The Fiscalía of Peru [7], the country's top prosecutor, has opened an investigation into Vladimiro Montesinos, the imprisoned former intelligence chief under dictator Alberto Fujimori, following release of a recording in which he evidently urges electoral authorities to throw the pending presidential election [8] to Keiko Fujimori—daughter of the ex-dictator. The so-called "Vladiaudios [9]" were released by Pedro Rejas, a retired military officer and Fujimori loyalist who received the phone call from Montesinos on June 23. In the call they appear to discuss bribing members of the National Jury of Elections (JNE [10]). Also under investigation is Luis Arce Córdova, a JNE member who on the same day as the phone call was forced to step down for conflict of interest in response statements in favor of candidate Fujimori. (Aristegui Noticias [14], IDL-Reporteros [15], The Guardian [16], TeleSur [17])
Results of the June 6 run-off between Fujimori and left-populist rival Pedro Castillo remain pending, as Fujimori has filed numerous challenges with the JNE charging voter fraud. Her supporters have meanwhile launched a social-media campaign overtly playing to racism against Castillo's indigenous and campesino support base. The US State Department and other international observers have said the election was clean. The swearing-in ceremony for a new president is scheduled for July 28. (PRI [18], WaPo [19])
