National Guard: Strategic Option for Disaster Management, Territorial Development, and Internal Order
On February 20, 2026, flash floods in Arequipa resulted in six fatalities and impacted over 1,200 homes. An analysis published on April 11, 2026, in El Comercio, titled "The Conceptual Root of Inefficiency in Disaster Risk Management," suggests the issue was not meteorological but institutional. The Regional Government had returned a 23-volume study from the National Water Authority. This study identified 40 critical points and warned that 180,000 people were at risk. The failure to implement the findings of this study was a decision, or rather an omission, that led to loss of life. The article proposes the National Guard as a strategic option for managing disaster risk, fostering territorial development, and maintaining internal order, highlighting its potential role in addressing such institutional failures.
The Arequipa flash flood incident underscores a critical disconnect between institutional capacity and disaster preparedness, where the failure to act on a comprehensive risk assessment study led to preventable loss of life. This situation points to systemic governance challenges in prioritizing and implementing findings from expert bodies, potentially influenced by bureaucratic inertia or competing political priorities. Exploring the strategic deployment of entities like the National Guard could offer a framework for more robust, centralized disaster response and territorial management. However, such a model necessitates careful consideration of its long-term impact on civilian governance structures, resource allocation, and the potential for overreach, ensuring that enhanced security or management functions do not erode democratic accountability or local autonomy in the face of future challenges.
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