REGIONAL PRESIDENT PROPOSES AUTONOMY FOR PUNO

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 000490 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR BO PE SUBJECT: REGIONAL PRESIDENT PROPOSES AUTONOMY FOR PUNO REF: LIMA 3853 Classified By: POL/C ALEXIS LUDWIG FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) ¶1. (C) Summary: Puno Regional President Hernan Fuentes on March 16 publicly proposed converting his region into an autonomous federal state. This latest proposal follows several initiatives by Fuentes that have irked the central government, including a recent decree decriminalizing coca. Fuentes has faced a series of corruption charges in the past week that threaten his hold on office, and his extreme-sounding proposals appear to be designed to shore up support with his radical base. Qd Summary. Fuentes Proposals Irk the GOP -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Puno Regional President Hernan Fuentes told the press on March 16 that he favored converting his region -- on Peru's southern border with Bolivia -- into an autonomous federal state. Fuentes justified his statements by contrasting the centralization of Peru's political system with the regional autonomy enjoyed in Brazil and Venezuela. (In Fuentes' statements and the media's coverage of them, autonomy and independence have been used almost interchangeably; the blurring of these two distinct concepts has contributed to the government's swift and vehement response.) ¶3. (C) Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo and ruling APRA party Secretary General Mauricio Mulder responded swiftly to Fuentes's proposal by accusing him of promoting "sedition and separatism" and of "undermining the rule of law". Fuentes' Vice President joined the criticism by accusing his boss of ties to radical Bolivian indigenous leader and convicted terrorist Felipe Quispe, who has called for the formation of an Aymara republic in the Peruvian and Bolivian altiplano. (Quispe is rumored to have recently given armed training to radical Peruvians in Puno -- Ref.) Fuentes has also drawn fire from the central government this month for announcing a qualification exam for Puno teachers that would supersede the nationwide exam -- which only one teacher in Puno reportedly passed -- and for issuing a decree decriminalizing coca. In a recent television interview, Fuentes claimed that many Puno residents were only able to eke out a living thanks to coca. Fuentes Under Legal Pressure, Appealing for Radical Support -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Fuentes' call for autonomy comes as he faces an increasing number of corruption allegations. Fuentes has been accused of using government resources to pay off cronies and of purchasing a luxury vehicle for $40,000. Prime Minister Del Castillo also accused Fuentes of complicity in drug trafficking after a drug-trafficking airstrip was discovered in Puno, and intelligence information leaked to the press alleges that Fuentes is using a Venezuelan friendship or ALBA house in Juliaca, Puno to coordinate violent actions during protests and strikes. ¶5. (C) Fuentes, elected with less than 19% of his region's vote and facing the likelihood of a recall referendum, appears to be using the autonomy issues to shore up his radical support base and to distract attention from his legal and political troubles. Anthropologists describe Puno's large Aymara population as a proud, insular people that see Lima and the central government as distant and racist, and that often have closer links to the Bolivian altiplano. Press reports from the prominent newspaper El Comercio earlier this year warned that these attitudes are increasingly taking the form of radical indigenous nationalism and in some cases even separatism. Fuentes, these reports said, has sought to channel this radicalism for political gain and regularly peppers his speeches with references to Aymara identity and calls for greater regional autonomy. Comment: Autonomy as Pretext -------------- ¶6. (C) Although Hernan Fuentes may privately favor independence for his region, his public comments -- however confusingly or ambiguously expressed -- called mostly for greater administrative autonomy. Whatever his real views or his alleged support from Venezuela (ALBA or "friendship" houses in Peru first appeared in the Puno region),the political maverick Fuentes seems more likely to be revoked or impeached than to achieve an autonomous Puno. NEALON