Peru on Wednesday rebuked the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for hiring former Peruvian first lady Nadine Heredia as a Geneva-based director while she is a suspect in a money laundering inquiry.
The Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing its “displeasure and protest” over the appointment, which came amid allegations by public prosecutors that Heredia and her husband, former Peruvian president Ollanta Humala, took illicit funds from the government of Venezuela and Brazilian construction companies.
“We see this as interference in a public investigation of enormous national sensitivity,” Peruvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ricardo Luna said on local broadcaster RPP.
Earlier this year a judge barred Heredia from leaving Peru while her finances were probed, but prosecutors have yet to press charges against her or Humala in the high-profile case.
Peru’s objections came as Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has sought to shore up his anti-corruption credentials after his adviser was ousted for appearing to plot corrupt acts in leaked audio.
The UN organization defended its decision to hire Heredia as director of its liaison office in Geneva, saying travel restrictions for her expired last month and were not extended.
“The appointment of Ms Heredia was transparent applying ordinary competitive procedures and based on a rigorous selection process,” the organization said in a statement. “The case in Peru does not pose any impediments to her performing her new role.”
Heredia was a special ambassador for the organization in 2013, tasked with promoting the consumption of quinoa, a protein-rich Andean seed grown by Quechua-speaking farmers in Peru and Bolivia.
Heredia’s attorney, Roy Gates, asked the government to respect Heredia’s right to due process and said prosecutors should carry out their work free from political pressure.
Heredia traveled to Europe this week, worrying some in Peru who remember former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori fleeing the South American nation in 2000 before eventually facing extradition and jail time for human rights violations and corruption.
Heredia, the cofounder and president of Humala’s Nationalist Party of Peru, was once widely seen as having a bright political future, possibly as president.
However, she faced constant criticism for playing an influential role in Humala’s government, which left office in July with low approval ratings.
Earlier this month a judge ordered Humala to deposit a bail bond to ensure he cooperates with the investigation after prosecutors said they have evidence to convict him of money laundering.
He has denied the allegations.
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