- Title: Peruvian ethnic nationalist leader who led uprising is released from prison
- Date: 21st August 2022
- Summary: LIMA, PERU (AUGUST 20, 2022) (REUTERS) CARS AND PEOPLE OUTSIDE PRISON PERUVIAN LEADER, ANTAURO HUMALA, LEAVING PRISON SURROUNDED BY MEMBERS OF ETHNOCACERIST MOVEMENT VARIOUS OF HUMALA GREETING HIS SUPPORTERS HUMALA SURROUNDED BY FOLLOWERS HOLDING WIPHALA FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PERUVIAN LEADER OF ETHNOCACERIST MOVEMENT, ANTAURO HUMALA, SAYING: "We are free, and we are very proud of what we did in Andahuaylas. The facts prove us right, even if the courts have not. Where are the presidents whom we rebelled against 17 years ago?" HUMALA'S SUPPORTERS SURROUNDING HIM AS HE GETS ON CAR VARIOUS OF PEOPLE DANCING AND CELEBRATING OUTSIDE PRISON (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ETHNOCACERIST, SUPPORTER OF ANTAURO HUMALA, DANIEL CARRILO, SAYING: "We are celebrating this important day, the freedom of our leader has brought a lot of joy to us, the Ethnocacerists."
- Embargoed: 4th September 2022 01:34
- Keywords: Antauro Humala Ollanta Humala Pedro Castillo prison
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, PERU
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, PERU
- Country: Peru
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,South America / Central America
- Reuters ID: LVA001970920082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The Peruvian leader of a failed 2005 ethnic nationalist uprising was released from prison on Saturday (August 20), after serving a sentence for leading the rebellion, roiling Peru with the possibility he might re-emerge as an influential political leader.
Antauro Humala, 59, the brother of former President Ollanta Humala, is the leader of the so-called Ethnocacerist movement, which advocates for marginalised indigenous Peruvians to seize power.
The group is inspired by the ancient Inca empire, a 19th century war hero, as well as a left-wing general who led a coup in 1968.
In 2005, Antauro led an uprising in the southern Andean city of Andahuaylas, where he and his followers took over a police station for several days. Four officers were killed in the standoff and Antauro was jailed.
After his release, Antauro defended his uprising augmenting that 'facts proved him right' as the president he had rebelled against in 2005, Alejandro Toledo, and his Economy Minister and later President of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, had been detained by authorities and investigated for corruption in recent years.
While Antauro is most famous for that uprising, he and Ollanta also led a smaller rebellion in 2000.
Ollanta was president between 2011 and 2016 and repeatedly refused to pardon his brother. He governed as a centrist, splitting from Antauro's political positions.
Both Ollanta and Antauro were raised in an upper middle-class home in Lima, where their father Ulises pushed them to become political leaders.
Antauro tried to maintain political relevance from prison by making alliances with Peruvian parties. He still maintains a following and a handful of supporters were waiting outside prison for his release, according to local media.
Current President Pedro Castillo spoke favourably on the campaign trail of the possibility of pardoning him, although Peru's prison authority INPE said the decision had been made independently.
(Production: Enrique Mandujano, Nina Lopez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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