An ethno-nationalist military leader complicates Sánchez’s presidential aspirations in Peru. And Mexico resists extraditing Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya to the United States.
PERU
Sánchez hides Antauro Humala after first-round endorsement
With Roberto Sánchez consolidating second spot in Peru’s sluggish vote count (25,000 ballots ahead of Rafael López Aliaga with just 2% of boxes pending), scrutiny of the left-wing candidate has increased ahead of the June 7 runoff versus the right-wing Keiko Fujimori.
The two contenders have aspects about them that their opposition could use to credibly portray them as extremists to scare away undecided voters, including the oddly similar coups against Congress launched by Fujimori’s father, Alberto, in 1992 and by Sánchez’s ally, Pedro Castillo, in 2022.
But Keiko Fujimori is a well-known figure, having already lost runoffs in 2011, 2016 and 2021. As such, it is Sánchez’s entourage that is under the microscope. The press in Lima has now placed the spotlight on his ally Antauro Humala, an ethno-nationalist military leader who wants Peru’s indigenous groups to take power.
👉 Why it matters. As we’ll see below, Humala’s ideas are shocking in many ways, but they also resonate with key dimensions of Peru’s history, from the Inca Empire’s fight against Spanish colonization to the economic exploitation that followed its defeat.
While Peruvian politics are not necessarily framed in ethnic terms, the divisions between the more European-looking Lima and other parts of the country can mirror these tensions, with white candidates succeeding in the capital but struggling in the more indigenous Andean and Amazonian regions, and vice versa.
Antauro Humala came to national prominence in 2000, when he led a military uprising against Alberto Fujimori’s dictatorship shortly before its fall. Five years later, Humala led another coup attempt, this time against the democratic government of Alejandro Toledo, for which he was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
His brother Ollanta Humala — who had joined him in 2000 — did not take part in the 2005 attempt and would go on to become president from 2016 to 2021 after leading a moderate career as a politician. In the aftermath of Operation Car Wash, a Brazilian anti-corruption investigation that spilled over multiple South American countries, Ollanta and his wife were convicted of corruption and money laundering — and sought refuge in Brazil.
Their father, Isaac Humala, was the inspiration behind Ethnocacerism, a race-based movement whose first emblem blended an indigenous cross with the flag of Nazi Germany. Ethnocacerists evoked indigenous and military leaders from the past, from Tupac Amaru II to former left-wing dictator Juan Velasco Alvarado.
“The human species has four races, but only one of them has been fully sidelined. The whites rule the world, the yellows control superpowers like China and Japan, the blacks are not doing so well but at least they dominate their continent. But the red race does not govern anywhere, and we want to change this, even if it seems impossible,” Isaac Humala once said.
His son, Antauro, joined Sánchez as a speaker at multiple campaign rallies and mobilized his base to support him at public events. Sánchez even presented Humala as the man who would be tasked with fighting crime under his administration, a hot-button issue throughout the campaign.
But Humala’s controversial public appearances in recent weeks — plus the need to court centrist voters ahead of the runoff — have led Sánchez to play down their association.
In his most recent interview, Humala said he aspired to retake the Arica and Tarapacá provinces from Chile “through diplomatic or armed means.” Peru lost both provinces in the 19th-century War of the Pacific, which it fought alongside Bolivia.
Humala also defended his father’s proposed method for retaking those provinces, “rifles and penises,” suggesting that raping Chilean women could be an inevitable part of that conquest.
“When the Achaeans plundered Troy, they took Trojan women as captives. It is part of conquest. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, it’s just the reality, part of what geopolitical expansion entails … It’s logical,” Humala said last week.
His proposals in other areas are also hugely disruptive, from nationalizing most major industries to firing Central Bank chief Julio Velarde, who has held his post for two decades and is credited with keeping Peru’s economic stability amid its constant political crises.
But it’s his idea to relocate Peru’s capital that summarizes Humala the best: moving it from Lima, founded by the Spanish, to Cusco, which served as the Inca imperial capital until Francisco Pizarro’s conquest in the 1530s.
