Peru-A Swamp To Drain

PERU

A Swamp to Drain

Corruption scandals linked to the Brazilian construction and engineering firm Odebrecht have caught up politicians throughout Latin America.

But the rot might be worst in Peru.

Former Peruvian President Alan García recently sought asylum in Uruguay, saying claims that he took bribes from Odebrecht between 2006 and 2011 were part of a political witch hunt, reported the BBC.

A court ruled that he can’t leave the country. But the Peruvian foreign ministry said it won’t stand in the way of Uruguay accepting him.

Peru’s current president, Martin Vizcarra, denied the witch hunt claims.

“Political persecution doesn’t exist in Peru. There’s full rule of law,” Vizcarra told Bloomberg, adding that he hoped his neighboring country’s president would help in the fight against crooked politicians. “Corruption doesn’t respect borders and therefore heads of state need to work together to fight it.”

That full rule is exposing the extent to which graft permeated the highest levels of government in Peru.

As the Financial Times explained, the last four presidents of Peru before Vizcarra are under investigation for malfeasance in connection with Odebrecht.

Opposition leader Keiko Fujimori is also in jail for allegedly taking cash from Odebrecht. She is the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, a former Peruvian president who is in jail for human rights abuses.

The judge who ordered Keiko Fujimori’s detention said he suspected she was operating a “de facto criminal organization” that laundered money via her political party, wrote Agence France-Presse.

She and the others insist they are innocent.

The younger Fujimori’s plight especially illustrates how prosecutors are growing bolder, the Guardian noted. She held a congressional majority and was gearing up to run for president, a job she almost won in 2016. But leaks and journalistic investigations linked her with corrupt judges and plots to disrupt investigators and shield corrupt officials in government.

The Odebrecht scandal is just one bit of muck in what appears to be a swampy political culture in Peru.

Police recently arrested 14 people, including the former head of the national police, suspected of running a human trafficking ring, the New York Times reported. The criminals allegedly preyed on poor pregnant women, offering them money for their babies and then selling the babies to the highest bidders.

Prosecutors also recently sought to arrest the president of the country’s soccer federation in connection with two murders, wrotethe Associated Press.

With so many former leaders facing prison or exile, one can only hope someone competent will be left to run the place.