Fujimori leaves for international summits as political crisis deepens

Congresswoman Martha Hildebrandt, center, leaves the Congress building on Monday in Lima, Peru

LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Hours after an embattled President Alberto Fujimori left Peru on a diplomatic trip, lawmakers ousted his key ally from her post as Congress president Monday, opening the way for debate on whether to remove Fujimori as well.

Fujimori's departure to two summits -- one in Brunei and the other in Panama -- came amid a growing corruption scandal swirling around his former spy chief and top aide, Vladimiro Montesinos. The scandal weakened Fujimori, forcing his announcement in September that he would step down next July after new elections in the spring.

Lawmakers voted 64-51 to remove Martha Hildebrandt, one of Fujimori's staunchest allies, as president of Congress. Opposition leaders accused her of ignoring demands last week for a consensus on the makeup of a congressional commission to investigate Montesinos, who has been a fugitive since last month.

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Congressional vice president Luz Salgado, also a Fujimori loyalist, said she had received a motion to debate a proposal to force Fujimori from office for "moral incapacity" -- as permitted by the Constitution. Monday's session ended without a decision on the motion, and though the motion still was pending, it was unclear when it would be dealt with.

Hours before Fujimori left, Justice Minister Alberto Bustamante dismissed as "nonsense" allegations that Fujimori had received $1 million from Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar for his first election campaign in 1990.

Bustamante said Fujimori did not even know Montesinos in 1989, the year that Roberto Escobar, Pablo Escobar's brother, says Montesinos requested the money for Fujimori. Pablo Escobar was killed in a shootout with Colombian police in December 1993.

Roberto Escobar made the accusation in a story published Sunday in the Colombian magazine Cambio.

The scandal surrounding Montesinos began with a video leaked in September apparently showing him bribing an opposition congressman. Fujimori then announced he would step down, signaling the end of the iron-fisted ruler's decade in power. New elections are set to take place in April.

The video was the clearest evidence to date backing up fraud allegations that marred Fujimori's contentious victory to a third five-year term last May.

Montesinos faces criminal complaints in Peru ranging from money laundering, directing state-sponsored death squads and torture to skimming profits from narcotics trades during his 10 years as Fujimori's top aide.

Fujimori went first to the small Southeast Asian nation of Brunei to take part later this week in a trade summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. From there, he was scheduled to travel to Panama on Friday to participate in a two-day annual meeting of Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking leaders.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Bienvenidos al Ministerio de la Presidencia (Spanish)
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores del Peru (Spanish/English)
Congreso de la Republica del Peru (Spanish/English)
Peru Posible

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