Manuel Enrique Vera Paredes

He is mayor of the Cerro Colorado district of Arequipa, from which he took leave on 4 September 2026 to campaign, and belongs to the regional movement Fuerza Arequipeña. He was a candidate for mayor of Arequipa province in the 4 October 2026 elections.

Career

Vera Paredes is the sitting mayor of Cerro Colorado, a district of Arequipa. El Búho reported in September 2026 that he requested unpaid leave from 4 September to take part in the regional and municipal elections, and that eight days later no interim mayor had formally taken over. He registered for the Arequipa provincial mayoralty under Fuerza Arequipeña, the same movement as Alfredo Zegarra. El Búho records that he declared the highest gross annual income among the provincial candidates, S/ 503,393 from the public sector in 2025.

Controversies

Diario Correo reports that Vera Paredes was sentenced to five years in prison for illicit enrichment over an alleged unexplained asset gap of 128,000 soles, a sentence that was converted into community service. Prosecutors said he did not justify the source of his income; he claimed about 100,000 soles of profit from raising ducks. In December 2025 the Primera Sala Penal de Apelaciones annulled the sentence and ordered a new trial, which remains pending. Correo also says he had been a fugitive before returning to his post.

Summarised automatically from the linked sources. Diario Correo · El Búho · El Búho