Romantic cumbia extended the celebration of the New Year, the first day of 2026. On a stage, in the center of a neighborhood, in the Carabayllo district, north of Lima, Carlos Miguel and his orchestra stimulated the thirst of those who had many reasons to celebrate and those who hope that luck will be less elusive due to a change of date in the calendar. But the joy suddenly died down at kilometer 17 of Túpac Amaru Avenue when four gunshots were heard nearby at midnight on Thursday.
From a motorcycle, a subject pulled the trigger on the musicians from the back of the stage. He injured guitarist Carlos Quispe Álvarez, 58, in the abdomen and neck, and a 39-year-old trombonist of Venezuelan nationality, who had just joined the group, in the chest. One of the participants recorded the moment when those involved were carried off the stage, unconscious, while the audience dispersed. Both were transferred to the Sergio Bernales Hospital in the Collique urbanization.
Although the reasons for the shooting are just under investigation, a few months ago Carlos Miguel Morales Alarcón, the band’s leader and lead singer, said he had been extorted in various ways. “I receive messages on my cell phone, to my musicians, on social networks. My community managers They try to delete the messages. We didn’t think it was going to boil over. “We are afraid, very afraid,” he said. The artist forged his career in Guinda, a reference in Peruvian tropical music, but he went solo a few years ago.
The Ministry of Health said the two slain musicians “are hemodynamically stable and require surgical treatment.” The orchestra spoke out on its social networks, where it questions the indifference of the executive and calls for effective measures to reduce the crime which is keeping the country in suspense. Even if with figures to be updated, 2025 was the year with the most homicides since 2017: 2,213, according to the National Death Information System (Sinadef).
“Unfortunately, orchestras like ours have been exposed to situations of insecurity for a long time, without the competent authorities having found an effective solution. We cannot continue to live in a climate of insecurity and abandonment. The indifference of the authorities hurts us deeply. Today, as Peruvians, we say: Enough!”, the statement said.
The attack on Carlos Miguel and the orchestra is not an isolated event. In mid-March 2025, while traveling to a performance in the capital, the Armonia 10 orchestra bus was intercepted by extortionists. A bullet pierced the back of Paul Flores García, nicknamed the Russianone of the group’s most popular singers. He died at the age of 40, leaving an orphaned child. We later learned that they had targeted the wrong target. The mafias were actually aiming for a split in the orchestra called Walther Lozada’s Armonía 10.
This time, various figures from the Peruvian music scene voted in protest and also marched to put pressure on the government of Dina Boluarte. It was the first time the musicians took to the streets after months of protests, where the main victims of extortion were transporters and traders. A week later, Congress blamed Prime Minister Juan José Santiváñez for his failure to combat and control crime.
Seven months later, on October 8, 2025, a new attack against a recognized Peruvian cumbia group led to the fall of Dina Boluarte. Agua Marina was giving a concert at the Círculo Militar de Chorrillos, when a burst of gunfire coming from the back of the stage put an end to the party. There were six injured, including four members of Agua Marina. The repercussions of the shooting determined the end of Boluarte’s mandate. The Congress, which until then supported him despite his very weak support, turned its back on him.
His successor, current President José Jerí, has not yet made a statement. Even though polls support him, his leadership has yet to show signs of stopping extortion and contract killings. On New Year’s Eve, three people were murdered in a mining concession in Pataz, a town in the La Libertad region surrounded by mafias. The attack against Carlos Miguel and his orchestra on the first day of 2026 highlights the insecurity crisis in Peru. “I thought it was fireworks. I don’t want to comment further out of fear,” said Carlos Miguel Morales Alarcón, leader of a new group affected by the violence.
About The Author
