Juan Carlos Oganes' film-making and work blog.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

A traitor among us....!

It just came out to nationwide awareness two days ago of a delicate incident that is of every Peruvian interest: a member of the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) has been found to have been selling sensitive information to Chile since 2003 to the present year. From army codes, national defense strategies until 2021 and also the names of all agents of our counter-intelligence service on duty.

(Click here for the recent news)

It's under thorough investigation and about to be defined if it will be treated under civil or martial justice for treason against the nation and as a spy. For either case he would spend around 35 years in prison and no less than 15 at the best of cases.

Since the 1993 Peruvian Constitution, the death penalty has been abolished in cases of treason against the nation unless its during war times (which we aren't now), so his ass is saved.

What is gathered among many Peruvians -apart from their obvious dislike about this- is that he deserves the most strong of punishments for this act of treason. Many suggest death penalty (which we had it until 1979) and few less radical sanctions.

Now I'm sure, if death penalty was still constitutional, the Human Rights Organization would jump to the ceiling in his defense for this act, but my thinking is (and with all respect to human life), how far is a human being willing to go for just 3 thousand dollars per month (what he was paid by Chile) putting at risk the lives of 30 million Peruvians not only in their physical but psychological form by selling info of national security? If we don't set an example that laws need to be obeyed and respected and that it applies to everybody so they think hard before committing such an atrocity against their nation, how can we progress united as a nation? How can we instill in our countrymen the need to protect ourselves and our boundaries? How are we gonna teach the masses that no matter how hard the economy is there are simply things (like these) that just cannot be done?

Now, for just one guy's personal interest, our nation has been put at risk (and has been for the past 6 years) and up until 2021 (and now forced I guess to change our strategy of defense and do a deep investigation of how many more are involved by Internal Affairs and the Justice Department).

There are things that can;t be forgiven and this is simply one of them.
To respect the "rights" of one guy over the rights of 30 million is simply illogic...or in my opinion, unacceptable.

I just hope this present event doesn't spoil also my film project which among all countries around us, had to be with Chile (the one we had the war with in the film).

I wonder what our national heroes of that time would think of this.
I'm sure Bolognesi is turning upside down in his grave.