LIMA, Peru — A leaked U.S. diplomatic message reporting speculation that the new head of Peru’s military was involved in drug corruption has shaken the nation’s armed forces, with the general angrily denying any drug ties Monday and saying he may take legal action against the former U.S. ambassador.
The March 2009 document from then-Ambassador Michael McKinley noted that a source, whose name was omitted in the released document, “saw signs that officers may have continued to cooperate with drug traffickers.” It was released Sunday by WikiLeaks.
The document cited a 2007 meeting between Gen. Paul da Silva and a regional fishing industry leader, Rolando Eugenio Velasco Heysen, and said the source suggested they were coordinating drug shipments. Da Silva, then chief of the Piura military region, was named head of Peru’s army this month.
