Reuters
LIMA, Peru — President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a market-friendly leader and one of Washington’s allies in Latin America, resigned Wednesday after a secretly recorded video appeared to show his allies offering to reward opponents with public contracts in exchange for not impeaching him.
Kuczynski, 79, said in a televised speech he was stepping down and had submitted his letter of resignation to congress, ending his presidency after just 19 months. His decision came in the wake of allegations of wrongdoing over his past business ties with Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht, which has acknowledged to Brazilian and U.S. investigators having paid $800 million in bribes to obtain construction contracts in 10 Latin American countries, including Peru.
Kuczynski denied wrongdoing in his speech, saying his resignation was for the good of the country as the current political crisis has undermined his ability to govern. He said there would be an orderly presidential transition, with Vice President Martín Vizcarra, who is also the ambassador to Canada, taking over.
“This has created enormous damage for the country,” Kuczynski said of the scandal that led to his downfall, speaking as he sat at a desk with his ministers behind him. “For the good of the country, I’m resigning as the president of the republic.” Had he not resigned, Kuczynski would likely have been impeached on Thursday by congress, leading to his removal from office.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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