by the El Reportero wire services
Via RT
The head of the Public Ministry, Patricia Benavídes, presented an accusation before Congress for the alleged crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling and aggravated collusion.
The Public Ministry of Peru presented this Tuesday a constitutional complaint against President Pedro Castillo before the National Congress, for alleged acts of corruption that are being investigated in the framework of the Puente Tarata III and Petroperú cases.
The nation’s prosecutor, Patricia Benavides, charges Castillo with the alleged crimes of criminal organization and influence peddling in the first case, and aggravated collusion and aggravated influence peddling in the second.
The complaint also targets former ministers Juan Silva (Transport and Communications) and Geiner Alvarado (Housing, Construction and Sanitation).
Peru’s prosecutor’s office raided the homes of legislators, officials and friends and the sister of President Pedro Castillo on Tuesday amid investigations into cases of alleged corruption in the government.
A team of prosecutors, together with the judicial police, began the operation in Lima and other cities in the country «for the alleged crime of criminal organization,» one of the investigations in which leftist president Castillo is involved.
The investigation known as Puente Tarata III investigates alleged acts of corruption in the public tender for the construction of the Tarata vehicular bridge over the Huallaga River, in the province of Mariscal Cáceres.
This infrastructure work was convened by Provías Descentralizado, an executing unit of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and was awarded to the Puente Tarata III Consortium, made up of the companies Tableros y Puentes, from Spain, H. B. Metallic Structures and Termirex, from China.
In the PetroPerú case, it is being investigated whether the Peruvian head of state would have received bribes to appoint Hugo Chávez Arévalo as general manager of the state oil company in October 2021.
«New type of coup d’état»
Hours after the constitutional complaint against him was made public, Pedro Castillo, together with the head of the Ministerial Cabinet and ministers, asserted that «the execution of a new form of coup d’état has begun in Peru.»
He also denied the accusations against him. «Today a constitutional accusation is being made knowing that the Constitution itself gives the Government prerogatives to lead the country,» he said at a conference with the international press.
In addition, he condemned the persecution not only of «political leaders» but also of those closest to «those who perform functions in this government.» «They are not going to intimidate us. We are stronger than ever,» he added.
The president denied that he is going to request political asylum or leave the nation. «I am not going to leave the country and, as we have always said, we submit to all kinds of investigation, they have done it in the family environment, they are doing it in the ministerial environment because we know that there is no real foundation,» he declared. .
An «abusive act»
«Today, there are constitutional complaints, persecution, and they don’t mind messing with your own mother. But here I am, and if my blood has to run down the street for the benefit of this town, I have to do it, and if I have to deliver I’m going to do it with life,» Castillo said during a meeting with representatives of the National Coordinator of Workers CAS COVID.
Earlier, the president described the raid by the Prosecutor’s Office on the house of his sister Gloria Castillo Terrones as an «abusive act», and accused the institution of putting the health of his mother, Mavila Terrones, at risk. address at the time of the operation.
