Former Peruvian president surrenders to US authorities to be extradited

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - The former president of Peru, Alejandro Toledo, turned himself in to US authorities on Friday on charges of corruption in his country.

Toledo, 77, has been wanted by Peruvian justice since 2018 for allegedly having received more than $25 million from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in exchange for help in obtaining public works contracts.

Friday was the deadline for Toledo to surrender to US justice before being extradited to Peru, where prosecutors are seeking to impose a 20-year prison sentence.

Jorge Barata, former director of Odebrecht in Peru, testified before Peruvian prosecutors that the construction company paid $20 million to Toledo in exchange for the award of a section of the Interoceánica Sur highway. The contract to build this road, which links the south of Peru with Brazil, was signed in August 2005.

The former president, who served from 2001 to 2006, denies the accusations and has filed several petitions to block the extradition that Washington authorized in February.

Toledo was detained in California from July 2019 until March 2020, when he was placed under house arrest. After a US court rejected an appeal filed by Toledo to prevent his transfer to Peru, it was determined that the former head of state should be handed over to the California authorities.

This is not the first time that Peruvian former heads of state have gone to jail. Four other ex-presidents are facing prosecution for corruption including Ollanta Humala, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Martin Vizcarra and Pedro Castillo.