The self hit of Pedro Castillo in Peru was his response hours before Parliament debated a vacancy motion that could have removed him from the head of state. But the shadow of corruption looms over his dismissal by the Peruvian Congress for “moral incapacity” and his subsequent arrest by the authorities of that country.
The latest bells arose this week in the voice of the former head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINI) of Peru, José Fernández Latorre, who assured that there is a corruption scandal that splashes the now ousted president, as well as his ministers and senior officials of his government.
In an interview granted this week, Latorre accused Castillo – who is under constitutional complaint for his complicity in an alleged bribery case – of covering up acts of corruption committed by his nephews Jaime and Fray Vásquez.
«I have warned the President of all the illegal acts that were being committed through people he trusted. All those who were taking advantage of state resources,” Latorre said.
? #THE LAST | José Fernandez Latorre, former head of the National Intelligence Directorate, made these shocking revelations EXCLUSIVELY for #PanamericanaTelevision
All the details in this link ► https://t.co/7Lj9KnetbH pic.twitter.com/ZfdK01PHSy— panamericanatv (@PanamericanaTV) December 6, 2022
The “plot” of corruption that dots Castillo
The former head of intelligence assured that Rubdel Oblitas, nephew of the Peruvian president, asked him for 100,000 soles (25,000 dollars) to arrange a report in a media outlet in which Pedro Castillo would appear.
He also asked for $500,000 of DINI funds to allegedly hire a Russian agent with intelligence knowledge as an adviser. To which Latorre said that “during my administration, DINI has not been anyone’s petty cash.”
It was Latorre himself who, on November 25, decided to turn himself in to the Peruvian authorities after his alleged participation in the cover-up of a 74 million dollar tender in favor of the biodiesel company Heaven Petroleum Operators (HPO).
Both Fernández and the former intelligence adviser, Henry Shimabukuro Guevara, have apparently organized the entire plot to cover up the head of state and hinder the action of justice.
A “criminal organization”
The Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office accused Pedro Castillo of being the head of a “criminal organization” that engaged in influence peddling, aggravated collusion, crimes against the public administration under the crime of personal concealment and against public tranquility.
Among the cases reported are the awarding of works illegally (the Puente Tarata III Consortium case, which seeks to determine whether a former Minister of Transportation, six legislators, a former Secretary General of the Presidency and two of Castillo’s nephews were part of an alleged network for the award of public works), promotions in the armed forces, the escape of officials close to his government and the interference in the purchase of biodiesel from Heaven Petroleum Operators by Petroperú.
These complaints were accumulating over the months and cornering Castillo. Last October, the Prosecutor of the Nation (general) of Peru, Patricia Benavides, denounced a “constant and ferocious obstruction of Justice” by the alleged criminal organization presumably led by President Pedro Castillo, against whom he filed a constitutional complaint. in Congress for these cases.
Faced with this, Castillo affirms that these complaints represented a “political persecution” by the Prosecutor’s Office, stating that their investigations for alleged crimes of corruption are nothing more than attempts to “attack” their loved ones.
Despite the obstacles, lies and accusations, I ask Peruvians to trust that all the objectives set by the Government of the people will come true, working together, because Peru is above any circumstance. (3/3)#AlwaysWithThePueblo pic.twitter.com/tS5h6KwOdH
— Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) June 17, 2022
These processes against the former president, still open, could not be activated because he was president. However, Castillo, dismissed and stopped After the attempted coup, de Estado faces a completely different scenario. It is very likely that he is closer to jail than to the street.
