With Kuczynski's fate in the balance, Peruvians demonstrate

Record ID: 943854

  • Title: With Kuczynski's fate in the balance, Peruvians demonstrate
  • Date: 21st December 2017
  • Summary: LIMA, PERU (DECEMBER 20, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING AND CHANTING AGAINST CORRUPTION IN LIMA'S HISTORIC CENTRE PROTESTER WEARING "ANONYMOUS" MASK WITH POSTER OF POLITICIANS LABELLED AS "CORRUPT" PROTESTERS HOLDING PERUVIAN FLAG, CHANTING VARIOUS OF POLICE HOLDING BACK PROTESTERS CLOSE-UP OF PERUVIAN FLAG WITH IMAGE OF PERUVIAN PRESIDENT, PEDRO PABLO KUCZYNSKI, (PPK) AND PERUVIAN POLITICIAN, KEIKO FUJIMORI, WITH INSCRIPTION THAT READS, "ENOUGH OF THE CORRUPTION" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SPOKESMAN OF NO TO KEIKO CAMPAIGN, JORGE RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "People, I think, are completely angry, and with good cause, over the recent corrupt acts by the president, members of parliament and regional presidents. What is happening with the current president, PPK (Pedro Pablo Kuczynski), and ultimately with the vacancy (of the presidency), because it seems that's where where we are heading and it seems to us on point. We need to change the rules of the game. This democracy has been promoting corruption for years." PROTESTERS MARCHING WITH VULTURE FLOATS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PERUVIAN ACTIVIST, INGRID PAJARES, SAYING: "We are defending that our country be a country of laws. Because all our governments have sold us out. They have no idea what national sovereignty is. And they are not interested in the actual people. That crap pro-Fujimori member of Congress has no interest in the actual people. They are only interested in continuing to sustain the enrichment of their own lives with the money they get from the people of Peru." PROTESTER CHANTING, "PERU I LOVE YOU; THAT'S WHY I DEFEND YOU" GENERAL OF PROTESTERS MARCHING THROUGH HISTORIC CITY CENTRE
  • Embargoed: 4th January 2018 02:02
  • Keywords: Kuczynski Odebrecht corruption march
  • Location: LIMA, PERU
  • City: LIMA, PERU
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0017CUWHTZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Hundreds of Peruvians came out to Lima's historic city centre Wednesday (December 20) to rally against corruption as a scandal continues to engulf their president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK), which threatens to sink his presidency.
    On the same day, Peru's two vice presidents pledged their loyalty to PPK, who spoke to the nation in defence of his actions. The events come a day before a congressional vote that could remove him from office over allegations of graft that he denies.
    Many of Kuczynski's supporters have accused the opposition-controlled Congress of trying to mount a legislative "coup" with its vote on Thursday (December 21) and say if the president is ousted, the vice presidents should both resign, thus forcing an election.
    The president's supporters hope that if Kuczynski were to be pushed out, at least the opposition might be punished in subsequent elections. But the prospect of a vote at a time when Peruvians are angry over a graft scandal and in a mood to throw out establishment politicians has worried investors in one of Latin America's most stable economies.
    Peru's constitution does not specify what kind of elections must be called if the president and two vice presidents cannot govern, but Peruvian constitutional lawyer Enrique Bernales said both presidential and legislative elections would be required by legal precedent.
    The accusations against Kuczynski stem from the disclosure last week by Odebrecht, a Brazilian builder at the centre of Latin America's biggest corruption scandal, that it had once made payments to companies linked to Kuczynski.
    Kuczynski had previously denied any ties with Odebrecht, and has since said there was nothing improper about the payments. Odebrecht has said the business transactions did not appear to be part of corrupt dealings with politicians that its jailed executives are now detailing to prosecutors in Peru.
    Lawmakers from the right-wing opposition party Popular Force that controls Congress have said the disclosure of the ties showed Kuczynski is "morally unfit" to lead Peru.
    Kuczynski, a 79-year-old former Wall Street banker, defeated the party's current leader, Fujimori's daughter Keiko, in last year's presidential election with a razor-thin margin.
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