Prosecutors in Peru are investigating a sex-for-votes scandal in the country’s Congress after uncovering an alleged prostitution ring in the widely loathed chamber.
The investigation began after hitmen fired more than 40 shots at a taxi carrying Andrea Vidal, a 27-year-old lawyer who worked in Congress, in Lima earlier this month. She died on Tuesday in intensive care from her injuries. The taxi driver was also killed in the attack.
Prosecutors then opened an investigation into Vidal’s former boss, former chief legal and constitutional adviser to Congress, Jorge Torres Saravia, who is accused of sexual exploitation for allegedly running a prostitution ring that hired young women to have sex with legislators in exchange for votes. . Torres has denied all allegations.
This latest scandal comes as trust and approval for Congress and its president, Dina Boluarte, have fallen to levels never before reached, and a crime wave of extortion and assassins is sweeping the Andean nation.
Prosecutors allege that Vidal hired young women on Torres’ behalf to work as secretaries and in administrative jobs at various political blocs within the chamber.
“She allegedly operated to get votes from lawmakers,” said Juan Burgos, a lawmaker and chairman of Congress’s oversight committee.
“This clearly marks the end of any shame in the exercise of administrative power,” said Susel Paredes, an independent MP. “It shows the rot within the political parties that have the power to hire in Congress today.”
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She said the main parties “have acquired absolute power and part of power sharing also involves job sharing in this institution.”
Alvaro Henzler, leader of Transparencia, a Peruvian pro-democracy NGO, said that in recent years there has been “an accelerated loss of the minimum ethical and moral standards that any public official in authority should have.”
“Our politicians, both Congress and the president, have reached the lowest approval ratings in history,” he said.
He accused lawmakers of passing laws that erode democratic norms and encourage organized crime to protect themselves and their colleagues from corruption investigations.
“That reflects the dire state of our democracy,” Henzler said.
Boluarte – whose approval rating hit a record low of 3% according to a poll this month – is being investigated for alleged illegal enrichment following a raid on her home in April, amid allegations swirling around her collection of Rolex watches and luxury jewelry. She has denied any wrongdoing.
