Peru seeks recovery of $323 million from corruption cases – including Fujimori and Montesinos

The Peruvian state is looking to recover more than 904 million soles ($323 million) for civil reparation in corruption cases, prosecutor Julio Roca said.

“It is important to start and take actions to get the fastest results possible,” state news agency Andina reported Roca saying.

The reparations come from 84 cases involving 100 people, including jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori and his former spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos. Read more…

García administration should end offensive against British missionary

Editorial:

Where is the middle ground for the impoverished inhabitants of Peru’s Amazon region to stand up against the threats encroaching in on them? What is their best option for action in Peru’s fragile democracy? Who do they turn to?

Cocaine traffickers offer them a pittance, which they accept at the barrel of a gun, to cultivate coca. In the bargain, their land is decimated by erosion and their water poisoned with acetone, kerosene and sulfuric acid that leaches from clandestine maceration pits.

The administration of President Alan García, while impotent in its efforts to put a meaningful dent in Peru’s growing cocaine trade, opens the Amazon to unprecedented mining and oil exploration and drilling — eroding the land and poisoning the water with lead, cadmium and hundreds of barrels of raw crude dumped directly into the rivers. Read more…

Foreign Affairs Minister: Reports of fugitive former TV owner’s arrest in U.S. untrue

Peru’s Foreign Affairs Minister José García Belaunde clarified on Wednesday that former TV owner José Enrique Crousillat has not been arrested in the United States, RPP radio station reported.

José García Belaunde’s comments follow earlier media reports that Crousillat was apprehended in the United States. The media reports from TV Peru had said the former owner of America Television had been arrested by Interpol agents in Washington D.C.

“U.S. authorities have confirmed that [he was not arrested] and they don’t have any records of [Crousillat] entering the United States,” Garcia Belaunde said. Read more…

OAS head calls on greater international cooperation to combat corruption

The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, called on greater international cooperation to fight corruption, state news agency Andina reported.

“Extradition, combating money laundering, the recovery of assets, and denying entry to corrupt civil servants and those that corrupt, are actions that we should adopt,” said Insulza.

Insulza made the comments during the inauguration of a conference titled “Advances and Challenges in Hemispheric Cooperation against Corruption,” which is part of the OAS’ general assembly being held in Lima from June 6-8.

“Corruption is one of the main topics in the collective agenda of the OAS,” said Insulza. “With corruption there can’t be true democracy, because corruption tries to replace popular will and subordinate the state of law to the power of money.”

“Many studies demonstrate that the main victims of corruption are the poorest sectors of society,” he added.

Insulza also called on a greater transparency for financing of political parties and campaigns, as well as more responsibility from the business sector in order to combat corruption.

Peru Congress approves legislation to protect whistle blowers

Peru’s Congress approved Thursday legislation that is aimed at protecting whistle blowers who report corruption in government agencies from being fired or subjected to other reprisals, state news agency Andina reported.

“Independent of their current position [the individuals] cannot be dismissed, laid off, or removed from their position as a result of the denunciation,” the legislation reportedly reads.

Civil servants who submit reports of corruption will also be compensated if the accusation is verified. However those who submit false claims will be disciplined. Read more…

Lawyer: Wanted former TV mogul is in hiding outside of Peru

Jorge Castro, the lawyer of former TV owner José Enrique Crousillat, said his client is currently hiding outside of Peru where he is receiving medical treatment, local paper Peru. 21 reported.

Castro said he would not reveal where his client is located, adding that Crousillat sees the arrest warrant issued last March as politically motivated.

A video clip featuring Crousillat, who has been wanted by police since President Alan García revoked a pardon granted to him last December, was broadcast on Tuesday by Panamericana TV, daily El Comercio reported.

“Making the decision to go underground I am aware of what it means,” Crousillat said in the video. “The risk to my health away from my family and without the opportunity to start from zero to build what took me so many years to do.” Read more…

Hard-line Apristas support Del Castillo decision to step aside as party’s secretary general

High ranking members of President Alan García’s ruling Aprista party expressed support for Congressman Jorge del Castillo’s decision to temporarily leave his position as party secretary general, state news agency Andina reported.

Congressman Mauricio Mulder said Del Castillo’s decision was important to protect the ruling government party’s image from the corruption allegations swirling like thunder clouds squarely over Del Castillo’s head.

“In the end this is what had to happen. Hours, days passed and there was a lot of speculation,” Mulder said. “The party comes before the individuals.”

