Peruvian slaps lawmaker on live TV as politicians draw public ire
Reuters Staff
(In 1st paragraph, corrects day of week to Wednesday, not Tuesday)
By Mitra Taj
LIMA, March 28 (Reuters) - How unpopular are elected officials in Peru, where a sprawling corruption scandal recently toppled a sitting president? On Wednesday, a woman on the street slapped a ruling party lawmaker in the face as he took questions from journalists.
“How much money do you have?” the woman asked ruling party Congressman Guido Lombardi, interrupting him as he spoke on live TV about a recent meeting with the new president.
“A lot!” Lombardi replied before the woman hit him in front of news cameras, wagging a finger as she walked away.
Lombardi brushed off the assault as the act of crazy woman. But it was also a stinging reminder of how angry Peruvians have grown at politicians since Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht admitted to securing lucrative contracts in Peru by bribing high-ranking officials.
More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/peru-politics-odd/refile-peruvian-slaps-lawmaker-on-live-tv-as-politicians-draw-public-ire-idUSL1N1RA26O?rpc=401&
Video of this historic slap heard around Peru at this link:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elpopular.pe%2Factualidad-y-policiales%2F2018-03-28-mujer-agredio-congresista-guido-lombardi-cuando-declaraba-la-prensa-video&edit-text=&act=url&act=url