Vizcarra takes over as Peru's president

Peru’s new president, Martin Vizcarra, accompanied by his wife Maribel Diaz, arrives Friday at the House of Pizarro, the presidential residence and workplace, in Lima.
Peru’s new president, Martin Vizcarra, accompanied by his wife Maribel Diaz, arrives Friday at the House of Pizarro, the presidential residence and workplace, in Lima.

LIMA, Peru -- A little-known former governor was sworn in as Peru's president on Friday, hours after the congress voted to accept the resignation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski amid a corruption scandal.

Martin Vizcarra took the oath of office shortly after 1 p.m. and was given the presidential sash by congressional president Luis Galarreta.

Earlier, the congress voted 105-12 to grant Kuczynski's request to step down after just 20 months in power but rejected his written arguments that he was doing so as a result of his opponents' constant plotting to undermine his rule.

Vizcarra received something of a hero's welcome shortly after midnight Friday when he arrived to Peru from Canada, where he had been serving as ambassador.

Supporters welcomed him at the airport with a large cake in the red and white colors of Peru's flag celebrating his 55th birthday Thursday. A marching band was on hand, and some people carried signs reading "Peru is with Vizcarra."

"With faith and optimism, Peru will always move forward," he said in brief remarks from his home.

A last-minute hitch Friday had threatened to delay the transition of power.

Kuczynski said in a tweet that the proposed language of a congressional resolution approving his resignation was "unacceptable" and that if lawmakers were to go forward with the wording he would reverse his decision to quit, forcing congress to go forward with plans to try to impeach him.

In the end, the language was removed. But congress nonetheless rebuked the 79-year-old Kuczynski, scolding him for a "political crisis that is the result of wrongful acts that the president himself has committed," according to the final text of the resolution.

Efforts to oust the unpopular Kuczynski, led by the daughter of former strongman Alberto Fujimori, have been building for months. But the campaign went into overdrive this week after the emergence of secretly shot videos, which showed allies of Kuczynski, including Fujimori's son, allegedly attempting to buy the support of an opposition lawmaker to block the president's impeachment.

Kuczynski's downfall was his association with Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction giant that has admitted to spreading some $800 million in bribes to officials across Latin America, including $29 million in Peru.

Kuczynski vehemently denied having any business or political ties to the company. But documents presented by Keiko Fujimori's Popular Force party showed his consulting firm had received $782,000 in payments from Odebrecht a decade ago, some of them when he was a government minister.

The former Wall Street investor denied any wrongdoing.

Stepping into the void left by Kuczynski is Vizcarra, whose name wasn't recognized by 81 percent of Peruvians in a March poll by Ipsos. His only previous experience in public office before becoming vice president in 2016 was as governor of Peru's second-least-populated province.

While Vizcarra is expected to continue Kuczynski's pro-business agenda, he will face a tough challenge building consensus with a hostile congress and growing public anger at Peru's political class. Protesters scuffled with police Thursday night while calling for new elections for both president and congress.

The United States said Friday that it "looks forward" to working with Vizcarra.

State Department spokesman Heather Nauert praised Peru for its "constitutional transfer of power" and said Peru's adherence to its constitution "reflects its strength as a resilient democracy."

A Section on 03/24/2018

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