Peru's cabinet reshuffle

Today's the day Twobreakfasts reshuffles his cabinet, with many ministers about the get resigned going  happily because they want to run for this-or-that job in next year's election round (e.g. the current PM). But one name, Defence Minister Rafael Rey, is going because of this story nicely encapsulated by Reuters last night

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's embattled President Alan Garcia asked Congress on Monday to repeal a decree he issued two weeks ago that gave virtual amnesty to hundreds of people accused of atrocities during a civil war that killed 69,000.
Garcia backtracked only hours after acclaimed Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa harshly criticized him in a letter in which he resigned as head of a commission appointed to build a museum to honor victims of the 1980-2000 conflict, which was one of the bloodiest ever in Latin America.
Garcia's decree said that defendants in trials for human rights crimes committed before 2003 must be sentenced within 36 months of the start of their trial.
As most of the hundreds of pending cases have been bogged down for years, Vargas Llosa called the measure an "amnesty in disguise." Other critics have said the measure could violate the U.N. agreements on human rights signed by Peru.
Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that widespread rights abuses occurred during the 1990-2000 presidency of Alberto Fujimori and, to a lesser extent, during Garcia's first term in the 1980s.
Fujimori has been convicted for rights crimes, and activists say they want to put Garcia on trial, too.
"This is truly a disgrace that will revive political divisions in the country, precisely at a time of exceptional (economic) progress and during an election that should be used to reinforce our legal institutions and democracy," Vargas Llosa wrote in his letter CONTINUES HERE

As pointed out in the piece it was Twobreakfasts himself who signed off on the decree, but the real brains behind this disgusting piece of legislation is Rafael Rey, nasty shit, two faced rat, Opus Dei stalwart, Fujimori defender and general nasty piece of work in the oldschool LatAm political style. After receiving Vargas Llosa's resignation letter, Twobreakfasts apparently rang Mario, told him that Rey was toast and immediately sent to overturning proposal to Congress (where it'll get approved today).

So another chapter in PeruPolitik written. By this time tomorrow another set of stuffed suits will run the country on autopilot, the ones that are looking to parlay their power next year get free rein and one of the badduns will, hopefully at least, drop out the scene forever. Have a nice Tuesday.

UPDATE: JFS at Hemispheric Brief does a better job than IKN of recapsulating the anmesty decree issue right here. Good digest as always.

Run Away! Run Away!

Last Friday evening the cream of Peru's military, its Defence Minister, various APRA party bigwigs and local reporters were invited to watch a test of the 'Spike' missile system that Peru bought from its Israeli makers for the sum of U$48m. There's a single short report in English as to what happened next but it really doesn't do the joint full justice. However the AFP dude on the scene wrote a much better copy of what happened in his Spanish language filing and here it is, translated by yours truly.

Panic In Peru Due To Failed Israeli Missile Test: One Congresswoman Injured

Lima, April 17

Panic and a stampede was caused by a failed military test when an Israeli anti-tank missile went off-course from its target and fell close to the area where Peru's military heads and political authorities were watching the test-firing, causing the congresswoman Mercedes Cabanillas to suffer a dislocated shoulder amongst cries of "Hit the deck!" from military personnel.

The Directive for Army War Materials organized the test-firing of two Israeli built Spike missiles (MR/LR) in the presence of the Minister of Defence Rafael Rey, military authorities, members of Congress, journalists and representative of the vendors of the missile system, Raphael. The test took place in Cruz de Hueso, a desert zone some 45km from Peru's capital city, Lima.

In the afternoon one Spike missile for use in daylight was tested without incident, but when it was time to test the night-time missile the artifact only advanced 100m and moved off course towards the watching authorities. The missile fell some 50m from Minister Rey and the other invited guests and although it did not detonate it did provoke a stampede.

Panic ensued amongst the test spectators, who began running in the darkness while military personnel shouted non-stop "Hit the deck! so that the people would be safe. The danger was evident, because even though the projectile did not explode on hitting the ground it continued alight.

The member of Congress and ex-Interior Minister of the current government, Mercedes Cabanillas, was the only injured person when she fell and hit her shoulder while running away to save herself. She is reported to have dislocated a shoulder and will be operated upon this Saturday. "When everyone was running in the dark to protect themselves I took a hard knock. Somebody or something hit me hard", she said.

