According to Convoca, the leader of the Union of Multimodal Transport Guilds of Peru (UGTRANM), Geovani Rafael Diez Villegas, met with President Castillo in August 2021 on behalf of the National Society of Industries (SNI) [es], a manufacturing employers' organization.[16] Due to the power that Diez Villegas holds within Peru, he was described by El Comercio as a "parallel minister" of the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC), with the newspaper writing that "[h]e has the decision-making power over the regulations published by the MTC and has walked through that ministry for three administrations as if it were his home".[16][17] In September 2021, leaders of the SNI, UGTRANM, political leaders and other business executives began to meet as the "Brotherhood of Pisco" and planned various actions, including funding transportation strikes in order to destabilize the Castillo government and prompt his removal.[18][19] In October 2021, the website El Foco released recordings revealing a leaked WhatsApp group chat, with Bruno Alecchi of the Permanent Transport Committee of the SNI forwarding messages from UGTRANM leader Geovani Rafael Diez Villegas about a transportation strike organized for 8 November 2021 and shared ideas of support, with the president of the SNI and former Vice President of Peru under Alberto Fujimori, Ricardo Márquez Flores, being mentioned in the chat.[19] Planners were also discussing proposals to pay for protests and the purchase of media to support their effort to remove Castillo from office.[19] El Foco reported that they discovered a Fujimorist named Vanya Thais who created the "Freedom Project" media operation had also been in contact with the group after they planned to fund her project.[19] After the messages were leaked, further leaks showed that members of the group chat warned to leave the group because of media monitoring.[19] The SNI later released a statement that the personal opinions of individuals in their organization did not represent the entity as a whole.[18][19]