Alfonso Barrantes statement on political prisoners

Alfonso Barrantes Lingán, candidate of Izquierda Unida (IU) and mayor of Lima, made public statements indicating that there were no political prisoners in Peru. This statement was made in the context of a national debate on a possible amnesty for those accused of terrorism, a proposal that had been supported by majority sectors of the PAP and leftist parliamentarians. Barrantes' position contrasted with previous statements by other IU members, such as Javier Diez Canseco, who had defended a general amnesty for political prisoners and those accused of terrorism. Days earlier, on September 10, Antonio Palomino had been dismissed as head of the INPE precisely for affirming that the PCP-SL detainees were political prisoners.