Nadine Heredia, the former first lady, has been being investigated because of her involvement in the “Gasoducto Sur Peruano” case. The recent order from the prosecution for 36 months of preventive prison was rejected by the Poder Judicial this past August 7.
The “Gasoducto Sur Peruano” is a legal case regarding the alleged events of corruption from 2006-2016. The “Gasoducto Sur Peruano” was a multi-million dollar construction project which would have allowed many cities in the south of Peru to have access to domestic gas. This project had to go out to bid to decide which construction company would be awarded the contract for this project. However, since this project was so huge, two main consortiums were formed, one of which was formed by Odebrecht and Enagas. After each consortium gave their proposals, the Odebrecht/Enagas consortium was declared the winner, and the project began.
However, after a corruption and money laundering investigation in Brazil, the “Lava Jato” investigation in Peru began in mid-2013. Odebrecht admitted that in order to win the bid they hired lawyers from the other consortium and an executive from the Peruvian government so that they could get information about competitor proposals and the position of the government.
Nadine Heredia comes into the picture because she is suspected of meeting with executives from Odebrecht to discuss the “importance of this project”. However, according to the prosecutors, Heredia had illegally helped Odebrecht to allow them to win the bid. For this reason, she is now being charged with collusion, and illicit association to commit crimes.
During the past week, the prosecutor on the case, Geovana Mori has stated that “(...) she is accused of being the author of the crime of illicit association to commit a crime and aggravated collusion, in addition to being the leader of a criminal organization that was enlisted in the Central Government whose objective was to favor Brazilian companies for the Gasoducto Andino del Sur".
However, the preliminary investigation judge on this case, Juan Carlos Sánchez Balbuena, stated that the prosecutor's argument was weak and lacked evidence in order to grant preventive detention. He added that the arguments presented were not "gravely alarming" and thus did not validate preventive detention.
Regardless, Judge Balbuena did state that he would establish limitations against Heredia that included no communication with each other or others investigated in this case (this also included witnesses). He has added that they must pay a guarantee of S / 50 thousand within 10 days and go once a month to carry out a biometric control before the Poder Judicial. However, the investigation continues and until there is a final verdict, there is no way of assessing whether Heredia is innocent or not since the only guide that we can have to assess her innocence are speculations.
However, the real tragedy of the case is not that there could have been preferences but the impact that this case has had on the project itself and the people that should have benefited from this project.
The “Gasoducto Sur Peruano” was supposed to help millions of people have access to domestic gas which could improve their lives radically. Since the project has been abandoned, it is very likely that if a company were to pick this project up again, they would have to start from scratch. Unfortunately, this will slow the social and economic development of Peru and prevent millions of families to get the help they need today. However, one can now only hope that justice is served and the gasoducto finished.
By: Maria Gracia Jimenez
Agurto, Ego. Odebrecht: Poder Judicial Rechazó Prisión Preventiva Contra Nadine Heredia, Luis Miguel Castilla y Eleodoro Mayorga, RPP 7 Aug. 2020,
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Garay, Shirley. “Nadine Heredia: Fiscalía Pide Que Ex Primera Dama Pase Por Examen Médico Para Verificar Que Sufre Hipertensión.” RPP, 5 Aug. 2020,
Gestión, Redacción. “Declaran Infundado Pedido De Prisión Preventiva Contra Heredia, Castilla y Mayorga.” Gestión, Gestión, 7 Aug. 2020,
LR, Política. “Odebrecht: La Historia Del Gasoducto Sur Peruano.” Últimas Noticias Del Perú y El Mundo En Larepublica.pe, LaRepublica.pe, 7 Feb. 2020,
Pacco , Renne Zubieta. “Odebrecht y El Gasoducto: ¿En Qué Consiste La Cláusula Anticorrupción Del Contrato?” El Comercio, 2 July 2020,
Peru21, Redacción. “Juez Concluye Que No Existen Elementos Probatorios Para Enviar a Prisión Preventiva a Nadine Heredia.” Peru21, Peru21, 7 Aug. 2020,
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