 In March 2001, Pérez Balladares' former foreign minister, Ricardo Alberto Arias, forced out Gorriti and was elected "La Prensa"'s new president by a majority of shareholders.The Committee to Protect Journalists, which had awarded Gorriti its International Press Freedom Award for his work with the paper, called the election, and the resignations and demotions of investigative staff that followed, a "boardroom coup" that left "the once feisty paper a shadow of its former self".After leaving Panama, Gorriti returned to Peru, working for the daily newspaper "Peru21" as well as becoming the journalist in residence at the Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL).