Who is Lilia Paredes, the wife of former President Pedro Castillo who was granted asylum in Mexico (and why she is being investigated in Peru)

“There is no such thing as political persecution,” said Peruvian Foreign Minister Cecilia Gervasi in a meeting without questions. But he issued a warning that Peru could, at any time, request Paredes’ extradition if the situation required it.

Because the former First Lady, 49, is the thing In a preparatory investigation “as a co-author of the crime of criminal organization”.

And not only her. Alsothree for him sixhthe brothers.

The accusations Paredes rejects, despite his insistence on his respect for justice and his willingness to cooperate with it.

Lilia Paredes was born in April 1973 in Anjea, in the province of Chota (Cajamarca), one of the poorest provinces in the country.

In the local media they describe it as Craftsman, weaver and farmer. And with emphasis: Religion, because his family belongs to Nazarene Christian Church.

He met Castillo in elementary school, and after a few years without seeing each other, they resumed contact in secondary education. They have been married for 21 years.

Until Pedro Castillo was elected President of Peru in 2021, he lived in rural Chugur, seven hours from Lima.

There she worked as a teacher and engaged in agricultural work and cattle breeding.

“We will never forget where we came from,” he said at the local church shortly before leaving for the Peruvian capital.

Back in Lima, Paredes started his role as First lady with works of a social nature. He was also in charge of the Spouse Support Office of the President.

Unlike other first ladies [de Perú]And the lily He had a low profileAnd the He wasn’t exposed muchgeneralThis is what Peruvian journalist Martin Ripple told BBC Mundo.

It has been, he says, Silence has no attractive effect.Nadyn Heredia, for example, had in his day “the power behind the power of Ollanta Humala”.

Very active in networking He has not yet removed from his Twitter profile paper the first lady of the nation.

Ripple explains that Paredes wasn’t on the press radar until the courts called her to testify in corruption cases in which, in principle, only one of her sisters, Yennefer, was involved.

In August, Paredes was referred to by a prosecutor from the Special Anti-Corruption Team Part of a network charged with granting public works for the benefit of his family along with his brothers and businessman Hugo Espino.

The coordinator is Inside the criminal organization headed by Pedro Castillo The plot is linked to the dismissal of public works by the Department of Housing, whose former owner Gayner Alvarado is on the run.

After a hearing in October where prosecutors said if Paredes was found guilty he could receive a sentence of between 8 and 10 years with four months in actual prison, The judge imposed a series of restrictions on Former first lady.

Specifically, to undergo monthly scrutiny before the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Report their activities and not be absent from their place of residence except with judicial permission. All this for 36 months.

So, when Paredes applied for asylum in Mexico after her husband was arrested, it was not clear if she could, in fact, leave Peru for the North American country.

Prior to the Declaration of Public Safety issued by the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he The Appeals Chamber of the Supreme National Court of Justice overturned the restrictions it had walls.

His asylum is causing some controversy [en Perú] From the point of view of that The release of a person being investigated for corruption. But she is the mother of minors, if she gives them asylum to get out of an aggressive, politically polarized environment, it is very difficult for them not to be with either of their parents,” says the Peruvian journalist.

Paredes is not the only one in her family involved in the investigation known in Peru as the “Anguilla case”.

The prosecution also pointed out Walter and David, Lilia’s brothers, for money laundering and criminal organization crimes.

In the case of David, 32, the use of a company to prepare the technical file for some works in Chhota County is being investigated. Walter, 40, is targeted for allegedly making payments for the same purpose.

And both, according to last October’s session, They could face up to 16 years in prison..

Until this week, David and Walter They had the same restrictions as their sister, LiliaThat is, the monthly oversight before the Public Prosecution to report their activities and not to be absent from their residence except with the permission of the judge.

In addition, they were forbidden to go to the Government Palace, the headquarters of the Ministries of Transport and Housing, as well as the various municipalities where these offenses were allegedly committed.

But, as with the previous first lady, the courts have overturned these restrictions.

Of the Paredes siblings, the youngest is Yennefer, as Castillos’ daughter. The 26-year-old grew up with the couple Since I was a kid.

For the Peruvian Public Prosecutor’s Office, it is assumed that Yennefer played a different role in the “Anguilla Affair” plot, specifically, one of lobby.

According to the prosecution, it was she who allegedly Appointing different mayors with the aim of accelerating projects in their municipalities and linking them with different owners of shell companiesIt was created and managed by people close to former President Castillo to obtain public works contracts.

Safeguards against Yennefer have gone so far, and in August a judge ordered her 30-month remand while the investigation continued.

Yennefer turned herself in After the authorities searched his house and the palace of President RAfter the Public Prosecution Service published a controversial case vYuAllah Where Castillo’s sister-in-law was seen taking steps to build a sewage business in a town even though she did not hold any public office.

It was Confined to the women’s prison in Coriles until Octoberwhen the judge annulled the procedure and she was released with restrictions, which include, for the time being, not leaving her home without notifying the Public Prosecution Service and appearing immediately before the authorities if asked to do so.

In the case of Lilia Paredes, which is still under preliminary investigation, the alleged crime could have taken place in “apparent collusion with small businessmen and local rulers” in eastern and northern Peru, in areas close to Cajamarca, “areas for which it was transferred Ripple says.

This type of Plots will already given in the higher levels of Peru.

“Nadine Heredia (Ollanta Humala’s wife) is being tried for corruption, she was already being tried in the oral phase and was also in remand; Eliane KarpThe First Lady, Alejandro Toledo, is also being investigated for corruption and is waiting to see if the request for extradition from Peru to the United States, where they both live, has been resolved,” Ripple explains.

“It is nothing new that the presidential family and presidents are in situations like this“Confirms.

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