Romulo Leon Released from Prison, to Serve House Arrest

Romulo Leon, a prominent member of ex-President Alan Garcia’s Aprista party, was released Friday from prison, where he has been held for the past eight months in relation to an oil concession kickback scheme revealed in 2008.

Newspaper El Comercio reported that Leon was taken to his house in Lima’s upper-middle-class Miraflores district, where he will be under house arrest. The house arrest status was granted on the grounds that he is not a flight risk. 

Leon served as Fisheries minister in Garcia’s first government (1985 to 1990) and Read more…

CPI Poll: Humala’s Approval Rating at 59 Percent

After 100 days in office, President Ollanta Humala has an approval rating of 59 percent, according to a poll byCPI published by Radio Programas on Thursday.

In September and October, the President’s approval rating hovered between 62% and 70% (depending on the polling company) but recent incidents of his vice-president and congressional members of  his Gana Peru party have taken their toll.

Eighteen percent of those polled from November 4 to November 7 said that Humala’s most important work to-date has been the startup of social programs.

Twelve percent said that Humala is not doing enough to deal with problems in his political party, particularly the allegations against his Read more…

Environment Ministry, Madre de Dios To Protect Area From Mining, Deforestation

Environment Minister Ricardo Giesecke and the regional president of Madre de Dios region, Luis Aguirre Pastor, signed an agreement  last Friday to protect some 85,000 km2 of rainforest that is under threat from deforestation and illegal mining.

The agreement, signed as the government began a full-scale operation to bring illegal mining under control, seeks to strengthen environmental management and technical assistance for strategic management of natural resources.

“We will strengthen the presence of Minam (the Environment Ministry) in Madre de Dios and we will provide technical assistance in situ to the regional Read more…

Toledo: Peru Posible to Maintain Support for Gana Peru Despite VP Scandal

Former President Alejandro Toledo said Monday that his Peru Posible party will continue to support the ruling Gana Peru party, despite allegations of corruption against Vice President Omar Chehade, daily El Comercio reported.

Lawmakers from Peru Posible have backed President Ollanta Humala’s Gana Peru party in Congress , where the party does not have a majority.

Chehade, a lawmaker and President Humala’s second Vice President, has been accused of influence peddling in favor of a private company. Read more…

Humala: Gov’t to Support Investigation into VP Chehade

President Ollanta Humala said Thursday that his government will support an investigation into alleged influence peddling by his second vice president, Omar Chehade.

Humala, speaking during a broadcast press conference, said “the government backs the investigation in the Public Ministry. We salute that Congress… has taken immediate action regarding this topic.”

When asked if he would seek Chehade’s resignation, Humala said that the government will await the results of the investigation.

“We are going to be paying attention as well and we should wait for the results. According to the results from the Public Ministry, each one will assume their Read more…

Preliminary Investigation Opened in Connection to Peru VP Corruption Allegations

Attorney General Jose Pelaez said Tuesday that the state attorney’s office has opened a preliminary investigation into President Ollanta Humala’s second vice president, Omar Chehade, over allegations that he was trying to use his influence to support a private firm, daily El Comercio reported.

Pelaez declined to say exactly what the charges would be. “For the moment, we can’t say that we are looking at such or such a crime,” he said.

Chehade, also a congressman, is a lawyer who was the head of Peru’s extradition unit when the country successfully brought ex-President Alberto Fujimori to Peru to face human rights charges.

The allegations against Chehade arose in a report by IDL-Reporteros that said he and his brother held a meeting with Guillermo Arteta, a former police general who Read more…

Humala Appoints New Police Chief in Major Shake-Up

President Ollanta Humala has appointed a new police chief and sent 30 police generals into early retirement, in a bid to curtail police corruption and restructure the force to make it more effective and efficient.

The new director of Peru’s National Police, Raul Salazar, said that he will take “drastic” measures to end corruption.

“I have instructions to eradicate corruption,” Salazar said during a ceremony accompanied by Humala and Interior Minister Oscar Valdes.

“From the smallest to the most important, it doesn’t matter,” he added. “A crime is Read more…

Press Group: Three Peru Journalists Threatened in September

The International Press Institute, an Austrian-based press freedom organization, has reported that three Peruvian journalists received death threats in September, part of a deterioration in media freedom outside of capital Lima.

According to the IPI, journalist Kety Vela of Tocache, in the northern central jungle of the Upper Huallaga, reported receiving threatening phone calls since August. “She also said that an assassin had confessed to being paid more than $1,800 to kill her,” IPI said.

Vela began receiving the threats following a report on alleged links between drug Read more…

Proetica: Eliminate Congressional Immunity to Strengthen Anti-Corruption

Peru’s National Council for Public Ethics, Proetica, said Thursday that a proposal to eliminate congressional immunity would strengthen anti-corruption efforts, state news agency Andina reported.

Proetica executive director Cecilia Blondet said that during the previous legislature some lawmakers used the immunity as a “shield” to dodge justice.

“If we want a true anti-corruption shock we will have to eliminate congressional immunity,” Blondet said.

Second Vice-President and congressman Omar Chehade presented an initiative Read more…

White Collar Crimes To Move $5.21 Billion In Peru In 2011

White collar crime in Peru is expected to move more than $5.21 billion this year, equivalent to about 3.41% of the country’s gross domestic product, daily El Comercio reported, citing official figures.

“The big problem with local white collar criminals is that, due to their sophistication, they move unnoticed and when there is suspicion they come out gracefully with the support of their political partners or their allies in the big international mafias,” said Julio Rodriguez, a lawyer at firm Jorge Avendaño & Forsyth.

Rodriguez compared the current situation to a police officer on a bike chasing after the criminals in BMWs. Police are only able to put out small fires, while illicit Read more…

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