Peru: Ex-President Toledo Extradited From US
On Sunday, Peruvian authorities imprisoned former Pres. Alejandro Toledo hours after he landed in the capital Lima. He was in the custody of Interpol officers following extradition from the US.
Facts
- On Sunday, Peruvian authorities imprisoned former Pres. Alejandro Toledo hours after he landed in the capital Lima. He was in the custody of Interpol officers following extradition from the US.1
- The 77-year-old, who was president between 2001 and 2006, has been ordered to serve a pre-trial detention of 18 months inside a police base on the outskirts of Lima, where former presidents Alberto Fujimori and Pedro Castillo are also being held.2
- Toledo is accused of taking around $35M in bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht in exchange for awarding a lucrative contract to build a highway linking Peru and Brazil during his term.3
- Toledo left Peru in 2016, returning to his alma mater, Stanford University, as a visiting scholar to study education in Latin America. Since 2019, when he was arrested in Menlo Park, Calif., he had been engaged in a legal battle against his extradition, which came to an end on Friday as he turned himself in to US federal agents.4
- Though the former Peruvian president denies the allegations of money laundering and corruption, Odebrecht has admitted to paying $800M in bribes to officials throughout Latin America in exchange for public works contracts.5
- Every elected Peruvian president since 1985 is either in jail, has been in jail, or faced arrest.6
Sources: 1France 24, 2Reuters, 3Guardian, 4Associated Press, 5New York Times, and 6Forbes.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by Foreign Affairs. Peru has been trying to rebuild its democracy over the last two decades but still struggles to elect a government that can operate without corruption. The struggle against political corruption requires a strong judiciary, stable party structures, strict enforcement of anti-corruption strategies, and control over illegal and foreign financing of presidential elections — all currently lacking in Peru.
- Narrative B, as provided by Geopolitical Economy Report. The fact that Peru has already had seven presidents since 2016 speaks volumes about the country's political situation. However, there's a reason for optimism for Peruvian democracy if structural reforms are implemented to put the country on a sound institutional footing. Peru holds its leaders accountable for crimes committed against its democratic institutions.
