Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori has confirmed she visited the Tomyko spa in the Santa Catalina district on July 11 alongside Argentine businessman Damián Valenzuela Mayer, days after the weekly magazine Hildebrandt en sus Trece first reported the visit.
During a live broadcast on TikTok, Fujimori said she had gone to the hairdresser that day using a car provided by her political party rather than a state vehicle.
She said people had been inventing relationships for her for some time, four or five of them, but that she had already made clear that from July 28 this year, and for the next five years, her commitment was to Peru.
Fujimori also said that during her presidential campaign, three people she referred to only as "Carlos," "Damián" and "Román," whom she described as foreign nationals, had come to Peru to help her. She said she valued the knowledge all of them had generously offered to share during that process.
Minister Describes His Role
Her account matched remarks made earlier by Marco Vinelli, Peru's minister of Agrarian Development and Irrigation, who confirmed in an interview with RPP that Valenzuela Mayer had taken part in the presidential campaign and was one of the people who spoke with Fujimori.
Vinelli also recalled that the Argentine businessman was present at Fujimori's swearing-in ceremony in Congress on July 28.
He explained that a photograph showing him greeting the businessman was taken that day in the chamber's hemicycle, where a group of people had gathered in the center and Valenzuela Mayer introduced some of the guests present. Vinelli said there had been many advisers during the campaign and that he could not confirm Valenzuela Mayer was one of them, although he could say that the president consulted many people.
He added that he could not say what degree of influence the businessman had, since he had only seen him on July 28 and had not spoken with him since.
Who Is Damián Valenzuela Mayer?
Valenzuela Mayer is a 51-year-old Argentine businessman from the province of Tucumán. According to the Hildebrandt en sus Trece report, he is a lawyer and chief executive of the firm Latin America Invest, and describes himself as a "creator of wealth."
The company's website states it has 40 investment directors and works with banks in Monaco, Luxembourg and Switzerland, operating in 10 countries with more than 1,000 clients, according to the same report.
Magazines including Negocios and Bolivia Business have described him as an international financier. He has been photographed with the King of Spain and various right-wing politicians, and has said that his reputation is what he guards most closely.
Fujimori refers to him publicly as "Gerardo." According to Hildebrandt en sus Trece, Valenzuela Mayer has traveled to Lima 11 times, most recently between July 25 and August 1, and before that between July 10 and 17.
Presence at Fujimori's Inauguration
Valenzuela Mayer attended Fujimori's swearing-in ceremony in Congress on July 28, seated on the first floor of the hemicycle alongside Andean parliamentarians. He was photographed by Hildebrandt en sus Trece speaking with Alberto Núñez, president of Spain's Partido Popular, and with María Hayem, El Salvador's minister of economy.
