Andina

Peru: Police brigade against foreign criminals to protect Venezuelan citizens

15:46 | Lima, Jan. 24.

The new police brigade against foreign criminals will protect not only Peruvian citizens, but also Venezuelans, who are victims of crimes such as extortion or murder at the hands of foreign criminals, Peru's Interior Minister Carlos Moran said on Friday.

In an audience with Guaido-administration-appointed Ambassador to Peru Carlos Scull, Moran indicated that this new police squad will operate in a focused manner in the face of the criminal phenomenon involving foreign offenders, without this implying indiscriminate measures such as raids on Venezuelan citizens.

During the meeting, the Interior head said foreign criminals not only represent a threat to the Peruvian population, but also to the vast majority of the good Venezuelan people who came to Peru seeking a better future.

"Precisely, one of the main aims of the brigade is to also protect good Venezuelans, who are being extorted by criminals of their same nationality, who even have their families threatened in Venezuela," the dignitary remarked.

The cabinet member guaranteed the Venezuelan community in Peru —via Ambassador Scull— that the special police team will act within the framework of unrestricted respect for human rights and will safeguard the hundreds of thousands of foreigners who behave honestly in our country.
 
Furthermore, he recalled that Peru opened its doors in solidarity with the Venezuelan brothers and sisters, who arrived escaping the dictatorship and humanitarian crisis in their nation. However, he stressed that law enforcement must act firmly against crime "wherever it comes from." 

"Our targets —and we are going to be relentless to them— are the criminals and not the migrant workers. We will protect the latter as if they were our own citizens," Minister Moran concluded.

Finally —accompanied by Peruvian National Police Deputy Commander General Lieutenant Jorge Perez— the Interior Minister thanked Ambassador Scull for his support towards all the Peruvian Government's actions in favor of the security of Peruvians and Venezuelans living on national soil.


(END) NDP/LIT/MTS/MVB

Published: 1/24/2020