Share

A Former President's Detention Raised Few Eyebrows in Peru. What’s Going On?

By Simeon Tegel

With its four last presidents fighting corruption charges or serving time, the real question for Peruvians is whether its judiciary is up for the monumental task before it.

LIMA – In most countries, the arrest of a former head of state on corruption allegations would trigger uproar. In Peru, the pre-trial detention of former President Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia has met with something of a collective shrug.  

The country has been here before. Recently. Of Humala’s three predecessors spanning 1990-2011, one is in jail serving a 25-year sentence for high crimes including massive larceny of public coffers, a second is wanted on charges that he took $20 million in kickbacks, and a third is also under criminal investigation for possible graft...

Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.

Related

Explore