Detectives immediately knew they were dealing with a professional hit. The criminals had riddled the taxi with some 40 bullets, yet stole nothing from the dying driver and passenger.
That passenger, Andrea Vidal, 27, was a slim, photogenic lawyer and former congressional aide. Politicians initially sought to ignore the mushrooming scandal, which Ms Vidal, who was part of the ring, had reportedly been on the point of revealing when she was killed. But public pressure finally forced them to act. Last week, they banned female aides from wearing miniskirts and shorts. One of the various lurid allegations relates to another aide, year-old Isabel Cajo.
She is reported to have been appointed last year at the personal request of then-speaker Alejandro Soto. Yet that forced congress to finally address the issue, this week introducing the miniskirt ban.
The controversy marks a new low for what may already be the least popular legislative body in the world, with an approval rating consistently in single digits. More than half of the members of the single-chamber Congress are currently under criminal investigation for everything from bribery to domestic violence. Since taking office in July , the current Congress has awarded itself pay rises and increased expenses while ignoring pressing social problems, including that 40 per cent of Peruvian toddlers suffer anaemia.
At the same time, legislators have passed laws legal experts warn make it harder to prosecute organised crime. The principal beneficiaries have been the cocaine trade, rampant illegal mining and a booming extortion industry that has led to gangland hits becoming commonplace.
