Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otarola announced his resignation on Tuesday after the opening of an investigation into influence peddling following the broadcast of audio recordings compromising him.
This close friend of President Dina Boluarte took office in December 2022 following the formation of a new executive after the dismissal of the previous president, Pedro Castillo, followed by bloodily repressed demonstrations.
“During a conversation with the President of the Republic, I announced my decision to resign
,” Alberto Otarola said at a press conference in Lima on Tuesday.
The opposition parties unanimously demanded the departure of the 57-year-old leader who is the subject of an investigation for influence peddling.
Alberto Otarola, who had to interrupt an official visit to Canada on Tuesday to return to Peru, denied any irregularity.
The presidency stressed that this decision was motivated by the desire to give
“peace of mind to President Boluarte”
, and offer her the possibility of reshuffling her cabinet.
Alberto Otarola was in turmoil since the broadcast on Sunday by the Panamericana Television channel of recordings where he was heard having a romantic conversation with a young woman identified as Yazire Pinedo, who this year obtained two contracts worth a total of some $14,000 to carry out archival and administrative work for the government.
“You know that these things are boring, that they are painful, but you also know that I love you,” he is
heard saying, in what was presented as an allusion to the administrative formalities involved in obtaining of these contracts.
“Severity of political circumstances”
Alberto Otarola has denied any violation of Peruvian labor laws or other wrongdoing, and attributed the revelation of the recordings to his political opponents.
He said he had decided to leave his post to prevent the
“baseness”
of his enemies from affecting the
“governability of the country”
.
“I will of course submit to all investigations, but the opinion of the experts will be absolutely clear as to the crude manner in which these recordings were edited and presented to the public
,” he insisted during the press conference.
Monday
on
the
social
network
On Tuesday, Yazire Pinedo admitted to having had a brief
“perhaps sentimental relationship”
with him, while asserting that the leaked conversations dated back to 2021, before Alberto Otarola, married and father of five children, was prime minister.
The arrival to power of Dina Boluarte and Alberto Otarola was marked by long months of protests from supporters of Pedro Castillo, who had been dismissed after a failed attempt to dissolve Parliament in December 2022. The repression of the demonstrations did more of 50 deaths.
In November, the Attorney General's Office filed a complaint with Congress against the two leaders for their alleged role in this repression.
Imprisoned, Pedro Castillo, for his part, had a 34-year prison sentence imposed on him in January for attempted
“coup d’état”
.