BUENOS AIRES — Peruvian President Alan Garcia accepted the resignation of his entire Cabinet on Friday amid a sweeping bribery scandal that has rocked the government of a major U.S. ally.
As the corruption case was unfolding, authorities also said Friday that an attack by leftist rebels on a rural military convoy killed at least 14 soldiers and civilians, the deadliest such strike in years.
Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo offered his resignation along with 14 other Cabinet officers as allegations emerged that officials of the ruling party had solicited bribes from a European firm in exchange for lucrative energy contracts. The case prompted Congress to launch an investigation of all concessions granted in the burgeoning gas and petroleum sectors.
"In no way will we be an obstacle for continued growth and all that is good for the fatherland," Del Castillo, Garcia's top aide, said in offering to step down.
It was not clear when Del Castillo and the other Cabinet members would be replaced or whether some would return to their posts. Del Castillo has denied any wrongdoing.
Leaked audiotapes detailing the alleged payoff scheme have forced the resignation of the former minister of mines and energy, Juan Valdivia, as well as two other officials.
Garcia, a onetime leftist who became a free-trade champion and darling of the Bush administration, was considering how to temper popular outrage over the scandal, the deepest crisis since Garcia took office in July 2006. It is his second turn as president, after a 1985-90 administration that ended in economic turmoil and rampant guerrilla warfare.
Even before the bribery scandal broke last weekend on a television news broadcast, polls showed Garcia's government dipping below 20% in popularity.
Many Peruvians are fed up with what they view as endemic corruption and the failure of the country's rapid economic growth to stem poverty, surveys show. Strikes and marches by teachers, farmers and doctors, among others, regularly paralyze public services and roads.
Peru, a major mining nation, has benefited from the worldwide boom in the demand for metals and other commodities. It saw economic growth last year of 9%, one of the highest rates in the hemisphere. But the current global economic crisis has prompted fears of a slowdown, and the Lima stock market suspended trading temporarily Friday.
