Corruption Upheaval In Peru

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY Ain’t Misbehavin’ PERU Peru’s prime minister resigned Tuesday after he was allegedly heard in a leaked recording attempting to give government contracts to his mistress, kicking off yet another political crisis in the country which has seen six presidents in the past six years, the BBC reported. Over the weekend, a local television network aired the audio clips reportedly of Prime Minister Alberto Otárola, 56, and a woman identified as Yaziré Pinedo, 25. Pinedo won two contracts worth $14,000 from the Defense Ministry last year. Otárola was the head of the ministry until President Dina Boluarte tasked him with leading the government at the end of 2022. In the recording, he allegedly was heard asking Pinedo for her CV and saying he loved her. Pinedo admitted having had a short relationship with Otárola, who is married with five children, Al Jazeera noted. Nonetheless, both said the conversation was from 2021, before Otárola was appointed cabinet minister. As a formal probe was launched into the allegations, the prime minister denied the accusations. In his resignation speech, he accused political opponents of editing the audio as part of a plot to tarnish his image. He justified his resignation by saying he wanted to give the president “tranquility” ahead of reshuffling her cbinet. Boluarte had ordered Otárola to return from his official visit to Canada after the scandal broke. Peruvian law provides that one cabinet minister’s departure triggers the resignation of the entire 18-member cabinet. The president then has the option to reinstate them. The scandal and ensuing resignation are the latest of a long series of government reshuffles for Boluarte, who has faced one crisis after another. She inherited Peru’s top job in 2022 from the left-leaning Pedro Castillo, who was deposed and arrested after trying to dissolve parliament and rule by decree. The ensuing protests calling on her to step down led to a crackdown by the authorities that killed at least 50 people, according to Human Rights Watch. Investigations into Boluarte’s actions and the deaths continue. Meanwhile, local polls show that 75 percent of Peruvians want President Boluarte to resign, wrote the Council on Foreign Relations, which itself would lead to the seventh president since 2018. Share this story