Peru: 'it was a mistake to have accepted these watches as a loan,' says Boluarte

The president of Peru, Dina Boluartedenied this Friday that he owned watches from the Rolex brand and other jewelry valued at thousands of dollars and asked his compatriots to “turn the page” on this issue, after having testified for more than five hours before the Prosecutor's Office as part of the open preliminary investigation.

In a statement offered to the press at the Government Palace in Lima, Boluarte assured that the luxury watches that he has shown in public activities were a loan made to him by the governor of the southern region of Ayacucho, Wilfredo Oscorima.

Two weeks ago, when this case became known, the head of state said that these watches were property “from yesteryear.”

Boluarte commented this Friday that his compatriots were hoping to “know the truth about watches and jewelry after so much biased and false news” that, according to him, a sector of the press has published.

“I must admit that it was a mistake to have accepted these watches from my friend Wilfredo Oscorima on loan,” he added before indicating that he wore them “in the spirit of representing the country well” and that he has already returned them to their owner.

“I must admit that it was a mistake to have accepted these watches from my friend Wilfredo Oscorima on loan.

The head of state added that she has “a personal friendship” with Oscorima, for whom she has “gratitude and affection” for having supported her Government during the anti-government demonstrations that occurred in Peru between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.

Boluarte also assured that “it is false” that he owns jewelry valued at thousands of dollars and described the information published by local media on this topic as “biased.”

“Regarding the jewelry, everything they have said is false,” he remarked before showing a bracelet, a necklace and earrings that, he said, are “fine jewelry” and silver, respectively.

He then added that in 2018 he purchased a vehicle with money from his savings and the proceeds of his “legal work.”

Explanations to his compatriots

The president also assured that “the person responsible” for her delay in giving these public explanations was her lawyer, Mateo Castañeda, who told her to “first declare before the competent authority” and then go to the country.

“That's what I'm doing,” he said before asking prosecutors “to be more prudent when they qualify their complaints and not become tables for parts of a biased press.”

In addition, he asked his compatriots to “turn this page” to deal with “what really matters, which is the national agenda.”

In that sense, he thanked the plenary session of Congress for having granted this Thursday the vote of confidence to the cabinet of ministers chaired by Gustavo Adrianzén and for “having denied two motions” for vacancy (dismissal), which he described as “absurd.”

“Enough of continuing to operate with black hands against the country, with these hoaxes and smoke screens that benefit no one and only harm the country, the international image so necessary for investments to come. We are a Government of facts and not false hopes,” he concluded.

Boluarte testified this Friday before the interim attorney general, Juan Carlos Villena, about the undeclared luxury watches and jewelry, which are the subject of a preliminary investigation for alleged illicit enrichment and failure to record a statement in documents.

In the same way that she arrived at the Prosecutor's Office, the ruler left the building, located in the center of Lima, heavily guarded and without giving statements to the journalists waiting outside.

Regarding this case, Oscorima also went to Villena's office on Thursday to be questioned but, according to what was reported in the press, he chose to remain silent. EFE