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A new scandal surrounds the Peruvian government of leftist president Pedro Castillo, after an unusual discovery in a restroom of the Government Palace in Lima: agents of the Public Prosecutor’s Office found $20,000 in cash.
The cash was kept in a bathroom of the office of Bruno Pacheco, Peru’s Secretary-General, who affirmed that it is his “product of savings and the salary he receives”.
Pacheco resigned from his position in the middle of an investigation for alleged influence peddling; however, now the government of Pedro Castillo is facing a motion of vacancy to remove the president from office because of what happened.
A lot of money in a presidential bathroom
Last November 19, agents of the Public Ministry went to the offices of the Presidential General Secretariat to search documents and computer devices, as part of an investigation that began after general commanders of the Army and the Air Force accused Pacheco of pressuring and interfering in the promotions of the Armed Forces.
In the midst of the raid, the official admitted that he had kept the exact amount of $20,000 in cash in a bathroom cabinet in his office. He declared before prosecutors that it was not illegal money, but part of his personal savings and his salary, which amounts to some $6,250.
Peruvian Congress analyzes impeachment of president
The Peruvian opposition has already started a new battle to impeach the leftist president with a motion of vacancy from Congress.
Congresswoman Patricia Chirinos of the Avanza Pais party presented the motion signed by 28 legislators for seven different reasons; among them, the illegal use of public funds from the Regional Government of Junin in favor of the official Peru Libre party for the electoral campaign, in addition to the money found in the palace bathroom, among other alleged irregularities.
To formally present the presidential impeachment motion, 26 signatures of congressmen are required, and to accept it, 52 votes of the full Parliament are needed, while 87 votes of the 130 seats, equivalent to two-thirds of the Peruvian assembly, are required for it to go forward. At the moment, the opposition does not have the necessary votes to carry out the presidential impeachment.
Sabrina Martín Rondon is a Venezuelan journalist. Her source is politics and economics. She is a specialist in corporate communications and is committed to the task of dismantling the supposed benefits of socialism // Sabrina Martín Rondon es periodista venezolana. Su fuente es la política y economía. Es especialista en comunicaciones corporativas y se ha comprometido con la tarea de desmontar las supuestas bondades del socialismo