President of Peru denies corruption and asks Congress for consensus

The president of Peru, the leftist Pedro Castillo, denied acts of corruption on Tuesday and denounced an opposition campaign to remove him from power by speaking before Congress, which will subject him to an impeachment trial of impeachment on March 28.

Castillo was also conciliatory in his 85-minute speech and urged the right-wing opposition to seek consensus to end the climate of polarization that has characterized the relationship between the Peruvian Executive and Legislative for five years.

“My Government has been the subject of accusations from the media and political sectors, it wants the population to believe that we are immersed in acts of corruption, a situation that I strongly reject,” said the president.

“There is systematic work to question the legitimacy of the Presidency and obstruct the work of the Executive, with the sole purpose of emptying the president or finding mechanisms to cut his term,” Castillo stressed.

He recalled that since he won the elections in June 2021, his right-wing opponents refused to accept his victory at the polls, alleging fraud despite the fact that the United States, the OAS and the European Union ruled out irregularities.

“Peru is experiencing an unprecedented institutional crisis,” he insisted before tending an olive branch to its detractors.

“Let's look for points of agreement and consensus,” he told the plenary, which is made up of 130 congressmen.

The Congress, dominated by the right-wing opposition, put Castillo on the ropes on Monday when it approved the debate on an impeachment request, similar to the one that led to the falls of former presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, in 2018, and Martín Vizcarra, in 2020.

The decision to take him to a lightning impeachment trial for alleged “moral incapacity” was approved by 76 votes, 41 against and one abstention. In order for him to be dismissed, 87 votes are needed in the meeting convened for 28 March.

This is the second “vacancy motion” against Castillo in the seven and a half months he has been in power. In December, Congress dismissed the first.

If he is dismissed, Peruvian Vice President Dina Boluarte would take over in his place.

According to the opposition, the president is splattered by the alleged corruption of his environment and committed a “betrayal of the homeland” for declaring himself open to a referendum to decide a trip to the sea to neighboring Bolivia.

The president's disapproval fell to 66% in March, three points lower than in February, when it reached its highest level (69%), but even more discredited is Congress, which accumulates a rejection of 70%, according to Ipsos poll.

The clash of powers in Peru once again transcended borders and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) called for respect for the “popular will”.

fj-ljc/ag