Four former Peruvian presidents were convicted during the Lava Jato extension in Peru. One of them, Alan García, committed suicide when the police arrested him at his house. While in Brazil Lula’s election seals the annulment of part of the processes and the release of convicts, investigations are still taking place in the neighboring country and affect the Peruvian political structure.
After Lava Jato exploded in Brazil, bringing to light corruption scandals involving the main spheres of the Executive, Peru established a commission, in the style of the Brazilian CPIs, to investigate the consequences of corruption cases in the country, through relations with companies like Odebrecht. The contractor admitted to having bribed politicians and other personalities in 12 countries and, apart from Brazil, Peru is, until today, the most advanced in investigations, with dozens of police operations that shook the political structure of the country.
The overbilling of works linked to Odebrecht was estimated at US$ 3 billion. With the collaboration agreement, the contractor committed to pay US$ 230 million to the Peruvian Justice.
“We can say that Lava Jato in Peru is the main cause of the mess that the country has been experiencing since 2016”, points out the Peruvian specialist David Fernando Santiago Villena Del Carpio, doctor in Law and professor of the International Relations course at Universidade Positivo (UP ).
“The investigations served as a basis for reformulating laws regarding contracting with the State, as well as increasing the penalty for public officials involved in cases of corruption, the so-called ‘civil death’, that is, that this person may never work for the State again. “, describe.
Carlo Cauti, professor of International Relations at Ibmec SP, recalls that Odebrecht had works in the neighboring country financed or with BNDES guarantees. “They were obtained spuriously, through corruption and paid by the contractor to the PT and other allied parties. To act outside the country, it had to corrupt twice: there was corruption inside and outside the country. It also corrupted local politicians in Peru”, sums up the professor. Cauti points out that in Peru Lava Jato continues, while in Brazil, according to him, “due to controversial actions by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the National Congress, the operation was pulverized”.
The professor also regrets that “most cases are being annulled by the STF with bizarre and weak excuses, legally inconsequential. That doesn’t make sense anywhere in the world”, stresses Cauti, who assesses that “the (Brazilian) political class was involved to the core in cases of corruption”.
Former presidents involved in scandals
Alan García, who committed suicide when he was arrested during the operation in Peru, was president between 1985 and 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He became the target of an investigation for having received bribes from Odebrecht for the construction of a subway in the Peruvian capital, Lima — a project in which the Brazilian company was involved. His right-hand man at the time of government, Luis Nava, was also arrested, who would have received US$ 4 million from the contractor.
Odebrecht claimed to have paid $29 million in bribes in Peru between 2005 and 2014 to obtain contracts. All the presidents of that period were involved.
Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006) made the Odebrecht representative in Peru promise bribes of US$ 36 million in exchange for granting works. Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), in turn, was convicted and imprisoned in 2017, along with his wife, Nadine, for having received irregular donations for his campaign.
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-2018) was elected with the promise of an anti-corruption agenda. In 2017, however, he went through an impeachment process accused of having received bribes from Odebrecht when he was minister of Alejandro Toledo. The contractor claims that it transferred US$ 782,000 to the former president’s consulting firm.
Even Keiko Fujimori, daughter of dictator Alberto Fujimori (president between 1990 and 2000) and the opposition, was accused of receiving illicit money in her 2011 campaign.
Castle in this context
Due to these episodes, the country today is in a strong bipolarization, similar to that of Brazil.
The president ousted last week in Peru, Pedro Castillo, took office in July last year. Presenting himself as a far-left candidate, with the Peru Livre party, his campaign was based on describing Castillo as an anti-corruption option, pointing the finger at former presidents involved in bribery schemes.
However, upon assuming power, Castillo followed the path of former presidents who lasted a short time in the most important position in the country. Since 2016, five presidents have failed to fulfill their mandate. Castillo suffered three impeachment requests, related to mismanagement and also his involvement in corruption cases. On the day that his impeachment would be voted by Congress, he tried to carry out a coup d’état and was then arrested, on Wednesday of last week (7).
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