LIMA (Reuters) – A former Peruvian Cabinet member who was fired on Tuesday after just two weeks in the role has accused President Pedro Castillo of obstructing graft investigations of close allies.
Mariano Gonzalez served as minister of the interior, overseeing the national police and had recently appointed a special police squad to ramp up efforts to investigate and capture political allies of Castillo over graft claims.
Those under investigation include a former transportation minister, a former presidential adviser and one of Castillo’s nephews.
Gonzalez told RPP radio on Wednesday that his firing was tied to his appointment of the special police unit, called it “obstruction of justice” and also called for Castillo’s resignation.
“Obstructing our intelligence teams is a clear obstruction of justice as well,” he said. “To me this is self-evident and disqualifies (Castillo) from remaining as president.”
A Castillo representative could not be reached for comment on Wednesday and his office has not responded to the allegations.
In just under a year in office, left-wing Castillo has had seven interior ministers and overseen unprecedented turnover in senior government roles. He has also survived two impeachment attempts and has an approval rate hovering around 25%.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Mark Porter)
