Overview
- New U.S. envoy Bernie Navarro posted an embassy X photo of himself and President José Jerí eating hamburgers with the caption in Spanish, “Cambiando el menú.”
- The message was widely read as a pointed reference to “Chifagate,” the probe into Jerí’s off-the-record encounters with Chinese businessmen Zhihua Yang and Ji Wu Xiaodong.
- Former diplomats and analysts criticized the public post as politically inappropriate, saying it turned a protocol contact into a public signal and questioned the meeting’s handling.
- Congress’s Oversight Commission has sought testimony from the Chinese businessmen as prosecutorial and legislative investigations into the unregistered meetings continue.
- Coverage situates the episode within U.S.–China competition in Peru, noting China’s outsized trade role and concurrent talks to acquire 24 fighter jets through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales system.