Peru's First Vice-President, Mr Francisco Tudela, resigned yesterday, citing "deep differences with the government" of President Alberto Fujimori, following the return of his disgraced ex-security chief, Mr Vladimiro Montesinos, earlier in the day.
Mr Montesinos's arrival plunged the country back into political crisis just a month after he fled in the wake of a bribery scandal. The popular vice-president made his resignation known in a public letter sent to the President of Congress, Mr Martha Hildebrandt.
In a development that stunned Peruvians hours earlier, Mr Montesinos had flown into the Pisco air force base, 250 km south of Lima, according to local reports, after Panama refused to grant his asylum request.
Peru's Second Vice-President, Mr Ricardo Marquez, hinted that he too might resign. The return of the much-reviled Mr Montesinos sent trepidation through Peru's fragile political scene.
A close adviser of Mr Fujimori's, and once considered one of the most powerful men in the country, Mr Montesinos fled Peru on September 23rd after a corruption scandal in which he was accused of offering a $15,000 bribe to an opposition deputy to join the pro-government bloc in the legislature. That scandal prompted Mr Fujimori to announce that he would call early elections but not stand as a candidate.
The main opposition leader, Mr Alejandro Toledo, said the former intelligence chief would find "Peru on its feet" to show its disapproval of his return. He has accused the government of `blackmail' in proposing amnesty for army officers accused of human rights violations.