14ymedio, Havana, 2 April 2024 — Two months ago, the Peruvian politician and doctor Vladimir Cerrón, a fugitive from justice in his country, boarded a “safe” vehicle – a state car outside police jurisdiction – traveling in an unknown direction. The final destination was Cuba, his “second homeland,” where he arrived in search of asylum to dodge a sentence of three years and six months in prison for corruption. Citing “sources very close” to Cerrón, this was the version of the escape that Henry Shimabukuro, former adviser to former President Pedro Castillo, gave on television this Monday. “We knew he was in Ica (central-southern Peru),” Shimabukuro explained, “but today he is in Cuba. They helped him escape to Cuba two months or a month and a half ago,” he continued, without speculating about those responsible for the alleged operation.
Until today, Cerrón – who remains very active on social networks using a VPN application to hide his location – has not denied it. His links with Cuba are multiple. Not only did he graduate as a doctor in Havana in 1997 and live there for 10 years, but his wife, Lissette Páez, is Cuban. Founder of the leftist Peru Libre party and an admirer of Fidel Castro, he has been accused of allowing the interference of Cuban agents in the department of Junín, of which he was governor.
“We knew he was in Ica (central-southern Peru),” Shimabukuro explained, “but today he is in Cuba
Shimabukuro acknowledged to journalist Beto Ortiz that the information about Cerrón’s escape was not confirmed but that time would prove him right. “The Prosecutor’s Office would have to make a very in-depth investigation to see if this happened or not,” he added, alluding to the possibility that the current president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, has provided the “safe” ca