His ability to advance the anti-corruption schedule that sought to make the mark of his brief but turbulent management may be more compromised if Vizcarra perceived that he himself was involved in the influence trade.
“Her credibility in implementing this program is already problematic,” said Jo-Marie Burt, Washington’s workplace principal investigator on Latin America. “This is at stake. “
Peru’s political turmoil has briefly diverted attention from one of the world’s worst coronavirus epidemics and has reached a cast of characters who can easily have compatibility in a soap opera.
At the center of the occasion is Vizcarra’s date with a little-known musician known as Richard Swing and nearly $50,000 in dubious contracts awarded to him through the Ministry of Culture for activities such as motivational discourse.
A secret audio recording shared through Edgar Alarcón, a lawmaker accused of embezzlement, seems to show Biscay coordinating a defense strategy with two assistants, to explain his stories about the number of times the musician had visited him.
Vizcarra insists that no illegal activity was carried out and that he has been charged.
Although Vizcarra was allowed to speak before Congress in his own defense, he was expected to be represented through a lawyer, but while analysts criticized the hasty process of political trial in which the trial process began a few hours after the audio was published, many agreed that the president owed the Peruvians an explanation.
“The most productive thing the president can do is move on to Congress, the audios and move on to hibernation,” said Alonso Cárdenas, professor of politics at Antonio Ruz University in Montoya de Lima. it’s in place. “
President of Biscay in 2018 after Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned as president due to pressure from Congress following the discovery of approximately $782,000 in unreleased invoices to his personal consulting firm through Brazilian structure giant Odebrecht, which is in the midst of a regional corruption scandal.
Odebrecht admitted to paying about $800 million in bribes across Latin America, and almost all living Peruvian presidents have been implicated in the scandal.
Vizcarra, then vice president of Peru and ambassador to Colombia, is an education engineer and considered an unknown political novice, but controlled a very popular president, recently got a 57% approval score on a ballot despite Peru’s seriousness. economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis and the maximum rate of infection.
Many Peruvians see him as a frank leader who took over corruption, rejecting Congress last year in an impetuous move hailed across citizens as a victory over the deceptive elegance of politicians and pushing through reform projects, judges are selected and ban accused politicians. crimes to run for office.
“He is the only president who, without much force, has brazenly confronted these other people,” said Pedro Quispe, a retired instructor who sold masks, recently.
Steve Levitsky, a political scientist at Harvard University, Vizcarra had taken “some modest steps forward” in corruption.
“He has not been able to bring to light all the political reform he and his allies are waiting for,” Levitsky said. “But corruption in middle-income countries is never eliminated in a marriageless presidency. “
Vizcarra tried to avoid prosecution through legal action before the Constitutional Court, but the magistrates ruled Thursday that the proceedings could continue, believing that lawmakers would not dismiss it.
It remains to be noted the extent to which the existing scandal may, however, tarnish the seven months it remains in power. The president has no majority in Congress, a pandemic to manage, and an economic contraction that has put millions of people in poverty.
His presidency will apparently end in crisis.
“He’s very isolated, very lonely, ” said Burt. ” I don’t think anyone wins in this situation. “
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Associated Press editor Christine Armario reported from Bogota, Colombia, and AP Franklin Briceo reported in Lima, Peru.
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