Martín Vizcarra,dismissed, follows the curse of Peru's presidents

Since 1990 not a single Peruvian president has managed to escape the curse that seems to be hanging over them. The latest was Martín Vizcarra, who was dismissed by Congress after a motion for a vacancy was voted for the second time in scarcely two months, equivalent to the "impeachment" of the United States. The members of the Congress considered that there was sufficient evidence that Vizcarra had received bribes during his time as governor of Moquegua, a region located in the south of the country, in exchange for awarding an irrigation project and a hospital construction project.  

Unlike other countries, Peru does not prevent a process to remove the president from office as soon as he has passed another one. It is therefore fairly unusual that the country's highest judge has had to undergo two trials in two months, the second of which has brought his political career to an end. This is evidence of the clash between the executive and legislative powers and of the internal struggles between the two major parties, Acción Popular and Alianza para el Progreso. The result of the vote seems to show this: 105 votes in favour of the motion for a vacancy, 19 against and four abstentions. It is also at least unusual that the motion was tabled by a congressman, Edgar Alarcón, of the Union for Peru party, at the behest of his own leader, Antauro Humala, who was imprisoned following his conviction for assaulting a police station in 2005, when four policemen were shot dead.  

Antauro Humala is not the only leader of a political party represented in Congress who is in prison. José Luna Gálvez, the head of Podemos Perú, is also serving a prison sentence and has been convicted of several corruption offences. That shadow also hangs over many other deputies, as Vizcarra himself recalled in his farewell speech: "We could all be subject to accusations at some point. For example, it has been made public that 68 congressmen have open investigation processes in the Public Ministry". Vizcarra questioned whether they would have to leave their posts before the investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office had been concluded.  

Vizcarra is replaced by the president of Congress, Manuel Merino de Lama, a member of Acción Popular, the most belligerent party in forming an alliance with Unión por el Perú, Alianza por el Progreso, FREPAP and Somos Perú to consummate Vizcarra's removal from office. The country's stability does not appear to be in question, though there is no doubt that it is causing erosion of the institutional credibility and confidence that the Peruvian people in general, and foreign investors in particular, have in their political representatives. All this, when Peru is one of the countries most seriously affected by the coronavirus pandemic, is a further blow to the country's reputation.  

Thus, Martín Vizcarra became the sixth consecutive president of Peru to go out the back door. He had succeeded Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-2018), whose most scandalous action was the granting of a pardon to President Alberto Fujimori on the pretext of his alleged terminal illness. Fujimori miraculously revived as soon as the pardon became effective and he left prison.  

Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) even spent 300 days in jail, as did his wife, after it was proven that he received three million dollars from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. That contribution to his electoral campaign proved decisive in winning the elections and becoming president. Odebrecht appears to be the direct cause of the desperate situation of former president Alan García (1985-1990 and 2006-2011), who preferred to commit suicide as soon as his arrest warrant was made official, on the grounds that he had received bribes from the Brazilian company. The same firm allegedly made up to $33 million available to President Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), $17 million of which was paid directly to him. A resident of the United States, he is considered a fugitive by the Peruvian justice system. And, finally, Alberto Fujimori, with whom this list of curses began, was the man who broke all the rules with the excuse of fighting the terrorism of the Maoist group Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso). Fujimori fled to Japan, where he announced his resignation, but managed to evade justice until 2005.  

It should also be remembered that the figure of presidential vacancy due to moral incapacity is a peculiarity of the Peruvian Constitution. Since it was established in 1839 it has involved the dismissal of four heads of state: José de la Riva Agüero, Guillermo Billinghurst, Alberto Fujimori and now Martín Vizcarra.