ORGANIZED CRIME
Sinaloa case could open a Pandora’s box in Mexico
Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya stepped down from his position after a US indictment accused him and nine other local politicians of taking bribes and electoral help in exchange for protecting their hometown Sinaloa Cartel — widely regarded as the largest drug trafficking syndicate on the continent.
The indictment described multiple meetings between cartel leaders and top Sinaloa officials during Rocha Moya’s 2021 gubernatorial campaign, which included threats against political opponents and an agreement to hand control over the state’s police department to the cartel.
Mexico’s government has asked for more evidence before authorizing US extradition requests. But opposition leaders have come out in support of the US narrative, recalling the astounding levels of violence seen during the 2021 state elections, which included multiple kidnapped politicians — most of them from the PRI party, which dominated Mexican politics for much of the 20th century.
That year, the PRI, PAN and PRD opposition parties joined forces to denounce a “narco-election” before the Organization of American States (OAS). The complaint said that similar acts of cartel violence helped swing the vote in other states such as Guerrero, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz and Guanajuato.
The widow of Michoacán politician Carlos Manzó (who was murdered in November) protested that Governor Rocha Moya was granted extra security after taking his leave of absence, decrying a stark contrast to the fate of her late husband, who had asked for protection many times in the wake of threats leading up to his assassination.
👉 Why it matters. Sinaloa has become synonymous with drug trafficking thanks to the homegrown Sinaloa Cartel, which became the first large-scale fentanyl smuggler across the US border. The case against the state’s top public servants is one that US President Donald Trump could latch onto as a big publicity win, and it could become even bigger if Sinaloan suspects testify against national politicians.
Rocha Moya has gone back and forth in his political career, including some ties to the PRI, which currently denounces him. But it is his alliance with former Mexican President Andrés Manuel “AMLO” López Obrador — who is still the leader of the ruling Morena party — which has been the most notable.
Last year, Rocha Moya said AMLO picked him as a gubernatorial candidate because of their decades-long friendship, despite Rocha Moya polling worse than other Morena figures. But the ties between Mexican politicians and the drug world transcend political parties, which means that the case could cause damage across the spectrum, much like the Mani Pulite anti-corruption investigation in Italy or Operation Car Wash in Brazil.
Rocha Moya has also reportedly been involved in the factional war within the Sinaloa cartel, where the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán clashed with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, turning the state into the second-most violent Mexican district in 2025, with 55 murders per 1,000 residents.
Zambada says that the “Chapitos” faction offered him a meeting with their ally Rocha Moya, but used this as a ruse to kidnap him and hand him over to US authorities as part of a cooperation agreement.
🧨 You read it here first: Drug war fuels rift between AMLO and Sheinbaum
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Which of these figures was NOT considered a deity according to the Inca religious system?
- Inti
- Itzamna
- Pachamama
- Viracocha
QUICK CATCH-UP
🇨🇺 The US State Department extended its sanctions on Cuba to state-owned conglomerate GAESA, which controls most key sectors of the island’s economy and is run by the country’s military leadership through a network of shell companies. Read our special feature on GAESA from earlier this year to understand what’s at stake.
🐀 A cruise ship traveling from Argentina has seen three passengers die after an outbreak of hantavirus, a deadly disease typical of the southern Andes that is spread by rats, but which is also occasionally transmitted between humans. The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is expected to dock in Spain, as health authorities scramble to isolate people that were in contact with its passengers.
💸 Bolivia returned to international debt markets this week, selling USD 1 billion in bonds at a steep 9.75% annual interest rate, with maturities in 2031. The auction comes shortly after centrist President Rodrigo Paz tried to balance the country’s budget by axing fuel subsidies, triggering protests across the nation.
🥶 Salvadoran news outlet El Faro denounced a new attack from President Nayib Bukele’s government, this time by freezing the funds of two of its controlling firms’ investors. Bukele has launched multiple audits against El Faro’s owners, who say the probes are a revenge for their investigative reporting.