"Coward, delinquent, mafioso," were the kindest accusations levelled against the ousted Peruvian President, Mr Alberto Fujimori, in parliament yesterday, as Mr Valentin Paniagua was confirmed interim president of Peru, replacing Mr Ricardo Marquez, who held the post for just 48 hours.
Mr Marquez, a Fujimori ally, was legally entitled to the job, but US pressure forced him to resign.
This time last week, Mr Paniagua was one of three deputies elected last April for Accion Popular, securing just one per cent of the popular vote. Mr Paniagua, first elected to office in the 1960s, has served twice as a government minister and was head of congress in 1982-1983.
The new president became head of Congress when Ms Martha Hildebrandt, a Fujimori loyalist, was voted out of office last Thursday. He then leapfrogged to the highest political office in the country on Monday night, where he will steer the country to presidential elections next April.
"The army must act prudently or the people of Peru may react with indignation," warned Mr Paniagua, a sign that he intends to subordinate the army to civilian rule. Peru's first lady, Keiko Sofia, Mr Fujimori's daughter, moved out of the government palace on Monday night, taking her stereo, a Garfield doll and two pet poodles.
Meanwhile, Mr Javier Perez de Cuellar, the former UN secretary general, said yesterday he was "surprised" at being named Peru's interim prime minister and added he would return to Lima today to take up the post.
Mr de Cuellar, who has been residing in Paris since being beaten in 1995 presidential elections by Mr Fujimori, said he would be taking an early-morning flight from France today and would arrive late tonight in the Peruvian capital.
Mr de Cuellar was named interim prime minister by Mr Paniagua.