Congress has approved the arrival of US troops. With 70 votes in favor, 33 against and four abstentions, the plenary session of Parliament approved the law resolution 4766, which allows its use between June 1st and December 31st of this year.
According to the law, US soldiers may come into the country with weapons to “carry out cooperation and training activities with the armed forces and police of Peru”. These will take place in the regions of Lima, Callao, Loreto, San Martín, Huánuco, Ucayali, Pasco, Junín, Huancavelica, Cusco, Ayacucho, Iquitos, Pucusana and Apurímac.
The resolution was tabled on April 20 by President Dina Boluarte and the Chair of the Council of Ministers, Luis Alberto Otálora Peñaranda.
Congressman Alfredo Azurín, secretary of the Committee on National Defense, Home Order, Alternative Development and Counternarcotics, said the U.S. military was “from June 1 to September 30 and October 1 to … December 30, 2023 provides support and assistance to the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and the Peruvian Police during special operations.”
Socialist politician and former foreign minister of left-wing President Pedro Castillo, Héctor Béjar, sharply criticized the law: “It is obvious that the presence of these soldiers is a deterrent and part of a policy aimed at terrorizing the Peruvian people who are has announced new protests for next July.” At the same time, he warned that the presence of foreign troops also makes Peru a potential threat to neighboring countries with progressive governments such as Bolivia and Colombia.
The general secretary of the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP), Gerónimo López, described the deployment of US troops as “unacceptable foreign interference”. The Peruvian government accepts this, as well as the presence of US military bases in the country.
“Having already transferred lithium and other resources to foreign countries, Dina Boluarte and Congress are undermining national sovereignty by authorizing the entry of US troops for police and military ‘training’,” said former Women’s Minister Anahí Durand.
In the parliamentary debate on the resolution, according to the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina, the left-wing deputies agreed that foreign troops do not guarantee the country’s security, but endanger national sovereignty. It was passed by a majority of the far-right and center-right parties, against opposition from left-wing factions in Congress.