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López Chau Says 1970 Detention Was Political as Record Citing “Robbery” Surfaces

Reporters are probing whether election rules required him to disclose the episode.

Overview

  • An INPE-linked record circulating online lists Alfonso López Chau as detained on March 3, 1970 in El Sexto for “asalto y robo,” with Peru21 reporting its contents after the document was posted by José Barba Caballero.
  • López Chau stated on X that the detention was strictly political during the Velasco era and said he was later granted amnesty, arguing it created no judicial or criminal record.
  • He published a Judicial Branch registry note indicating no final, enforceable conviction is recorded in his name.
  • In a newly highlighted interview with LaMula.pe, he said police first mistook his group for thieves before identifying them as student activists, which he says escalated the case.
  • Ex-congressman Edgar Villanueva urged clarification, saying López Chau spent time in at least one other prison, while media also revisit a 1989 piece in which López Chau referred to MRTA leader Víctor Polay as a “luchador.”