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Peru president to face collusion investigation after term ends

AFP

Peruvian prosecutors said on Tuesday that they will investigate President Pedro Castillo when his term ends for the alleged crimes of influence peddling, collusion and illegal sponsorship.   

Attorney general Zoraida Avalos Rivera “opened a preliminary investigation” into the president “for allegedly committing the crimes” of aggravated influence peddling, as perpetrator, and collusion, as participant, the agency said in a statement. 

But the proceedings will be suspended until Castillo’s five-year term ends in 2026, as the president has “absolute immunity that transcends the scope of criminal proceedings” in Peru. 

The investigations will focus on three cases. In the first, Castillo is accused of allegedly having “intervened — inappropriately and indirectly” in a public bidding process for the construction of a vehicular bridge over the Huallaga River in the San Martin region of northern Peru. 

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In the second, the body is investigating him for allegedly having intervened in a process for the acquisition of Biodiesel B100 in the local market for the period January-April 2022, “with the aim that the company Heaven Petroleum Operator, led by the businessman Samir Abudayeh, wins a contract for the sum of $74 million”. 

The third case concerns alleged undue pressure by the president to promote military officers sympathetic to the leftist government. 

The prosecutor’s office could charge him with “the crimes of influence peddling and illegal sponsorship”. 

Castillo was questioned last week by the prosecutor’s office for allegedly pressuring army and air force chiefs to favour some officers in the annual promotion process. 

The agency opened the case on November 11 against the then-defence minister, Walter Ayala, and presidential secretary, Bruno Pacheco, for the same case. 

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Castillo, in power since July 28, narrowly defeated right-wing Keiko Fujimori on the ballot. 

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International

Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.

“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.

“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.

Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.

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International

Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.

Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.

However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.

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International

Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.

“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.

The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.

His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”

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