Overview
- Labor Minister Freddy Solano González said Monday that no state resources were used to pay for the two daughters of President José María Balcázar to travel to the Vatican.
- Sunday investigative program Cuarto Poder reported that the president’s daughters travelled with a delegation and that First Lady Blanca Nelly Quiroz arranged the trip, a claim repeated by multiple outlets.
- The delegation reportedly included ministers, government officials and security personnel and was linked to planning for Pope León XIV’s scheduled visit to Peru in the first half of November.
- Solano delivered his statement immediately after presenting a new regulation to protect the labor rights of workers diagnosed with cancer, and he urged the public to stop circulating what he called unfounded rumors.
- The government’s denial may calm immediate political criticism but the media report and the high public interest in use of public funds make further documentation or transparency likely to be requested by critics and watchdogs.