Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(LIP-wb) -- Ollanta Humala once again denied to have received money from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to finance his presidential election campaign. This time, his ex-party friend and congressman Gustavo Espinoza made the accusation.

Espinoza said yesterday, Tuesday, that the nationalistic party leader received four million dollars from the Venezuelan government. He even claimed to have seen the suitcases filled with money.

Humala, who is currently on the campaign trail in the old Inca capital of Cusco and later touring Peru's South, rejected the accusation and called Espinoza a traitor and party-switcher. Espinoza was one of Humala's closest collaborators before and shortly after the presidential election, but then decided to distance himself from the ex-military commander and his nationalistic movement.

For Humala, the accusation of Espinoza is a “psycho-social maneuver” impelled by the government of Alan Garcia “to distract from the latest controversial subjects of supposed irregularities during a nationwide vaccination campaign against measles, and the revelation of the existence of Garcia's baby son; and also to hide a possible failure of Garcia's governing APRA party in the next regional and municipal elections held on November 19”.

Congressman Carlos Torres Caro, another ex-collaborator of Humala, requested a thorough investigation of Humala's personal finances including the lift of the banking secret.

The spokesman of Humala's Nationalistic Party, Carlos Tapia, spoke also on the subject and assured Andina news agency that “there is no problem” if they lift the banking secret.

“If Humala's banking secret is lifted, fine, but then all Peruvian politicians and those serving in public positions should be treated the same way”, Tapia concluded.