Delia Espinoza The hours could be numbered before the attack by Congress. From the Permanent Commission, Popular Force, Free Peru, Alliance for Progress, Popular Renewal and other parliamentary groups seem to have aligned their support in favor of disqualifying the suspended National Prosecutor.
The recent history of Peru has made clear a constant in congressional dynamics: when Fuerza Popular coordinates with its main allies in the Parliamenttheir offensives usually succeed. The collaboration between the Fujimori party and some of its satellites has been decisive in the past. The current scenario plays against Espinoza. To disqualify it, the Plenary Congress only needs to approve the request by a simple majority.
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Fujicerronism against Delia Espinoza
The union between the seemingly opposite forces of Free Peru and Popular Force can give a decisive boost to Espinoza’s suspension. He fujimorism It has 20 seats, while the pencil bench has 12. Altogether, there are 32 congressmen, although those who have already voted in the Permanent Commission must be discounted. In Fuerza Popular, 4 of its 20 representatives supported the suspension. It is about Arturo Alegria, Martha Moyano, César Revilla and Patricia Juárez. Furthermore, in Perú Libre 2 did it: Flavio Cruz and Maria Taipe. Subtracting these 6 votes, there are 26 that the so-called “Fujicerronism” could contribute in the offensive to separate Espinoza from the Public Ministry.
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The leaders of both parties have previously been denounced by the Prosecutor’s Office under the leadership of Espinoza. At the beginning of the year, Américo Gonza was constitutionally denounced for alleged incompatible negotiations, after voting in favor of an opinion from the Defense Commission that benefited five pensioner legislators from the Armed Forces and the National Police. Who was also included in that complaint was Patricia Juárez, the Fujimori legislator who already cast her vote in favor of Espinoza’s suspension.
The most severe conflict for Fujimori occurred in September, when Espinoza, as prosecutor of the Nation, presented a request to the Supreme Court to declare Fuerza Popular illegal and exclude it from the 2026 general elections. The request maintains that the party would have violated article 14 of the Law of Political Organizations by carrying out actions considered contrary to democratic principles and repeatedly affecting fundamental rights and freedoms. In short, alleged anti-democratic behavior is attributed to them. Now, both parties seek to “turn the cake” and consummate their political vendetta.
Popular Renewal and Alliance for Progress are not far behind
The congressional offensive does not have Fuerza Popular and Perú Libre as the only protagonists. Popular Renewal and Alliance for Progress They have also joined the attack against Espinoza. In the Permanent Commission, three APP congressmen voted in favor of suspending the former head of the Public Ministry (Eduardo Salhuana, Lady Camones and Jorge Marticorena), while two from Renovación Popular did the same (Alejandro Muñante and Jorge Zeballos).
If the votes already cast in the Permanent Commission are omitted and the trend continues, APP could contribute 14 more votes, while Popular Renewal I would add another 9. Altogether, there are 23 votes that would be added to the 26 of Fujicerronism: 49 in total.
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Like the other groups, these congressmen also have reasons to join the political revenge. The reason could be, although it may seem unusual, a birthday. In January, the Public Ministry filed constitutional complaints against 24 congressmen for allegedly having traveled to Trujillo with public resources and participate in the celebration of Diego Bazán’s birthday, in February 2023.
This complaint includes names such as Rosio Torres and Magaly Ruizwell-known figures of the coinage bench. Furthermore, Bazán himself has been a leading figure in Renovación Popular, as has Patricia Chirinos, María Córdova and his own Jorge Zeballos; who already voted against Espinoza. All of them are also included in the indictment.
Popular Action, Avanza País and Podemos Peru could join the pact
To complete the majority, other key supports are missing. Along these lines, three parties that also voted in favor in the Permanent Commission could close the siege against Espinoza: Popular Action, Avanza País and Podemos Peru. While Acción Popular contributed 2 votes in the Permanent Commission with Ilich López and Carlos Alva, Avanza País and Podemos Peru They added one each with Alejandro Cavero and Digna Callerespectively.
If these previous votes are excluded and the bench maintains coherence, Acción Popular could add 8 votes, Avanza País another 5 and Podemos Perú, 10 more. Together, these three groups would contribute 23 additional votes to the 49 already mentioned, reaching a total of 72 votes in favor. Under such a scenario, nothing would prevent Espinoza from being disqualified.
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Several congressmen from Acción Popular were denounced by Espinoza in the “Los Ninos” case, related to the government of Pedro Castillo. According to the constitutional complaint, Darwin Espinoza, Jorge Flores Ancachi, Elvis Vergara, Juan Carlos Mori, Raúl Doroteo and Ilich López – who already voted against Espinoza – would have negotiated their support in Congress in exchange for illicit benefits, such as the hiring of personnel from their environment, access to MTC contracts that would favor companies linked to them and consortiums made up of Peruvian and Chinese companies.
Likewise, figures from Podemos Perú and Avanza País also appear involved in the complaint regarding Diego Bazán’s birthday. Among them are Guido Bellido and Edgar Tello from José Luna’s group, as well as Rosselli Amuruz, a member of Avanza País. In any case, Espinoza’s future now depends on the political game and his disqualification could take place even before his eventual reinstatement in the Public Ministry.
