Peru: a crisis that does not end and a shady Congress like the deposed Pedro Castillo

Among the 101 deputies who voted to oust President Pedro Castillo – accused of serious crimes of corruption – for rebellion, several face investigations for the same or more serious charges. Therefore, with Castillo in prison, The Peruvian political crisis does not end, it represents only one more chapter.

The majority of votes corresponded to the benches of Fuerza Popular, Podemos Peru and Peru Libre. The leaders of Fuerza Popular and Podemos Peru, Keiko Fujimori -daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori (1990-2020)- and José Luna, They were in jail and facing serious charges of organized crime and money laundering. None of these crimes are attributed to Pedro Castillo.

Keiko Fujimori celebrated the fall of Pedro Castillo, not just because he defeated her in the 2021 ballot, despite a multimillion-dollar Fujimori electoral apparatus.

But also because, unable to win the elections, she needs a government to help her get around the prosecution’s request for a 30-year prison sentence for organized crime and money laundering (financed his 2011 and 2016 campaigns with ill-gotten funds).

accusations

As for José Luna, he is a businessman who owns a private university that was closed down because it was a student scam. even the moon is being investigated for organized crime and money laundering, and despite the seriousness of the allegations, he was appointed chairman of the Budget Commission. It was like appointing a tax evader to head the collection. In the Peruvian Congress everything is possible.

During the runoff campaign in 2021, Castillo’s party, Peru Libre, justifiedly accused his opponent Keiko Fujimori of representing the interests of corruption. And Keiko Fujimori replied that Castillo was a terrorist, a communist, a Marxist-Leninist, a Chavista, etc.

However, once elected to Congress, the ruling Peru Libre party, he forged an undeclared alliance with his Fujimorist archenemies of Fuerza Popularto protect each other.

The two sides have jointly filed tax complaints against corrupt figures. And they passed a bill to punish judges and prosecutors leak information to journalists about corruption.

The leader of Peru Libre, the left-wing party that brought Pedro Castillo to the presidency, the surgeon Vladimir Cerrón, trained in Cuba and avowed Marxist-Leninist, Take on an organized crime prosecutor’s investigation and money laundering.

Cerrón’s bench supported the debate on the removal of his ally Castillo in Congress, then rejected the coup and supported the removal of his partner. He took him to power and abandoned himor. Cerrón always believed he was superior to Castillo. He confirmed it in his actions of him.

A new chapter in this story of betrayal and backstabbing has been agreed for Wednesday 7 December. The Prosecution Commission (investigation of acts of corruption), convened at 9 am to testify a former official who said he had delivered money into the hands of Pedro Castillo.

It was the prelude to the 3 p.m. meeting, in which Congress would discuss a request to remove Castillo for corruption.

bribes

It sounds like a joke, but that same witness also confessed that former President Castillo asked him for money. pay a bribe to 20 deputies for them to vote against the removal, in the session of December 7, 2021, which actually happened. Those same 20 members of Congress were the ones who voted to fire Pedro Castillo on Wednesday, December 7th.

When Dina Boluarte was sworn in as president to replace Castillo, she said she would remain in office until 2026, a year which theoretically marks the term for which the former leftist president was elected. A claim that she later toned down. It was not the announcement that most Peruvians expected. who want immediate parliamentary elections.

And that disappointment could turn into popular demonstrations, such as those that managed to overthrow former president Manuel Merino, elected by a spurious Congress, in 2020. From this point of view, Castillo’s imprisonment is far from solving the political crisis of the Peru.

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