The president of the Republic, peter castleis presented for the first time before the Supervisory Commission of Congress this Monday. His visit is given as an investigator after having declined the three invitations when he was a witness of the case of the meetings in Sarrateain which he is now implicated, as well as in other events that will be reviewed by the work team chaired by Héctor Ventura.
For a better understanding, the Fujimori congressman specified the main issues that will be worked on in this session, in which the president will be accompanied by his defense, Benji Espinoza. These are the irregular promotions in the Police and the Armed Forces, the tenders won in the MTC with millionaire contracts and the case of the Tarata Bridge. In these cases, according to statements by Ventura, the president would be involved.
Given this, it is important to briefly recall each one and the relationship they have with the head of state.
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Irregular promotions in the PNP and the Armed Forces
This is one of the reasons why the former adviser to the Government Palace Bruno Pacheco was questioned. The scandal arose in february this yearafter it was revealed that five PNP colonels who visited the Palace had been promoted to the position of general.
Of the five, two had met with Pacheco, two with the chief of Security of the Executive headquarters, Wilberto Bernal Rabanal, and one with President Castillo himself. These generals are Enrique Goicochea Chunga, Roger Pérez Figueroa, Nicasio Zapata Súclupe, Manuel Rivera López and Jorge Castillo Vargas.
But this is not the only reason. By February, Pacheco and Bernal were already under investigation by the National Prosecutor’s Office for trying to put pressure on the former commanding general of the Air Force Jorge Chaparro Pinto to promote General FAP Edgar Briceño Camero.
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Juan Silva and the millionaire tenders of the MTC
One of the most serious cases in which the president is linked. The businessman Zamir Villaverde and the audios that he had with Juan Silva, who was singled out and questioned on several occasions for his closeness to Castillo.
Silva was in charge of the MTC for seven months, in which different works were delivered to Chinese companieswhich —as it was later learned through the Villaverde audios— would have paid certain amounts to win the bids at an extra cost.
In the Villaverde audios, Castillo is implicated on two occasions (first with Pacheco and then with Juan Altamirano) as being aware of the million-dollar bids, but not as an author of the crimes.
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The case of the Puente Tarata III consortium
The Puente Tarata III investigations involve Alcides Altamirano, former manager of the company Obras de Provías Descentralizado; the lobbyist Karelim López; Bruno Pacheco, former adviser to the Government Palace; and the nephews of the president, Gian Marco Castillo and Fray Vásquez.
In the midst of investigations by the Prosecutor’s Office, which issued a preventive detention order for the five responsible for the award given to Provías for the construction of the Tarata Bridge, which corresponds to a million-dollar work issued with additional costs in which payments of 100,000 soles made to Villafuerte were found.
The investigations leave the former manager behind bars for the duration of the investigation, and Karelim López as an effective collaborator in the case; nevertheless, The reason why Castillo is related to this case lies with his two nephews, Castillo Gómez and Vásquez Castillo, who —like the former Palacio adviser Bruno Pacheco— are fugitives from justice.
In addition, the thesis of the Public Ministry assumes that Castillo would be in charge of commanding an alleged criminal organization being the common link with all these characters.
