Peruvian President Ollanta Humala’s brother, Antauro Humala, yesterday requested a presidential pardon that would cut short a 25-year prison sentence. He is currently serving time for his role in a 2005 attack on a remote Andean police station that left four officers dead.

Although President Humala has not publicly acknowledged that he is considering a pardon, speculation has grown following statements by Defense Minister Daniel Mora and Vice President Omar Chehade that downplayed Antauro Humala’s involvement in the attack. In a Monday interview with Peruvian daily El Comercio Mora said Antauro was "not directly involved.” Mr. Chehade on Tuesday supported this view, saying "from what I've been able to determine, Antauro Humala never grabbed and shot the gun, nor was he the person who issued an order to shoot the police.”

President Humala’s relationship with his brother Antauro has long been strained and a move to alter his sentence would carry political costs—as did a trip his older sibling Alexis recently made to Russia. This sensitive political environment is looked at in further detail in the Summer issue of Americas Quarterly, with an article written from the perspective on a remote jungle town on the levels of political frustration that the Peruvian President now must face in office.