The Executive officialized the appointment of retired Army Brigadier General Hugo Cornejo Valdivia as the new Director of National Intelligence of DINI on July 31. Cornejo Valdivia previously served as an aide-de-camp to former dictator Alberto Fujimori and held the same leadership role at DINI during the government of former President Francisco Sagasti.
The arrival of Keiko Fujimori to the presidency brought new appointments across the Executive branch and ministries. Some appointments include individuals named as witnesses in fiscal investigations, while others involve figures such as Cornejo Valdivia who held roles during the mandate of Alberto Fujimori.
Under Cornejo's management at DINI during the Sagasti administration, he initially refused to hand over information that could assist in the investigation of the Inti and Bryan case. Inti Sotelo and Bryan Pintado died on November 14, 2020, during demonstrations against Manuel Merino.
Classified intel and prosecutor ultimatum
When the deaths occurred, retired FAP Colonel Carlos Illanes Calderón was serving as the head of DINI. Illanes stated to the Prosecutor's Office that between November 9 and 14, 2020, he received classified information regarding acts of violence that could clarify the crime against Sotelo and Pintado, including informant reports, videos, photographs, and details on alleged infiltrators.
Following Merino's resignation and Sagasti's inauguration, Cornejo assumed leadership of DINI. Based on the account from Illanes, Jhouns Aburto Garavito, then head of the First Supraprovincial Criminal Prosecutor's Office of Lima, requested the classified material from DINI in 2021, but the agency denied the request.
Aburto subsequently issued a 72-hour ultimatum directly to Cornejo to urgently transmit all records and photographs gathered during protests against the vacancy between November 9 and 15, 2020. Aburto warned that failure to comply would lead to charges for crimes against the Administration of Justice and Public Administration under the modality of Disobedience to Authority. Cornejo eventually delivered the requested information.
