Josué, who defends you?, a chronicle by Fernando Vivas about the Ombudsman

But today, the ombudsman head is not in the spotlight for taking on others’ troubles, which is what it was created for, but because of complaints against the management of ombudsman Josué Gutiérrez.

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On Wednesday the 16th, the Comptroller’s Office announced that it has started a ‘collection of information’ about activities of the Ombudsman’s Office, such as the ‘Party of the Year,’ which I am not naming that way, but the entity itself did so in flyers and ticket sales for the big event with Alma Bella and Deyvis Orosco.

Days ago, on “Cuarto Poder,” a report told us that Josué had coincided on official trips abroad with his wife Gladys Ancahuasi. It was not accused that their tickets were paid by the State, but there would have been an irregular transfer of per diems. An ombudsman must be more careful than other officials in these matters.

Gutiérrez was already under the Comptroller’s scrutiny for cases in which he met with people who later received service orders (this in itself is not proof of anything illicit, but it raises control alerts) and the Public Ministry has included him in the investigation against José Antonio Flores, an Ombudsman’s Office official who improperly hired Betbiary Díaz Coral, as she did not meet the profile. Gutiérrez signed the appointment resolution.

In the parliamentary front, Josué faces a recent constitutional complaint from Analy Márquez, from Juntos Por el Perú (JP), for having said, offhandedly, on Exitosa: “If tomorrow Mrs. Keiko Fujimori dissolves Congress, her popularity will calmly rise 20 or 30 points.”

The analysis is not far-fetched, but the mention was very imprudent coming from a required defender of institutionalism. It is true that in the same interview he clarified that he was not inciting dissolution; but that he rhetorically drew the figure revealed some antipathy towards the current Congress. This is mutual when we talk about the left.

From there comes the latest constitutional complaint against him and the motion to remove him from office presented on Thursday, partly because it considers him a traitor to his colorful past. The Attorney General’s Office has joined in asking for explanations.

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He entered the 2011 parliament in the Humala faction and returned in 2021 as an advisor to Perú Libre. Beyond that, those of us who have talked with him find a skilled, talkative, and de-ideologized man as his circumstances dictate.

Josué deserves a very special chapter in the ombudsman history. He became ombudsman by threading finely in 2023. He convinced his new right-wing friends that his old left-wing friends would join consensuses, such as voting for the members of the Constitutional Court even if they did not have their own candidates.

To some extent, he was a promoter of ‘fujicerronismo.’ Already turned ombudsman, he had to organize the contest to appoint the new members of the JNJ (National Justice Board) and the result was an ‘anti-caviar’ group that, if he had premeditated it, he would not have achieved so fiercely.

The right values him so much that it forgives certain extravagances in favor of leftist causes, such as advocating for Vladimir Cerrón and Guillermo Bermejo or filing an unconstitutionality claim before the Constitutional Court against Urgency Decree 010-2025 that establishes the reorganization of Petroperú. In 2024, the ombudsman was so beloved by the congressional majority that they approved a law correcting a regulatory mismatch of the Ombudsman’s Office.

Let me explain: when the mandate of an ombudsman expires, as happened with Jorge Santisteban in 2000, Beatriz Merino in 2010, and Walter Gutiérrez in 2022; he cannot continue in office and must be replaced by his deputy until Congress chooses the successor. That can take years, as happened with Walter Albán, deputy of Santisteban, and Eduardo Vega, deputy of Merino; who were interim for 4 long years until the replacement was appointed. In May 2028, when his mandate expires, Josué will not have to immediately step aside from the Ombudsman’s Office. Thanks to Law 32028, from May 2024, he can stay as long as necessary until Congress appoints his successor.

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