Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Utarola resigns after being embarrassed by a leak. According to Peruvian media, Otarola gave a woman lucrative business assignments because he loved her.
Peruvian media shared an audio message last week in which Otarola declares his love for a woman and requests her resume BBC News. It is said that the same woman later received orders from the government.
Otarola admits this is his voice in the audio message, but says it was actually recorded in 2021. At that time he was not yet active in the Peruvian Cabinet. Moreover, the content is “twisted and distorted,” he says.
However, these statements contradict previous statements made by Otarola. The 57-year-old politician previously said he had spoken to the woman in question only once, during a meeting. The woman previously stated that she had a brief relationship with Otarola.
According to Peruvian media, the woman was assigned two work assignments by Utarola, when he was still serving as Minister of Defense. This work earned her the equivalent of about 13 thousand euros.
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The Peruvian Ministry is investigating how the tasks were distributed. President Dina Bolwarti quickly recalled Utarola from a working visit to Canada, after which he announced his retirement.
According to Otarola, he did nothing wrong. However, he is resigning because his political opponents have been trying to get rid of him for a long time. He said in his farewell speech: “They did not hesitate to edit an audio message with the aim of distorting my image.” His predecessor, former Prime Minister Martin Vizcarra, is part of that group of politicians, according to Uttararola. Vizcarra denies the allegations.
Because of Otarola’s departure, all 18 Peruvian ministers must resign as well. The Peruvian president could ask them to stay.
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