Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otarola on Tuesday resigned amid allegations of influence-peddling to help a young woman he is said to have addressed lovingly in recordings released by news media.
Otarola told reporters in Lima that “in conversation with the president of the republic I have announced my decision to present my resignation.”
Otarola is a seasoned politician and lawyer who acted as chief of staff to Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, who ordered him home from an official trip to Canada after the scandal erupted.
Photo: AFP / Peruvian Presidency / Juan Pablo Azabache
Otarola, 57, is married and has five children.
Over the weekend, the television program Panorama released what it said were recordings of Otarola in conversation with a woman named Yazire Pinedo, 25, who landed two contracts this year worth a total of US$14,000 to do archive and administrative work for the government.
In one of the recordings, a man alleged to be Otarola says to her: “Tell me, then, my love, so we can talk. You know these things are annoying, they are a pain, but you also know that I love you,” apparently referring to the red tape involved in bidding for a government contract.
Otarola has denied any violation of Peruvian labor laws or other wrongdoing.
“I understand the gravity of the political circumstances, but I repeat that I did not do anything illegal,” he wrote on X on Monday.
The president’s office had said in a statement earlier on Tuesday that it would hear Otarola out before deciding what to do.
On Tuesday, Pinedo said the leaked conversations with Otarola were from 2021, before he was a Cabinet minister, but she acknowledged having had a brief, “perhaps sentimental relationship” with him.
Opposition parties on the right and left have demanded that Otarola resign. Prosecutors said they would investigate him for possible conflict of interest and “illegal sponsorship.”
China’s military yesterday showed off its machine-gun equipped robot battle “dogs” at the start of its biggest ever drills with Cambodian forces. More than 2,000 troops, including 760 Chinese military personnel, are taking part in the drills at a remote training center in central Kampong Chhnang Province and at sea off Preah Sihanouk Province. The 15-day exercise, dubbed Golden Dragon, also involves 14 warships — three from China — two helicopters and 69 armored vehicles and tanks, and includes live-fire, anti-terrorism and humanitarian rescue drills. The hardware on show included the so-called “robodogs” — remote-controlled four-legged robots with automatic rifles mounted on their
A Philippine boat convoy bearing supplies for Filipino fishers yesterday said that it was headed back to port, ditching plans to sail to a reef off the Southeast Asian country after one of their boats was “constantly shadowed” by a Chinese vessel. The Atin Ito (“This Is Ours”) coalition convoy on Wednesday set sail to distribute fuel and food to fishers and assert Philippine rights in the disputed South China Sea. “They will now proceed to the Subic fish port to mark the end of their successful mission,” the group said in a statement. A Philippine Coast Guard vessel escorting the convoy was
SHAKE-UP: Lam, who would be the third president in less than two years, emerged as one of the country’s most important officials after leading an anti-corruption effort Vietnam has nominated the enforcer of the Communist Party’s anti-corruption drive as the next president and proposed a new head of the National Assembly, in appointments that could ease months of political turmoil and allow policymakers to refocus on a struggling economy. Unprecedentedly for a one-party nation once known for its stable politics, two state presidents and a National Assembly speaker have stepped down in less than 18 months, all for unspecified “wrongdoing” amid a major anti-graft campaign which is unnerving foreign investors because of its chilling effect on bureaucracy. After approval from the National Assembly, which could come this week, Vietnamese
MOSTLY SYMBOLIC: The ruling party has a large enough majority to override the veto of the legislation, which the president said contradicts the constitution Georgia’s president on Saturday vetoed a so-called “Russian law” targeting media that has sparked weeks of mass protests. The legislation would require media and non-governmental organizations to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. Critics of the bill say it closely resembles legislation used by the Kremlin to silence opponents, and that it would obstruct Georgia’s bid to join the EU. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with the ruling Georgian Dream party, said that the legislation contradicts the country’s constitution and “all European standards,” adding