Peru’s Kuczynski, 88, Plans US Trip to See Ill Wife
POLITICS · PERU
Key Facts
- —The country Peru, governed by President Keiko Fujimori, where several former presidents have faced criminal cases.
- —Why it matters Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 88, president from 2016 to 2018, has family in the United States he could not visit while a travel ban stood.
- —Why now A Lima court ruled that the ban had lost its force after his 2016 campaign-finance case was closed.
- —What happened On Saturday 10 October he told Perú21 he will fly to the US to see his wife, Nancy Lange, who is “quite ill”. The interview was reported on Sunday 11 October.
- —What it means for you Nothing changes for travellers or investors. It is a test of whether Peru’s courts now treat ex-presidents’ trips abroad case by case.
- —Still open His departure date, his wife’s condition, and how the investigations still open against him proceed while he is abroad.
Former Peruvian president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 88, says he will travel to the United States to visit his seriously ill wife. The Kuczynski US trip became possible after a Lima court lifted a travel ban that had kept him in Peru since June 2025. For American readers, it closes one chapter of a long legal saga for a former head of state whose wife and family live in the United States.
Kuczynski, known in Peru as PPK, was president from July 2016 until he resigned in March 2018. He spoke to the Lima newspaper Perú21 outside his home on Saturday 10 October, Infobae’s Peru edition reported on Sunday 11 October.
“I have to go and see my wife, who is quite ill,” he told Perú21. His wife is Nancy Lange, Peru’s former first lady.
What Kuczynski Said About the Trip
He gave no departure date.
He rejected talk that he would stay abroad for good. “I have my house here, my books here, my pianos here, my friends here,” he said. “I will come back in any case.” Infobae’s Peru edition reported that he called reports of a permanent exit “nonsense”.
Mercedes Aráoz, his former vice-president, told Infobae last week that he is well despite “several chronic illnesses”.
Why the Travel Ban Fell
The ban dated from June 2025, when Kuczynski was stopped at Lima’s airport while trying to fly to the United States. A judge then barred him from leaving Peru for 18 months, counted from 8 June 2025, Infobae reported.
It was tied to a money-laundering case over funding for his 2016 campaign. Prosecutors alleged fake donors, fundraising dinners and transfers to party treasurers. His party then was Peruanos por el Kambio, which took him to the presidency.
The Third National Criminal Appeals Chamber later upheld a defence appeal and closed the case. According to Infobae, it applied a Constitutional Court precedent first used in campaign-funding cases against Keiko Fujimori, now Peru’s president, and Ollanta Humala, president from 2011 to 2016.
That precedent holds that the offence prosecutors used only took effect through a decree in force from November 2016, after that year’s election. With the case closed, the Fourth National Preparatory Investigation Court ruled that the ban had lost its force, as we reported in Peru Court Ends 18-Month Kuczynski Travel Ban Early.
His Lawyer Calls It Overdue
César Nakazaki, the former president’s lawyer, spoke on RPP’s Ampliación de Noticias programme. “Justice delayed is not justice,” he said.
He argued that Peruvian courts used to grant permission to travel whatever the case, and that this practice broke with Kuczynski in 2018. Only now, eight years later, will his client be able to be with his family and receive the treatment he needs, he said.
Nakazaki added that, in his reading of Inter-American Court of Human Rights case law, judicial errors can create a duty to compensate. He said Peru lacks that culture. No compensation claim has been reported.
What It Means for You
For travellers and investors in Peru, nothing changes. The Kuczynski US trip is a personal journey by a former leader with no role in the government of President Keiko Fujimori.
It does say something about Peru’s courts. A ruling that a closed case cannot sustain a travel ban points to firmer procedure, which foreign investors watching political risk tend to welcome.
The risk is political. Critics may read any long stay abroad as flight from the remaining investigation. Kuczynski’s public promise to return will be watched closely in Lima.
For background on why so many Peruvian leaders have ended up in court, see Peru Political Instability Explained: Nine Presidents Since 2016 and Why They Fell.
What Is Not Known
The Kuczynski US trip has no date yet. He has not said where in the United States he will go, or how long he will stay. Lange’s illness has not been described publicly.
Other investigations linked to Kuczynski remain open, Nakazaki acknowledged on RPP. He said his client’s main concern is “to show that he is innocent”. Kuczynski has not been convicted and is presumed innocent.
A separate case over his 2011 campaign, which alleged US$300,000 from Odebrecht, was dismissed in May by judge Richard Concepción Carhuancho, Infobae reported. Whether prosecutors will ask for new restrictions in the remaining case is not known.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why could Pedro Pablo Kuczynski not leave Peru?
A judge barred him from leaving for 18 months from June 2025, after he was stopped at Lima’s airport. The ban was linked to a 2016 campaign-finance case that has since been closed.
Why is Kuczynski going to the United States?
He says he wants to see his wife, former first lady Nancy Lange, who he says is quite ill. He has given no date for the trip.
Does Kuczynski still face charges in Peru?
Yes. His lawyer says other investigations remain open. Kuczynski says he is innocent, has not been convicted and is presumed innocent.
Sources: Perú21 · Infobae · RPP · Perú Informa
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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