Overview

• Video captured a confrontation after a press conference in Juliaca between Congressman Héctor Valer and reporter Max Lanza over remarks about the 2022–2023 Puno protest deaths.
• According to Lanza, Valer pushed him, he pushed back, insults were exchanged, and the congressman returned to spit in his face.
• Lanza told RPP the incident would warrant a complaint but he will not file one because he does not trust the justice system.
• Valer rejects having spit on the journalist, says he was assaulted, reports visiting a forensic doctor, and acknowledges calling Lanza a “proterrorist.”
• Renovación Popular legislator Alejandro Muñante said the Congressional Ethics Committee should evaluate Valer’s conduct, as an editorial in La República pressed for a sanction and the committee’s chair has not yet commented.