2024-02-10 14:27:45
Jaime Villanueva, former advisor to the suspended Attorney General of the Nation, Patricia Benavides, mentioned the late former President Alan García in the statement he gave on January 30 as a witness as part of the proceedings ordered by Supreme Prosecutor Delia Espinoza.
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According to his testimony, prosecutor Rafael Vela, coordinator of the Lava Jato Special Team, turned to journalist Gustavo Gorriti in order to seek media support for the investigation he opened once morest former president Martín Vizcarra for the alleged collection of bribes from the company Odebrecht. for the works Lomas de Ilo and Hospital de Moquegua, linked to his management as governor of said region (2011-2014).
“Jaimito, I have spoken with Gustavo and I have charged him for Alan García because I gave him all the information to surround García,” he narrated.
The former advisor to the National Prosecutor stressed that Vela was referring to the moment when Alan García responded to a summons from the Public Ministry and the journalist Gorriti published, on his IDL portal, a report with the receipts of the payment that Odebrecht made to the former president. by conferences with the purpose of exerting media pressure and to dictate his impediment to leaving.
ON November 15, 2018, García had arrived in Peru from Madrid, Spain, to be questioned by prosecutor José Domingo Pérez regarding the alleged irregularities in the awarding of line 1 of the Lima metro (sections 1 and 2) to the company. Odebrecht. That same day the IDL report was published.
Alan Garcia. Photo: GEC archive
Days later, the Judiciary issued a ban on the departure of the deceased ex-president, who requested asylum at the Uruguayan embassy, but was rejected. Months later, in April 2019, García took his own life.
“Because of this information, he comes out to support Vela and (based on his support) […] Now all the journalists in that sector are beginning to support Vela […] I specify that all that support was so that Zoraida (Ávalos) does not take it out,” Villanueva remarked.
In dialogue with El Comercio, journalist Gustavo Gorriti indicated that he will publish his defenses on his investigative portal.
For his part, prosecutor Rafael Vela said that he might not give statements because he has been summoned to “testify by the supreme prosecutor’s office.”
At another time, Villanueva spoke regarding the relationship between Patricia Benavides and the former APRA minister Hernán Garrido Lecca (2006-2008), whom the former prosecutor of the Nation would have given the nickname ‘the African’.
“I don’t know him, Patricia Benavides, she always told us since she was applying that she had a friend, whom she called ‘the African’ because he had business in Africa and she told us that he was the one who had all the contacts and the one who might best help her on different issues, when she was applying this ‘African’ was the one who communicated, for example with [Guillermo] Thornberry [miembro de la Junta Nacional de Justicia] and, through him, Patricia actually had information regarding what was happening in the contest,” he stated.
Hernán Garrido Lecca, former APRA minister, said in a conversation with Latina that he did not remember details of his last meetings with Patricia Benavides or Juan Fernández Jerí. (Photo: Diffusion)
He indicated that once Benavides was appointed prosecutor of the Nation, Judge Thornberry was the one who informed her, through Garrido Lecca, “how her processes were going, what was going to be done, if the National Board of Justice was going to to open an investigation or not”
He also assured that she mentioned that she participated in the conversations between Garrido Lecca and Thornberry, that Benavides even mentioned that she participated in those telephone meetings when Garrido put his cell phone on speaker. “Sometimes she came a little upset because [en ocasiones] The two of them spoke in English and she did not understand what they were saying,” he declared.
According to Villanueva’s testimony, Garrido Lecca also contacted and coordinated with Juan Fernández Jerí, who leads the institution in charge of controlling prosecutors. He also activated the loudspeaker and Benavides participated by listening to the conversations.
“She was also aware of all the investigations once morest Rafael Vela and José Domingo Pérez. Thus, it was determined that following the incident that occurred between Vela and Benavides when Alejandro Toledo arrived, the decision was reached that Fernández Jerí suspend Vela. Garrido Lecca and Benavides were in charge of all the coordination,” she revealed.
Villanueva came to the conclusion that ‘the African’ was Garrido Lecca because one day he told the then prosecutor that they were going to see a documentary regarding Alan García and she “let it slip and said but they would have told me before, so they might go.” to the premiere because the African is the one who made that film.” She said that he had learned from the media that Garrido Lecca was the one who made the tape.
This newspaper also sought to contact former Minister García Lecca, but at the close of this report he did not respond.
Besides…
Given
- In December, Garrido Lecca detailed that he does know people involved, according to the testimony of Jaime Villanueva and the tax investigation, in an alleged criminal organization led by Patricia Benavides, such as Juan Fernández Jerí, national Control Authority of the Public Ministry.
- “Yes, I know Jerí. I have met him once in Paraguay, when I met him at an ecology congress, and I have sometimes had a meeting with him because he sees mining rights.”he explained.
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