Daniel Urresti

On June 23, 2014, Urresti was sworn in as the sixth Minister of the Interior of President Ollanta Humala's administration, replacing Walter Albán, and integrating the cabinet chaired by René Cornejo (and, a month later, by Ana Jara). His image as an energetic military man, who had been working since the beginning of the government in the Office of the Prime Minister of Peru, motivated him to be appointed minister, given the government's decision to implement various citizen security projects, for which needed a head of the Interior to fit in a more executive profile.

As soon as he took office, Urresti announced that he would fight crime throughout the country. He quickly stood out for his very active and talkative style, in constant demand for media presence, which made him the main political operator of the Humala administration and the minister with the most popular support in the national polls.

• The capture of Benedicto Jiménez Bacca, director of the magazine Juez Justo, in Arequipa, a former police detective accused of belonging to the criminal network of lobbyist Rodolfo Orellana.
• The capture of Rodolfo Orellana and his sister Ludith, accused by the Public Ministry on the charges of land trafficking.
• Operationalization of police teams, made up of young officers in civilian clothes, called Terna.
• In August 2014, six tons of cocaine were seized in Trujillo and half a ton of the same substance in Lima in December. On another occasion, he received criticism for having presented the seizure of a shipment of 400 kilos of cocaine, which was later revealed which for the most part was just plaster.
• Along with the attorney general's office, he denounced the leaders of the Movadef (Shining Path front organization) for promotion for terrorism. Urresti appeared in a place where paintings and sculptures made by sentenced hikers were exhibited, and he had a strong discussion with Abimael Guzmán's lawyer, Manuel Fajardo, in front of television cameras.
• A blow to his image was the escape to Bolivia of Martín Belaunde Lossio, protagonist of a notorious corruption case, which involved the upper echelons of the Peruvian government. Belaunde's presence in Bolivia was released in late December 2014 by then-Attorney General Carlos Ramos Heredia, a few hours after he was suspended from his post, further fueling speculation about the government's alleged interest in his escape.

• He had a controversy with Manuel Burga Seoane, president of the Peruvian Football Federation, whom he demanded to seek his own receipt, for representing private commercial interests.
• He intervened in support of the Minister of Justice, Daniel Figallo, being pointed out by ousted prosecutor Vilcatoma of meddling in the Martín Belaúnde Lossio case. He stated that Vilcatoma was in the need of a psychological test.
• Journalists from Lima, through their union body, declared Urresti an unpleasant person, for rejecting a dialogue and for making fun of national communicators.
• He habitually used Twitter to respond sarcastically and sometimes insultingly to those who criticized his management or that of the government. His taunts were especially directed against Alan García, Mauricio Mulder and Keiko Fujimori (the latter two used to answer him in the same way). His most controversial tweet was publishing an image that mocked alleged women linked to Alan García.[13] When criticized for turning Twitter into a battleground, Urresti simply responded wryly.[14]

The allegations of police abuse marked the end of Urresti's tenure in the government. During a police operation to evict a Cajamarca home, citizen Fidel Flores Vásquez lost his life as a result of the impact of a pellet projectile on the right side of the chest, and who, despite being fallen, continued to receive blows from police officers. Urresti was forced to admit that in this case there was an evident police excess (October 2014).

Another incident occurred in Pichanaki (Junín), where, during a protest organized by the Environmental Defense Front, a wave of violence was unleashed in which a young student Ever Pérez Huamán lost his life, as a result of a gun shot by fire. In addition, there were more than 170 wounded, 32 of them by firearm (February 9, 2015). Although Urresti initially denied the responsibility of the police in the act, arguing that no police force carried firearms during the security operation, he ultimately admitted that some policemen did carry firearms and would have used them. Urresti assumed political responsibility for the incident, but the opposition in the Peruvian Congress argued that this gesture was not enough and demanded his resignation.[15][16]

Although Urresti initially announced he would not resign, he eventually had to give in, despite having a high popularity ratings. On February 17, 2015, the cabinet was renewed and Urresti left the Interior portfolio to José Luis Pérez Guadalupe, until then head of the National Penitentiary Institute.

On December 13, 2015, Urresti announced his candidacy for the presidential nomination of Peruvian Nationalist Party, ensuring that he had as a starting point of 2% at national-level polls.[17] The announcement was made in a live interview to the Punto Final program (Channel 5). Seven days later, Urresti was proclaimed the Nationalist nominee, alongside former Mayor of Lima, Susana Villarán and former Governor of Huancavelica, Maciste Díaz, as his running mates.[18]

Throughout the campaign, Urresti failed in garnering support above 1% of national polls. On March 11, 2016, the Nationalist ticket was withdrawn by the National Executive Committee led by First Lady of Peru, Nadine Heredia, alongside the congressional lists. Urresti disapproved his ticket's withdrawal, accusing the administration for his campaign failure due to lack of funds provided by the party, in comparison with Ollanta Humala's successful campaign five years prior.[19][20][21]

On April 5, 2018, Urresti announced his run for Mayor of Lima with the Podemos Perú party. All this while his judicial process for the Bustíos case was still being aired.[22]

Throughout the mayoral campaign, Urresti recalled his experience as interior minister, offering to solve security problems.[23] At one point during the campaign, an anonymous citizen filed before the Lima Central Special Electoral Jury a request to exclude him from race, stating that Urresti had a suspended sentence of liberty for defamation (according to law, a candidate cannot run having current suspended or effective custodial sentences). Urresti argued in his defense that his sentence was not consented or enforced since he had filed a complaint before the Supreme Court. The jury agreed with Urresti and allowed him to continue in the race. His party was also questioned for serious irregularities in its registration.[24][25]

On October 4, 2018, the judiciary read Urresti's sentence for the Bustíos case, declaring him innocent of all charges. The election turnout three days later placed him second with 19.7% of the popular vote, losing to Popular Action nominee, Jorge Muñoz.[26][27][28]

Following the dissolution of the Peruvian Congress in September 2019, President Martín Vizcarra convened a new parliamentary election for 2020. Podemos Perú selected Urresti, who had been serving as Security Manager of Los Olivos District Municipality, as the head of the congressional list for the Lima constituency.[29]

After a brief campaign, Podemos Perú placed second nationally, behind Popular Action. thanks to Urresti's 588,763 votes, the party attained 8 seats in the constituency out of 11 nationally. Urresti was sworn-in on 16 March 2020.