After the emergency was over, representatives of Raphael offered their apologies for the episode and said that it was due to a technical fault. Minister Rey demanded detailed information about the event, which the Israeli company will present in one week's time. However, the same Minister of Defence said that it was due to, "A technical error and not human error."

This is the first time that the Peruvian Armed Forces have tested Israeli weapons systems in tests open to the press. The missiles were acquired in 2009 as part of a batch of 288, along with 24 launch platforms at a cost of U$48m.

Meanwhile the important line comes at minute 1:57:

Rafael Rey, Peruvian Defence Minister and winner of this week's coveted award

Rey (for it is he)

It's difficult to get across in mere words the moronic stupidity of Rafael Rey, Peru's new (and hopefully soon-to-be-ex) Defence Minister. The subject is the recent attacks on army personnel by Sendero (shining path) terrorists in the cocaine-producing VRAE region of selvatic Peru that we've mentioned here on several occasions.

There has been a marked uptick in attacks on Peru soldiers by the terrorists, within the last week or so a helicopter shot down, gunfights that resulted in deaths and injuries on either sides, etc. Skirmishes, in other words. The uptick is clearly caused by Peruvian army's own mini-surge into the region to rid us of the bad guys combined with a well-trained and entrenched guerrilla that will protect at all costs its highly lucrative cocaine business.

Now before we continue, let's make it clear that your author fully supports, as in 100% without a shadow of doubt and the merest hint of oppostion, the Peruvian government and its army in the current situation against the Sendero terrorists. This isn't even an issue and the world would be a better place if the outlaws of VRAE were defeated once and for all. However there's no way that the total and absolute moron in charge of Peru's Defence Ministry, Rafeael Rey, can say what he said today without comment made against him. In a presentation made to Peru's Congress today, Rey said the attacks against the national army must be considered "crimes against humanity".

Forgive him, Father, he knows not what he says, he is truly a dumbass.
He's just admitted to his enemy that they are in control of VRAE.

Yes, terrorist bands roaming semi-jungle, making cocaine and killing soldiers is bad, but there's no crime against humanity going on here. In fact the scumballs that run the Sendero operation in VRAE will probably be celebrating and toasting Rey by name tonight, such is the stupidity of what he said, because we need to understand what a "crime against humanity" really is. We all have a vague idea of course, and words like The Final Solution, Rwanda, Pol Pot, Stalin, Dirty War (I could continue, sad to say) come to mind. But there is a precise and legally recognized definition of the phrase. According to the people who created the standard, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, crimes against humanity (author's bold type added):

"....are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. Murder; extermination; torture; rape and political, racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice. Isolated inhumane acts of this nature may constitute grave infringements of human rights, or depending on the circumstances, war crimes, but may fall short of falling into the category of crimes under discussion."

Thus by calling Sendero's attacks "crimes against humanity" he is recognizing that the narcoterrorists in the region are either the government or the de facto government of that region. His words show the utmost disrespect to the fallen, not due to malice aforethought but simply due to lack of intellect, knowledge and education. Did the brave soldiers think they were going in to VRAE to take back the region from its rulers, or were they there to defend Peru? This isn't some hair-splitting about semantics either, worthy lector of IKN, this is about having a stupid person ordering around brave people. This is about an ill-educated fool rising to the executive power level of a country. Put simply, dumbasses with this much power are very dangerous people and need to be surgically removed from any type of decision-making process as soon as possible, for the good of all.

A man like Rafael Rey isn't fit to polish the boots of the personnel in the Peruvian army, let alone order them about. Twobreakfasts is the most mediocre of Presidents (as recognized by this humble corner of cyberspace and by his own citizenry in approval polls) but at least he has a brain about him. He should sever his links to the stupid, stupid person (I keep coming back to the word to describe Rey's actions today, as no other seems apt) immediately before he is not simply the cause of a dialectic scandal but his clear ineptitude spills over into policies lethal to the soldiery he controls....or perhaps it is already too late there, too.

Anyway, Rafael Rey, you win this week's coveted award hands down. Nobody's gonna come close to you in the days remaining, that's a stone-cold cert. Enjoy, dumbass: