General Edwin Donayre (born January 8, 1952) is a Peruvian politician, a former Congressman and a retired military officer who is wanted by the police on corruption charges.
Donayre previously served as Commanding General of the Peruvian Army, commander of the Center Military Region, the Southern Military Region, and the 2nd Infantry Brigade. He assumed the role of commanding general on December 5, 2006, replacing General César Reinoso, who resigned amid accusations of corruption. During his tenure, Donayre was accused of corruption and obstructing inquiries into human rights violations. He was also at the center of an international controversy when a video surfaced in the media showing him making anti-Chilean remarks at a private party. He retired on December 5, 2008, and was replaced by General Otto Guibovich.
Military career
Edwin Donayre was born on January 8, 1952, in the city of Ayacucho in the highlands of Peru. He attended San Juan Bosco school, a Salesian institution in his hometown, and studied at a seminary for two years before studying two years of Chemical Engineering at the San Cristóbal of Huamanga University. Donayre's military career started at the Chorrillos Military School, where his first year grades earned him a scholarship to continue his formation in Argentina. At the National Military College in Buenos Aires he graduated with honors as a military engineer. In active duty Donayre has served four times in regions under state of emergency due to Shining Path guerrilla activity and five times in frontier regions. He has held several command posts, among them commander of the 20th Combat Engineer Battalion, director of the Army Engineer School, commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, commander of the Southern Military Region, and commander of the Central Military Region.
Commanding General
Donayre's tenure as Commanding General of the army was controversial from the start due to corruption allegations and an international incident with Chile. Opposition leader Ollanta Humala criticized Donayre's designation as irregular because at that time he was not serving as general of any of the three major army divisions as stipulated by Peruvian law. As commander of the Army, Donayre was also accused of acquiring 50,000 American-made MREs — military rations — to supply troops deployed against Shining Path guerrillas in the Apurímac and Ene river valleys, instead of acquiring cheaper, locally-made alternatives. An attempt to buy 50,000 more rations led to an inquiry by the Ministry of Defense.
The general's stance on human rights issues has also been quite controversial. It has been reported that he was behind the Army's refusal to provide any information on the 1984 Putis massacre. Requests issued in June 2008 by prosecutor Rubén López for a detailed report on the military personnel deployed there at that time were answered the following month by the Defense Ministry stating that the Army did not have any information on the subject in its archives. Donayre also joined a campaign to raise funds to defend armed forces personnel accused of committing human rights abuses during the internal conflict in Peru.
Political career
In the 2011 general elections, he presented himself as a candidate to Congress representing the Ayacucho Region. Although he received the highest vote in his region, he was not elected, since his Radical Change party was not able to pass the 5% electoral threshold.
In the 2014 regional elections, he would once again try his hand in Peruvian politics by being a candidate for the Regional Presidency of Ayacucho by the Alliance for Progress Ayacucho party. Donayre ended up with almost 28% of the votes, surpassed only by his opponent, Wilfredo Oscorima, who would obtain 32% of the vote.
In the 2016 general election, Edwin Donayre was elected as Congressman, representing the Ayacucho Region, running as independent within the Alliance for Progress party.
Controversy
Corruption charges
According to a report by the army inspector general, Francisco Vargas, Donayre requested 80,000 gallons of fuel without clear justification when he was commander of the Southern Military Region, between January and September 2006, and diverted part of it to army headquarters in Lima. This led to an investigation by the anti-corruption prosecutor, Marlene Berrú, but, despite being summoned six times, Donayre did not show up at her office. He finally attended her request on November 25, 2008; in his testimony he denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the Southern Military Region actually received less fuel under his command than in the previous year.