Peru's Congress impeaches president, replaces with congressional leader

Peru's Congress on Friday impeached President Dina Boluarte, removing her from office, and replaced her with the leader of the legislature, 38-year-old lawyer José Jerí.

After voting to accept four requests for a vote to remove Boluarte from office over what they said was her government’s inability to reduce crime, legislators set up a debate and impeachment trial late Thursday in the 130-member unicameral Congress, according to the Associated Press.

The lawmakers requested that Boluarte appear before them shortly before midnight to defend herself, but after she did not show up, they immediately voted to oust her. Just after midnight on Friday, 124 lawmakers voted to impeach Boluarte, with none voting against.

Since taking office in December 2022, Boluarte has faced eight other attempts to remove her, but only this one had almost all legislative factions in support for the latest requests.

Boluarte spoke on national television after the vote, recounting her administration’s achievements.

“I have not thought of myself, but rather of Peruvians,” Boluarte said.

The broadcast was interrupted minutes into her speech to show Jerí’s swearing in.

Jer will  serve out Boluarte’s term, which will end on July 28, 2026. Elections are scheduled for April.

Boluarte, Peru’s first female president, was the country's sixth leader in just under a decade. A presidential term is supposed to be for five years.

She became president to finish the term of then-President Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office just two years into his five-year term after attempting to dissolve the legislature to avoid his own removal. Boluarte was Castillo’s vice president.

In the first three months of Boluarte's presidency, there were more than 500 protests demanding her resignation.

She partially blamed illegal immigration for the crime problem.

According to official figures, 6,041 people were killed between January and mid-August, which is the highest number it has been since the same period in 2017. There was also a 28% increase in extortion complaints, totaling 15,989, between January and July, compared to the same period last year.

The presidential crisis began after a man opened fire and injured five people on Wednesday during a concert of one of Peru’s most popular cumbia groups, Agua Marina.

Prime Minister Eduardo Arana on Thursday defended Boluarte during a parliamentary hearing on crime, but it was not enough to dissuade lawmakers from pushing to remove the president from office.

“Parliament’s concerns are not resolved by addressing a request for impeachment, much less by approving it,” Arana said. “We are not clinging to our positions. We are here, and we knew from the beginning that our first day here could also be our last day in office.”