Callao Naval Base Explained

Callao Naval Base
Type:	Naval base, prison
Ownership:	Peruvian State
Operator:	National Penitentiary Institute, Peruvian Navy
Built:	s
Current Commander:	V.A. Jorge Millones Gonzales

Callao Naval Base (Spanish; Castilian: Base Naval del Callao) is the main naval base of the Peruvian Navy. Located north of the main port of Callao, it is also a high-security prison, where members of terrorist groups such as the Shining Path and the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) are located. The base hosts a dockyard and naval aviation base, as well as the Naval Medical Center, which contains the U.S. Navy's Naval Medical Research Unit Six.^[1]

A project to modernise the base started in the northern part of the facility on June 21, 2023.^[1]

History

The naval base was first built in the 1930s as a levee and a naval arsenal.^[2] In 1992, then presidential advisor Vladimiro Montesinos proposed the construction of a penitentiary centre in the base, where he himself was confined after he was extradited from Venezuela in June 2001.^[3]

Notable inmates

• Abimael Guzmán, chairman of the Shining Path
• Víctor Polay Campos, co-founder of the MRTA
• Óscar Ramírez Durand, chairman of the Shining Path
• Vladimiro Montesinos (June 2001 – August 2021),^[3] former director of the National Intelligence Service
• , leader of the MRTA
• Wilmer Arrieta, member of a criminal organisation
• Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala, member of the Shining Path

See also

• Port of Callao
• Peruvian Naval School

References

-12.033°N -77.139°W

Notes and References

1. News: Comandante General de la Marina coloca la primera piedra de la nueva Base Naval del Callao . 2023-06-21 . Marina de Guerra del Perú.
2. Web site: LA MARINA DE GUERRA DEL PERÚ S. XX . Marina de Guerra del Perú.
3. News: Base Naval del Callao: todo lo que debes saber sobre esta instalación militar que custodia a peligrosos terroristas . 2021-08-26 . El Comercio.