The first – according to sources from El Comercio – can be called “the family member”, where his son is. Richard Acuña Núñezformer congressman and current president of the César Vallejo soccer club; and his brother Humberto Acuña, former regional governor of Lambayeque. And there is also Luis Valdez Farias, former president of Congress and former regional governor of La Libertad.
The same sources reported that Acuña Núñez’s main task is to define the political route not only of the party, but also of the bench. The former parliamentarian is the one who usually negotiates with the other groups in Congress to form the lists for the Board of Directors. It must be remembered that APP has had three presidents of Congress in the last five years: Lady Camones, Alejandro Soto and Eduardo Salhuana. All of them are up for re-election.
Valdez Farías, who is also running for senator, has assumed a “shadow” role for Acuña Peralta in this election. He accompanies him on the trips he makes and also to the interviews he gives in the media. As general secretary of the Alliance for Progress, he coordinates and puts into operation “the apepista machinery.”
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In the second level of the presidential candidate’s circle of trust, there are three new faces, compared to a few years ago. The new entrants are the economist José Salardi, the sociologist Jessica Tumi Rivas and the lawyer Yessenia Lozano Millones (see infographic).
The latter became known as “the political daughter” of Acuña Peralta for occupying the leadership of the Center for Training Modalities of Congress with a salary of S/19 thousand per month, without having a degree or master’s degree at that time. She was removed from the position last July, after Salhuana left the Board of Directors.
Tumi Rivas, executive director of the “Llamkasun Perú” Temporary Employment Program, is not only a candidate for the first vice presidency of the Republic, but also for the chamber of deputies. According to this newspaper’s sources, she is in charge of organizing and mobilizing the group in Lima.
“Punto Final” revealed that it made more than 40 trips with resources from “Llamkasun Perú” to make itself known on social networks.
Salardi, Minister of Economy and Finance during the government of Dina Boluarte (2022-2025), is the head of the Alliance for Progress government plan.
(Photo: EFE)
Sources from El Comercio reported that Acuña Peralta has known Salardi for eight years through his work at ProInversión. They added that the former head of the MEF “talks a lot” with the candidate and that he meets once a week to “make diagnoses and see the viability of the proposals” that they collect during the campaign, especially in the mining, health and education sectors.
“Salardi is the guarantee that the proposals that are in the plan are technical, that they will be fulfilled and that they are not empty approaches,” they stated.
The former Minister of Economy and Finance, along with his presidential candidate, is also touring the regions of the country, where he meets with representatives of the chamber of commerce of each locality and with actors from the productive sectors to explain the apepist proposals.
“Salardi, if we become a government, has the conditions to be prime minister. He is a person who is close to large industry, but also micro and small businesses,” they noted.
Salardi is not the only former minister of the Boluarte government who has a presence in APP in these elections. There are also César Vásquez (Health), César Sandoval (Transport and Communications) and Juan José Santiváñez (Interior and Justice and Human Rights). Only the economist is part of the nucleus closest to Acuña Peralta.
Sources close to the Apepista leadership reported that Vásquez, Sandoval and Santiváñez are focused on their campaigns for the bicameral Congress.
“Neither before nor during the Boluarte government nor now have they been close to the candidate. Vásquez and Sandoval have been militants, but they are not from Acuña’s circle of trust. And Santiváñez is a guest who has recently become a militant,” they expressed.
The same sources rejected that Santiváñez had participated in the structuring of the government plan in regards to citizen security and reform of the justice system. Although they avoided revealing who the experts in the area are, they did.
(Photo: El Comercio Archive)
Other sources indicated that Acuña’s idea is to keep these former ministers away so as not to be associated with Boluarte Zegarra.
And although Congressman Alejandro Soto is part of the Alianza para el Progreso presidential formula, he is not a member of any of the circles of trust of the former regional governor of La Libertad.
And unlike 2021, former parliamentarian Marisol Espinoza, general manager of APP, is not there either. Both are focused on their congressional campaigns.
The same sources said that Acuña has a Mexican advisor on his team and that the strategy is to aim to make his proposals known on social networks. Between December and last February, the APP presidential candidate has allocated S/958,612 to propaganda only on Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp).
They also announced that, in the last stretch of his campaign, the former regional governor will prioritize the north, Lima and the east, where he has greater acceptance.
In addition, they indicated that they have worked out answers to the main questions against Acuña Peralta. For example, regarding his closeness to Boluarte, José Jerí and José María Balcázar, the reply will be that they were not allies, but rather they gave stability to the country in the midst of the crisis. And regarding the criminal overflow in La Libertad, in Trujillo and Pataz in particular, the candidate will say that a regional governor or a mayor does not have command over the National Police and the Armed Forces. Will it be enough for you? Time will tell.
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Since 2011, when they allied with PPK, APP has managed to have a presence in Congress. In 2020, in the complementary congressional elections, they achieved their best result in terms of seats: 22.
Other sources indicated that, although she is not part of the party circle, the communicator Martha Meléndez – former Secretary of Press and Communication Strategy of the Presidency during the Boluarte government – is part of Acuña Peralta’s trusted core. She is in charge of “the media deployment” of the former regional governor’s campaign. And, in addition, its task is “prevention or response to possible communication crises.”
