Prelude to interpellation? Tomorrow, Monday, February 2, at 2 pm, the Ministers of the Interior, Vicente Tiburcioand Energy and Mines, Luis Bravo, must appear before the Congressional Oversight Commission to explain the questioned relationship of the President of the Republic, José Jeríwith Chinese businessmen.
The agenda includes the in-person meeting in the Francisco Bolognesi Room of the Legislative Palace. Tiburcio must report on the unofficially registered meetings in which he participated in the company of Jerí, with the businessman Zhihua Yang. As is known, the president himself mentioned that he went with Tiburcio to the meeting at a chifa in the San Luis district where he can be seen dressed in a sweatshirt and a hood.
Meanwhile, the appointment to Bravo is to report “on the current situation of the definitive concession to develop the activity of generating electricity with renewable energy resources in the Pachachaca 2 Hydroelectric Power Plant project, granted in favor of the company Hidroeléctrica América SAC, owned by businessman Zhihua Yang, in the districts of Huancarama, province of Andahuaylas, district of Abancay, province of Abancay, in the department of Apurímac.”
It is known that the final concession to develop the Pachachaca 2 Hydroelectric Power Plant was granted in 2023, during the Dina Boluarte regime, but it remains without progress. Local authorities reported that there were initial studies and the opening of a road, but that today it is abandoned.
As revealed by the Contracorriente program, Osinergmin’s compendium of projects as of December 2025 reported that the concessionaire company, that is, Hidroeléctrica América SAC of Zhihua Yang, repeatedly failed to comply with the procedure for inspection, contracts and authorizations.
The Supervision Commission will also receive the president of the Board of Directors of Osinergmin, Omar Franco Chambergo Rodríguez, in order for him to “report on the inspection actions carried out on the implementation of the definitive concession” of the project in question.
You must also mention the communications you had with Zhihua Yang’s company between 2023 and 2025, the sanctioning procedures initiated or not initiated, and an institutional evaluation regarding the expiration of the concession. In December 2025, Hidroeléctrica América requested to extend the start of works for three years, until 2029, but the Ministry of Energy and Mines rejected the extension on January 27, after José Jerí’s unofficial meetings with Zhihua Yang became known.
INTERPELATION IN SIGHT?
consulted by Peru21Congressman Carlos Zeballos, member of the Oversight Commission, said that he hopes that Minister Tiburcio will clarify what issues were addressed in the unofficial meeting in which he participated together with the president and Zhihua Yang.
“We want to know what topics were discussed because, at first, the minister did not transparently say that he was present at the meeting. We had to find out when we saw that behind the president there was one more person. So, why this secrecy?” he said.
Likewise, he stated that it is necessary to know if there was “any favor” from the Ministry of the Interior to a Chinese company.
“It is necessary that you tell us if the Ministry of the Interior has contracts with Chinese companies, and in which projects. Or if there have been projects where Chinese companies applied, to know what their interests are,” he indicated.
In the case of the head of Energy and Mines, Zeballos maintained that he must comment on “what is happening with Hydroelectric América”, owned by Zhihua Yang. “The president has said that there will be no benefits for Chinese companies. If that is true there must be documents, clear evidence,” he insisted.
Zeballos stated that if the responses of both ministers do not satisfy the legislators, instead of promoting an interpellation, this will serve to insist on a motion of censure or a vacancy against President Jerí.
“We could use the testimonies of the ministers to strengthen censorship or vacancy, because if the president falls, so does his entire cabinet. So, I think that censuring or questioning the ministers would not be appropriate,” he concluded.
He indicated that, in addition to the issue for which the meeting takes place, he will also ask Tiburcio for explanations for not having captured the fugitive presidential candidate Vladimir Cerrón, and he will ask the head of Energy and Mines questions about Petroperú.
