A former Peruvian military officer who led a failed 2005 uprising has been released from prison, following a surprise announcement that his 19-year sentence had been reduced.
A lawyer for Antauro Humala, the leader of Peru’s Ethnocacerist nationalist movement, which seeks to put the country’s disenfranchised Indigenous peoples in power, quickly hinted at a return to politics upon the release on Saturday.
Speaking to supporters who chanted “President Antauro”, he praised the 2005 uprising, in which he and his supporters attacked a police station in the Andean city of Andahuaylas in an attempt to force the resignation of then-President Alejandro Toledo.
Six people, including four police officers, were killed in a days-long standoff at the station.
“Now we are obviously outside and I can tell you that we all feel very proud of what we did in [our rebellion in] Andahuaylas,” said Humala. Antauro Humala and his brother, Ollanta Humala, also led a smaller rebellion in 2000 against then-President Alberto Fujimori, who was later convicted of ordering massacres during Peru’s two-decade civil war.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
