A congressional candidate who had received prior threats is murdered in Peru

Lima.- The congressional candidate Gilbert Infante, from the Fe en el Perú party, was murdered on Tuesday night in the Lima district of Chorrillos, announced this Wednesday the presidential candidate of said formation, Álvaro Paz de la Barra.

The leader of the political party, which has less than 1% in voting intention, stated in several local programs that Infante, number 25 on the list to Congress of Faith in Peru, was murdered “brutally” on Tuesday night when leaving a party activity in said district, located in the south of the capital. “He has been murdered with bricks, they had already told him that they were not going to kill him with firearms but that he was going to suffer, just like that,” said Paz de la Barra. The presidential candidate, who participated on Tuesday night in the national electoral debate, detailed that Infante was seriously injured in the street and died at the Casimiro Ulloa Hospital, in Miraflores. We recommend reading: “I was just going to see those who have accompanied us outside the (presidential) debate. Today, just at five in the morning, I learned from his wife and family that, leaving (he was murdered). It’s not an accident, it’s an assassination,” he added. «They used to tell him ‘you are going to die slowly, just as your president says that we in prison are going to get life sentences’», said the presidential candidate.

Violence in the Peruvian Elections

In addition, Paz de la Barra added that along with the victim, other party members have received threats but chose not to report them to the National Police. «He (Infante) has been threatened, (…) he came to my house together with everyone else who has been threatened. They have been showing me their messages», he pointed out. A month ago, Infante pointed out in an interview that to combat the crime that plagues the Andean country, decision is needed and affirmed that his party can pacify and defeat the country “in 100 days with political decision and a strong hand.” In his resume submitted to the National Elections Jury (JNE), the congressional candidate included hardly any data, only that he had worked at the defunct Banco del Trabajo and at the Consorcio G&T Construction Corporation Outsourcing SAC, and that he had served a sentence in 2004, without specifying for what crime.