US agrees to extradite Peru ex-president

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique was arrested in the US in 2019. He will be extradited for "crimes of collusion and money laundering."

The US has agreed to extradite ex-Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique, who was arrested by US agencies for "crimes of collusion and money laundering," Peru's attorney general's office in Lima said on Wednesday.

The prosecutor's office said in a tweet the extradition was granted by the US Department of State.

"We do not have a set deadline at the moment, but it is unlikely to take months," Alfredo Rebaza, the head of the attorney general's extradition office, told local TV.

What is Toledo accused of?

Toledo served as the President of Peru from 2001-2006. His country has been trying to extradite him since 2018. He was arrested in the US in July 2019 and released on bail in 2020.

The 76-year-old is accused of receiving some $25 million from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to win public works contracts to build a highway connecting Peru and Brazil.

However, Toledo denies the charges and has not been criminally charged in the US.

In 2021, a US judge said there was sufficient evidence of criminality for charges of "collusion and money laundering," but that it was up to the State Department to act.

The Odebrecht case has triggered a wave of corruption scandals in Peru in recent years. Former Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is also being investigated for alleged money laundering, whereas another former president Alan Garcia took his own life to avoid arrest in 2019.

New President too facing serious charges

Meanwhile, incumbent President Dina Boluarte is also facing 'genocide' charges and the country's top prosecutor has launched an inquiry into her and her Cabinet members' involvement in the violent clashes that have seen at least 40 killed and hundreds injured since early December.

The new government, however, won a vote of confidence in Congress by a wide margin last week. A loss would have triggered a Cabinet reshuffle and the resignation of Prime Minister Alberto Otarola, according to another media report. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/peru-mourns-growing-protester-death-toll-govt-seeks-confidence-vote-2023-01-10/

The inquiry comes after 17 civilians were killed in the country's southern Puno region on Monday - the most lethal day of protests since former President Pedro Castillo was ousted and detained last month. The violence continued on Tuesday with a police officer dying after his car was torched.

The attorney general's office said it was investigating Boluarte, Otarola, Defense Minister Jorge Chavez and Interior Minister Victor Rojas on charges of "genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries."

Human rights groups have accused authorities of using firearms on protesters and dropping smoke bombs from helicopters. The army says protesters have used weapons and homemade explosives.

The attorney general's office also said it would investigate former Prime Minister Pedro Angulo and former Interior Minister Cesar Cervantes, both of whom served under Boluarte for just a few weeks, for their involvement in handling the protests.

Source: DW