Peruvian President José Jerí ousted over unofficial meetings with Chinese businesspeople

Peruvian President José Jerí has been ousted after being censured by his country's Congress over unofficial meetings with Chinese business people.

Members of the Congress on Tuesday of censured Jerí, in a 75-24 vote that came just four months after he took office as interim president and two months before an expected general election, according to CNN.

Jerí, 39, puroportedly wore a hood in one such unofficial meeting. The political scandal led Peru's attorney general's office to open an investigation against Jerí.

“The presiding officers declare the office of President of the Congress of the Republic vacant, and consequently, the office of President of the Republic is vacant,” said Fernando Rospigliosi, acting head of Congress.

A legislative vote is set for Wednesday, in which the various political blocs will meet to agree on a list of candidates for President of Congress, and that will determine the next interim president.

Jerí is Peru's eighth president in the last 15 years, as he assumed the presidency in October after becoming Speaker of Congress when President Dina Boluarte was impeached. Boluarte had been president since the 2022 impeachment and arrest of Pedro Castillo, who served for a year and a half.

Jerí has been accused of misconduct after holding unofficial meetings with Zhihua Yang, a Chinese business man who holds a state-granted concession for one of his companies.

He has denied any wrongdoing, calling the meetings “circumstantial,” and denied that the business man had requested any kind of favor or support from him.

The first meeting, which was held at a Chinese restaurant in Lima in December, sparked controversy after photos showed Jerí entering the establishment wearing a hood. He had another meeting with Yang last month at a Chinese goods store, where he arrived wearing sunglasses. Neither meeting was registered in the presidential records.

Last month, Jerí acknowledged the meetings took place and apologized for how they had been conducted.

“I admit my mistake and publicly apologize for entering the way I did, hooded, and for how this has given rise to suspicions and doubts about my behavior and generated the creation of all kinds of unreal stories, which have no basis whatsoever,” Jerí said.

Yang and the presidential office didn't immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment.