Lima, March 15 (RHC)--Peru’s congress voted by a wide margin on Thursday to reopen impeachment proceedings against President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
It’s the second time lawmakers have threatened to remove the former Wall Street investor over his ties to the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
In December, Kuczynski narrowly avoided being voted out of office after a small opposition faction including the son of then-jailed former President Alberto Fujimori abstained.
Days later, he pardoned Fujimori from a 25-year jail sentence for human rights abuses committed during his decade-long rule
The measure adopted Thursday inviting Kuczynski to appear before congress next week to defend his actions had the support of 87 lawmakers. Fifteen lawmakers opposed the action and another 15 abstained.
At the heart of Kucyznski’s troubles is $782,000 in payments that Odebrecht made to his private consulting firm more than a decade earlier.