Peru's Minister of Health, Luis Dyer, said Argentine businessman Damián Valenzuela Mayer has no influence over President Keiko Fujimori's government, describing a magazine report on the pair's relationship as nothing more than salon gossip.
Dyer made the comments during an interview on the program Sin Rodeos on Sunday, August 23, days after Fujimori confirmed she had visited the Tomyko spa together with Valenzuela Mayer on July 11.
Dyer said he had known Valenzuela Mayer since the presidential campaign, just as he had known Román Cendoya and Carlos Díaz. He said that beyond the term adviser, he considered himself someone who handled the technical, numbers-focused side of things, while people like Valenzuela Mayer had acted more as counselors who shared their experience. He stressed to the public that Valenzuela had no influence whatsoever on the current government.
He added that the counselors, including the Argentine businessman, had supported the Fujimorista campaign on a voluntary, unpaid basis, saying they had always been open about that arrangement.
Dyer said he could personally vouch that Valenzuela Mayer no longer worked for or advised Fujimori. He said that in cabinet meetings and meetings held at the Government Palace, he no longer saw Díaz, Cendoya or Valenzuela, and that the president made her decisions on her own.
Car provided by Fuerza Popular
Dyer also addressed the vehicle Fujimori used to travel to the hair salon, saying it had been provided by Fuerza Popular, the party she leads, although state security had escorted her to the location.
Notarial letter to Hildebrandt en sus Trece
Dyer said Valenzuela Mayer would send a notarial letter to the weekly magazine Hildebrandt en sus Trece, which published the report on his relationship with Fujimori. According to Dyer, Valenzuela Mayer maintains he has never been sentenced by any court in the world, and had sent him that information so he could also clarify the matter publicly.
"Salon gossip"
Asked again about the report showing Fujimori and Valenzuela Mayer together at a spa in Lima's La Victoria district, Dyer said people should be serious about the matter. He said that, in his view, what was being shown was nothing more than salon gossip, and that it was overshadowing the work the government was doing.
Fujimori leads Fuerza Popular, the party she founded, and Dyer heads Peru's Ministry of Health, known as Minsa. Hildebrandt en sus Trece is a Peruvian weekly news magazine known for investigative reporting.
