Peru: Fujimori and other right-wing politicians detained for links to Odebrecht scandal
By
Cesar Uco and Armando Cruz
18 October 2018
While Peru has yet to be rocked by the double digits interest rates, inflation and currency devaluations as seen in Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil, the world capitalist crisis is manifesting itself in the Latin American country through a continuous escalation of the internecine warfare within the political establishment.
Longtime leader of the right-wing opposition party Fuerza Popular (FP) Keiko Fujimori was arrested last Wednesday October 10, along with 19 other FP members, under the order of Judge Richard Concepción Carhuancho. They are being held under a 10-day “preventive detention”, i.e., to preclude the risk of their fleeing the country to escape charges related to their alleged participation in the massive fraud scandal involving the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
All of the detained are accused of being part of a “criminal organization”—with Fujimori identified as its leader—that laundered money provided by Odebrecht for the FP’s campaign in the 2011 elections. This was part of Odebrecht’s buying of the whole Peruvian political establishment so that it could reap immense profits through the overpricing of its massive construction projects in Peru.
Following the arrest, FP followers went to the streets in protest. They were joined by several FP congressmen and former senior leaders such as Martha Chavez, Miguel Torres, Hector Becerril and Luis Galarreta. Many of them are also accused of being involved in corruption scandals. According to charges leveled by the prosecution, Fujimori’s alleged criminal organization included at least 114 people.
According to the judges and prosecuting attorneys, the…