Mulder’s use of the word “individuals” (plural) wasn’t necessarily rhetorical. Read more…

Former UN Secretary-General: Corruption in Peru “has exploded”

The former secretary-general of the United Nations, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, said that corruption in Peru “has exploded” recently, as illegally taped phone conversations reveal allegations of influence peddling by senior members of President Alan García’s ruling Aprista party.

In an interview with daily La República, Pérez de Cuéllar, who was the UN secretary-general during most of the 1980s, said Peru has not advanced in the fight against corruption.

“What feeling do you have to listen again to recordings, illegally taped, that show members of the government involved in lobbying?” Pérez de Cuéllar said. “Unfortunately, the credibility of the country is falling. It damages us from all points of view.

“Who will approach a judge, who will approach a politician, a congressman, without the suspicion whether they are or aren’t (corrupt)?” he said.  “This is just awful.”

Pérez de Cuéllar was referring to recordings recently broadcast by local media of defendants in a 2008 oil concession kickback scandal implicating Congressman Jorge del Castillo, a stalwart of the Aprista party.

At the time of the surreptitiously recorded conversation, Del Castillo was García’s Cabinet Chief and was forced to resign following the revelations of the scandal.

He was first implicated by Giselle Giannoti, a former employee of the company Business Track, accused of illegal phone tapping.

Allegations of corruption on the recordings have also reached Garcia’s Presidential Secretary Luis Nava and former Housing Minister Hernan Garrido Lecca.

Despite the corruption allegations in García’s Aprista party, Pérez de Cuéllar said the president has done an overall good job.

“The current government, from the point of view of development for the country, is acting positively,” Pérez de Cuéllar said. “The president, from what I’ve seen — and I have talked with him numerous times — has a true determination, almost an obsession, that Peru receives private investment to accelerate our development, and I believe that is positive.

“I’m not a member of (his party) or of any party, but I think that he has managed a good government, and you have to recognize that,” Pérez de Cuéllar added.

Reflecting on his 1995 run for presidency against now jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori, Pérez de Cuéllar said he left the process feeling disappointed and with some resentment toward Peruvian politics.

“In Peru, they are always buying elections,” Pérez de Cuéllar said. “Whoever has the most money, the most economic help, wins. I hope in the next elections it is not like that.”

Pérez de Cuéllar was born in Lima in January 1920, and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1940 and the diplomatic service in 1944. H was a member of the Peruvian delegation to the UN’s general assembly at its first session in 1946.

He later served as Peru’s ambassador to Switzerland, the Soviet Union, Poland, and Venezuela. He was appointed the UN’s secretary-general in 1982 and held that position until 1991.

APRA’s congressional bloc supports Del Castillo following new recordings

President Alan García’s ruling Aprista party has decided to unanimously support Congressman Jorge del Castillo as he faces allegations of influence peddling revealed in illegally taped phone conversations.

“We believe in the innocence of Jorge del Castillo,” Congressman and Aprista spokesman José Vargas told state news agencyAndina. “Believing is not an act of faith but rather emerges from facts, that is to say, that what has been presented so far does not link him to any illicit act.” Read more…

Del Castillo open to being investigated over alleged role in scandal

Peru Congressman Jorge Del Castillo said he would not back away from an investigation over allegations that he was involved in an oil concession kickback scandal dating back to 2008, state news agency Andina reported.

“I don’t have any problem being submitted to a serious and impartial investigation,” Del Castillo said. “I am not hiding [anything]. I’ve always endured it and journalists know that they can pick up their phone because I will always answer them. I am open to an impartial investigation, but not a political guillotine from my enemies.”

Giselle Giannotti, a former employee of the company Business Track, who is accused of phone tapping, has said she had recordings implicating Del Castillo in the scandal.

Giannotti said the recordings also implicated Presidential Secretary Luis Nava and former housing minister, Hernan Garrido Lecca.

Wire taping by Business Track revealed alleged backroom dealings between the president of Petroperu and private entrepreneurs to grant oil exploration concessions. The recordings were obtained by journalists and broadcast in October 2008.

Del Castillo, a stalwart of President Alan García’s Aprista party, was forced to resign as Garcia’s prime minister following the revelations of the scandal.

Meanwhile, prominent members of García’s government, including the former secretary general of APRA Mauricio Mulder, have called on Del Castillo to further explain his actions with regards to Giannotti’s accusations.

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