Peru’s Public Prosecutor’s Office announced Sunday that it has decided to include the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Roberto Sanchez, in an investigation against the country’s president, Pedro Castillo, for allegedly leading a criminal organization in his government.
“The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Nation decided to include the minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Roberto Sanchez Palomino, in the preliminary investigation that follows the president of the Republic, Pedro Castillo, for the alleged crimes of a criminal organization and others,” he said on Twitter.
In another message, the agency specified that, according to the prosecutor’s disposition, it would develop the investigation against the current minister for “the crime of obstruction of justice as the perpetrator”.
According to media reports, Sanchez would have incurred the alleged crime of obstruction of justice after promising a monthly payment to the wife of the ex-secretary of the Presidential Office, Bruno Pacheco, to avoid his collaboration with the Prosecutor’s Office regarding Castillo.
However, the Minister of Tourism assured last month that such an accusation is a “hoax” with which they seek to involve him “in an irresponsible manner”.
The investigation against Roberto Sánchez comes two months after the Prosecutor General’s Office included premier Aníbal Torres and the Minister of Justice, Félix Chero, in the investigation process for the alleged crimes of personal concealment and criminal organization.
President Castillo’s investigation for the criminal organization crime was opened last August after allegations of irregular awarding of public works in some localities of the Cajamarca region (north), where he is from.
Within the framework of this case, the Attorney General, Patricia Benavides, presented in October a constitutional complaint before Congress against the head of state, which in turn responded that this process has been “unconstitutional, illegal and without foundation”.
Amid the situation, Castillo asked the Organization of American States (OAS) to activate the Inter-American Democratic Charter to find a solution to the political crisis that the South American country was experiencing due to the six investigations opened against him.
In response, the OAS Permanent Council met on October 20 and decided to form a high-level mission to analyze the situation in Peru. The group is scheduled to arrive in the country on November 20.