19:28 | Lima, Jun. 14 (ANDINA).
Peruvian President Alan Garcia Perez on Tuesday apologized to Japanese people for the mistreatment given by Peruvian authorities and people to Japanese immigrants and descendants in 1941.
He said that although the relations between Peru and Japan are currently friendly and harmonious, they also had serious problems, as in that year, when thousands of Japanese and their children born in Peru were arrested arbitrarily and illegally, deported to the United States and imprisoned in Ancon.
The head of state also recalled that taking advantage of this situation, mobs of bandits robbed their homes and businesses and occupied their properties; this is why the Peruvian government apologizes to them.
"It's easy to forget issues in which both the then Peruvian government and some people from Lima committed a serious outrage," he said, referring to the 70 years that had passed since the incident.
President Garcia added that because of these facts, many of the deportees did not return, many of the detainees lost their property and businesses and many of them were unable to retrieve their farms and agricultural lands.
All this can not remain in silence as if nothing had happened, and as I am a friend of Japan and I admire Japanese culture, I apologize for those who committed these criminal acts because they hurt the relationship between two peoples which have been twinned by migration and the coincidence of their destinations, he said.
In this regard, he asked them to look to the future after having reconciled the spirits.
(END) NDP/EEP
Publicado: 14/6/2011