Jorge Alva, Secretary of the Palace calls for the resignation of 17 officials

The new secretary general of the Presidential Office, Jorge Alva Coronado, who took office last week, asked 17 officials of the Government Palace to make their positions available as incumbent or responsible directors.

According to the multiple memorandum 004-2022-DP/SG of March 16, which journalist Tito Alvites shared on social networks, officials include Beder Camacho Gadea, Deputy Secretary General of the Presidential Office, Rodolfo Idrogo Mejía, Director of Strategic Communication and Institutional Image and in charge of the Secretariat of Communication and Press; Rodolfo Ramírez Apolinario, Secretary of the Council of Ministers; Jorge Enrique Gamarra Mendoza, Director (e) of the Office of Telecommunications, among others.

He also asks him to place his position at the disposal of Brigadier General Willy Bueno Balvín, as head of the Military House, and Irma Rojas Regalado, director of the President's Spouse Support Office.

Also included are Arturo Arciniega Calderón, director (e) of the Protocol Office; Jorge Gamarra Mendoza, director of the General Office of Administration, among others.

All this was mentioned in a statement:

“I write to you cordially and in my capacity as secretary general of the Presidential Office (...) to request that you submit to this office your letter of disposition for the position of senior managers as incumbents and/or managers”, the official reads.

Likewise, Alva Coronado stated that they should send the letter to him until the day it was issued “at the latest”. However, Beder Camacho is also appointed as head of Documentary and Archive Procedures, so he would leave his position at Palacio but continue to work for the Executive.

“At this moment I would like to say by looking into the eyes and eyes of all Peruvians: in the Government Palace there is no cabinet in the shadow. The one who speaks to you is the appointed assistant secretary general and at that time I assume the General Secretariat in charge of the Presidential Office, and our sole purpose is to carry out our functions for which we have been appointed,” he told the press.

SHADOW CABINET

Recently, the Second Supraprovincial Specialized Corporate Prosecutor's Office against Organized Crime opened a preliminary investigation against Beder Camacho, Jaime Idrogo, Rodolfo Ramírez and others, for the alleged crime of criminal organization.

Provincial Prosecutor Irene Mercado Zavala is in charge of the case and is investigating the alleged existence of a shadow Cabinet advising President Pedro Castillo, as reported by former ministers and former government officials.

Camacho repeatedly denied the existence of a shadow Cabinet and assured that it only fulfills its formal functions.

The official assured that one of his functions is to advise, in some cases, the President of the Republic and to participate in the Councils of Ministers as a “support” for the president.

Last February, the Research Unit of this newspaper revealed that a partner in Camacho obtained purchase orders from the National Intelligence Directorate (DINI) between August and December 2021, during the current administration.

Between December and January, Camacho was visited by the director of DINI, the retired lawyer and police officer José Fernández Latorre, on at least 20 occasions, according to the records of the Government Palace.

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