Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori traveled to the northern region of Piura on Monday, in her second week in office, to inspect flood-prevention work ahead of the El Niño weather phenomenon.
Fujimori left the Grupo Aéreo N.° 8 air base at 9:21 a.m. and arrived in Piura, where she reviewed cleaning and desilting work being carried out on the Chira River as part of measures to prepare for El Niño.
During the same trip, she made an unannounced stop at the police station in the Veintiséis de Octubre district of Piura, touring the facility.
El Niño is a recurring climate pattern that brings heavy rains and flooding to Peru's northern coast, including Piura, an area that has previously suffered major flood damage. Fujimori, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, is in her second week as Peru's president.
Armed Forces to patrol streets and transport
Fujimori said the deployment of the Armed Forces to support the National Police on city streets and in the public transport system would be formalized in the coming weeks, with the plan centered on a greater military presence for patrols.
She had earlier confirmed that the Armed Forces would also collaborate with the National Penitentiary Institute inside prisons, a measure approved during Sunday's Council of Ministers meeting. She made that announcement in a livestream on her TikTok account, where she previewed further measures against citizen insecurity.
Deportations and earthquake repatriation
Fujimori said three members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua had been deported, in coordination with the ministers of Defense, Interior and Justice and the head of the Foreign Ministry.
She said the same coordinated effort had allowed ten Peruvians affected by the earthquake in Venezuela to be brought back to the country.
Earlier that morning, Fujimori received the ten repatriated Peruvians, who landed at the Grupo Aéreo N.° 8 base aboard a Peruvian Air Force aircraft. The same aircraft had, a day earlier, carried three Venezuelan nationals linked to a criminal organization out of Peru to Venezuela. The returning Peruvians had been left in a vulnerable situation after the earthquake that struck Venezuela in June. Fujimori was accompanied by Foreign Minister Carlos Espá and ministers Rafael Belaunde and Marco Vinelli.
Fujimori rules out moving into the Government Palace
In an interview with the television program Cuarto Poder, Fujimori said she would not move into the Government Palace for now and would remain at her own home. She said the decision was made together with her daughters, Kyara and Kaori Villanella, and that she goes to the Palace only to carry out her official duties. She also said she planned to resume her trips to Peru's regions.
