The Peruvian Congress Building in Lima. Patricia Rosa Chirinos Venegas is there since 2021 appointed. Photo: Congress of the Republic of Peru via flickr, CC BY 2.0 DEED.
(Lima, December 18, 2023, Latin Press).- Peruvian right-wing congresswoman Patricia Chirinos this week denied reports on internet networks that she had traveled to Spain to seek asylum. She had previously complained about her threatened arrest by the public prosecutor.
The MP confirmed that she traveled to Madrid yesterday to spend Christmas with her children, as she does every year. However, coverage of her departure had raised suspicions after she posted a video the previous evening in which she said she was informed that prosecutors were planning a raid on her home and office and wanted to order her arrest.
However, due to Chirinos’s parliamentary immunity, this is not possible unless a senior prosecutor opens a special investigation and Parliament approves her arrest. She herself said that she had “no reason to flee.” The MP, in her video and in today’s statements, blamed the “caviar mafia” for the prosecutor’s alleged moves. This is how the extreme right refers to groups on the left and center that represent different positions than the conservatives.
Chirinos explained that the reason for the alleged conspiracy against her is the fact that, among the many complaints she filed as a congresswoman, there were also those against former presidents Pedro Castillo and Martín Vizcarra, judges of the National Judicial Authority JNJ (Junta de Nacional de Justicia) and a long list of former ministers of the two governments.
The fact that the video was taken shortly before a trip that was not publicly known was the reason for the reports about her alleged asylum. To this, Chirinos said that she doesn’t care what people say. She has to move on with her life.
Chirinos is a strong supporter of Attorney General Patricia Benavides, who was suspended from the JNJ because an investigation by the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office found evidence that she headed a criminal organization. She is also one of the congresswomen who, according to press reports, coordinated with an aide to Benavides the vote on parliamentary resolutions in favor of keeping the prosecutor in office. In return, investigations against dozens of MPs were dropped.