Former Minister of Defense and current Peruvian congressman Roberto Chiabra has confirmed his presidential candidacy. In a candid interview, he defends Donald Trump’s administration, criticizes hollow progressivism, and reaffirms the central role of family and education in the country’s development.
For over an hour, Congressman Roberto Chiabra spoke with lawyer and editor-in-chief María Herrera in an exclusive interview for Gateway Hispanic.
Roberto Enrique Chiabra León is a retired military officer, veteran of the war with Ecuador, and congressman for the 2021–2026 term. He also served as Minister of Defense under President Alejandro Toledo. Now, Chiabra has also announced that he is running for the presidency of the Republic of Peru.
His platform is neither populist nor emotional. His vision is grounded in principles: order, family, purposeful education, sovereignty, and fighting corruption at its roots.
Unlike many traditional politicians, Chiabra does not offer utopias or subsidies. His message is clear: Peru doesn’t need another messiah—it needs strong institutions and good citizens. To that end, he proposes rebuilding the social fabric from the ground up: starting with the family.
With the calm demeanor of a military veteran and the clarity of a statesman with national vision, Chiabra delivered a powerful message: Peru is in crisis because it has abandoned its foundations.
To rescue the country, he proposes going back to basics: family, purposeful education, order, and values.
“Peru needs good people, not just professionals.”
From the outset of the interview, Chiabra made it clear that his vision of development isn’t limited to statistics or technocratic plans. For him, true transformation begins with the individual: “What Peru needs is good people. Not just professionals—good people.”
With this statement, he doesn’t dismiss professional training; rather, he places it beneath a foundation of solid human development. “The State grows in proportion to how the individual grows, but material growth cannot be detached from spiritual growth,” he added.
In his assessment, the root of many social issues—such as crime or school dropout rates—lies in the breakdown of the family unit. He recalled how, during the era of terrorism, many mothers hid their children to protect them from forced recruitment, and how now, in times of drug trafficking and sexual exploitation, many children are abandoned or lured into a “life of ease.”
“Family is not backward. Family is the foundation. A country’s greatest wealth is its human capital,” he affirmed resolutely.
Education as a tool to face life.
Chiabra insists that the State must provide young people with a “weapon for life”: a profession or trade that enables them to defend themselves and build their future with dignity. In his words: “If you don’t give them an education or a trade, how are they supposed to defend themselves?”
The consequence of educational abandonment is clear: street vending, informality, or a turn to illegal activities such as illicit mining.
In response, he proposes an educational reform based on a trilogy: schools, universities, and technical institutes—each adapted to the wealth and potential of every region.
“This isn’t about progressivism or conservatism,” he notes. “It’s about common sense: the family is the basic institution of any country. What you learn in the family stays with you for life.”
He reinforces this idea with a quote from Napoleon: “When do we start educating children? Twenty years earlier, with the education of their parents.” For Chiabra, fighting corruption also starts at home—with affection and example from the cradle.
“We’re too old to be dressing up as progressives just to get a few votes.”
One of the congressman’s harshest criticisms was aimed at progressive rhetoric, which he believes serves only to win votes with empty promises. In one of the most viral moments of the interview, he declared: “We’re too old to be dressing up as progressives just to get a few votes.”
The phrase reflects his frustration with a political class that adopts foreign ideological trends without considering the consequences. Chiabra believes that many sectors of Peruvian politics have embraced progressive language—inclusive, anti-national, rootless—without reflection, thereby weakening the pillars of society: family, order, respect, and merit.
For him, it’s not about ideological labels, but about results. And if Hispano-American progressivism has proven anything, in his view, it’s its failure: more poverty, more crime, more polarization.
Roberto Chiabra denounces the rise of organized crime in Peru and the absence of state leadership
Roberto Chiabra also warned about the serious deterioration of public safety in Peru, stating that the problem is no longer limited to common crimes, but has escalated to alarming levels driven by illegal mining and drug trafficking.
According to Chiabra, these engines of violence have given rise to even more atrocious crimes such as human trafficking, becoming activities as lucrative as they are destructive for Peruvian society. “The dignity of our young women is being trampled,” he denounced, referring to the forced involvement of women in criminal networks due to poverty and lack of opportunity.
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Chiabra also warned about the ability of organized crime to exercise territorial control, replacing the State in many areas.
These criminal groups not only impose their own laws, but also provide loans, security, and jobs, consolidating their power in the face of a weak state presence. “What the country expects is a response from the State, and we don’t have one,” he stated firmly, lamenting the lack of leadership, strategy, and concrete results in the government’s declared states of emergency.
For Chiabra, the situation demands immediate and forceful action to regain control of the country before it is too late.
In light of this alarming situation, the 1st International Congress on Citizen Security and the Fight Against Organized Crime was held in Lima, Peru.
The event brought together national and international experts to discuss concrete and effective strategies to confront the rise of organized crime and the lack of state leadership, which has so far prevented the implementation of sustainable solutions beyond temporary emergency measures.
Defense of Donald Trump and a model of sovereignty.
When asked about U.S.-Peru relations and the figure of Donald Trump, Chiabra didn’t hesitate to express his support for the former U.S. president. “When President Trump was campaigning, no one thought he would win. Yet he won by a large margin. And he delivered on what he promised,” he said.
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The former minister particularly values Trump’s immigration policy, which focused on national security and sovereignty. “You have to respect the rules of the country where you live. If you don’t behave, you can’t stay. What he’s doing is providing safety to his country.”
He also warns that other countries are following suit: “Argentina has toughened its immigration laws. Ecuador has requested military assistance from the United States. They’ve asked for special forces to combat drug trafficking. And they’ve returned to the Manta air base.”
From his perspective, Trump represents the model of a sovereign State that protects its citizens and enforces order—a model that, according to Chiabra, Peru should follow.
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Regarding bilateral relations with the U.S., he was clear: “They’ve always been good and must remain so—but based on mutual respect and shared interests.”
The interview with Roberto Chiabra goes beyond a political announcement. It lays out a national vision: a Peru that does not kneel before progressive ideologies, does not beg for magical solutions, and does not abandon its identity for imported trends.
In a continent plagued by populism, corruption, and violence, voices like Chiabra’s are necessary. Voices unafraid to state the obvious: without family, discipline, and real education, no country can endure.
It’s time to put aside progressive costumes that promise much and deliver little. As Chiabra aptly puts it, “We’re too old for that.”
And after so many failures, so is Peru.
Watch the full interview:
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