The government of Peru announced through its prime minister, Mercedes Aráoz, that it has withdrawn the invitation it sent to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in November to attend the eighth Summit of the Americas, to be held in Lima on the 13th and 14th. of April; a week of the criticized presidential elections decreed by the Constituent Assembly in Venezuela.
Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, announced that he will attend the Summit of the Americas “at all costs” to bring “the truth of the country” at a press conference at the presidential palace in Caracas despite the Peruvian government reported that his presence would not be welcome in the Andean country.
The “Lima Group” of Latin American nations plus Canada on Tuesday criticized the Venezuelan government’s decision to hold a presidential election on April 22 without reaching an agreement with an opposition coalition.
The Peruvian-Argentine consortium Kuntur Wasi said that it plans to sue Peru in an international arbitration court after failing to reach a deal with the government over the cancellation of its US$525 million Chinchero airport project.
Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s approval rating has fallen to 19% since he granted a pardon to authoritarian former President Alberto Fujimori, a decision that has deeply divided the country, a poll showed on Sunday.
United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Austin, Texas, and then to Mexico City, Mexico; Bariloche and Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lima, Perú; Bogotá, Colombia; and Kingston, Jamaica on February 1-7. According to a release from the State Department, Secretary Tillerson will engage with regional partners to promote a safe, prosperous, energy secure, and democratic hemisphere.
Pope Francis made a forceful call to combat corruption in Peru, calling it a social “virus” a month after the Andean nation’s president pardoned a former autocratic leader who had been jailed for graft and human rights abuses.
Recently pardoned former president Alberto Fujimori called for Peruvians on Saturday to set aside their “grudges” in order to unite against violence and crime, appealing to his right-wing political base two days after being freed from prison by a presidential pardon.
Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and one of his leading political rivals appeared on Thursday before prosecutors investigating payments to politicians by Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. Kuczynski and ex congresswoman Keiko Fujimori are being investigated by anti-corruption prosecutors in separate probes. Both have denied wrongdoing.
Condemning the pardoning of former President of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, a group of United Nations independent human rights experts have said that the move undermines the work of the judiciary and the international community to achieve justice.