2009 Chile–Peru espionage scandal

The 2009 Chile–Peru espionage scandal was a diplomatic crisis that occurred when a Peruvian court ordered the arrest of two Chilean military officers over allegedly bribing Peruvian air force officer Ariza Mendoza.[1] The charges against the Peruvian air force officer were: revealing national secrets, espionage and money-laundering.[2] The Mendoza was purportedly receiving between $5,000 and $8,000 per month in return for reporting national secrets to Chile.[3]

Peruvian President Alan Garcia left Singapore just before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in order to return home to deal with the crisis.[4]

The American ambassador in Lima, P. Michael McKinley, wrote in a leaked cable that the "Peruvian reaction seems exaggerated given the relatively limited scale of the espionage, and suggests political opportunism along with an instinctive reaction to any problem involving Chile."[5] Ambassador McKinley further stated that the timing of the scandal was unfortunate because Peru had "begun to more seriously focus on defeating Shining Path narco-terrorists in the Apurimac-Ene River Valley".[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Peru and Chile in 'spy' scandal". BBC News. 14 November 2009. Retrieved 2011.
  2. ↑ "Air force officer arrested in Peruvian spy scandal". guardian.co.uk. 15 November 2009.
  3. ↑ "Chile, Peru dispute about scandal". Indiana Daily Student. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 2014.
  4. ↑ "Peru's president exits summit after report of spy charges against officer". cnn.com. November 15, 2009.
  5. 1 2 McKinley, P. Michael (17 Nov 2009). "Brewing Spy Scandal Further Tenses Peru-chile Relationship". U.S. State Department. Retrieved 2011.
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