Peru’s Congress ousts President Dina Boluarte amid crime crisis, swears in José Jerí as new head of state

Lima, Peru — Peru woke up Friday morning with yet another president. In a late-night session, Congress voted overwhelmingly to remove President Dina Boluarte from office, citing “permanent moral incapacity” amid a worsening wave of organized crime, corruption scandals, and plummeting approval ratings. 

Lawmakers quickly swore in José Jerí, the 38-year-old head of Congress, as the country’s interim president. 

The impeachment marks the third presidential ouster in less than a decade and underscores the deep instability that has plagued the Andean nation since 2016, during which Peru has cycled through seven presidents due to resignations, impeachments, and scandals.

A country paralyzed by crime

Boluarte’s removal came after a surge in homicides, extortions, and contract killings that have paralyzed cities and shaken public confidence. The triggering event was a shooting attack on Wednesday night against the popular cumbia band Agua Marina, which left several people injured. The attack, attributed to criminal extortion groups, became a symbol of the government’s failure to control the country’s spiraling insecurity.

“The main enemy is out there, in the streets, the criminal gangs, the organized crime networks. They are our enemies today, and we must declare war on them,” newly sworn-in President Jerí said in his first speech to the nation.

According to Peru’s national registry, homicides rose by 161 cases in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year. In 2024, the country recorded 2,546 murders, a figure that Human Rights Watch has described as part of a “dangerous and accelerating trend” of violent deaths across Latin America.

Transport workers, among the most targeted by extortion gangs, had launched nationwide strikes earlier this week demanding protection. Meanwhile, youth-led protests — especially from the “Generation Z” movement — filled Lima’s streets for weeks, calling for Boluarte and Congress to resign.

The vote and Jerí’s rise

On Thursday night, 122 lawmakers voted in favor of four impeachment motions citing corruption, lack of leadership, and failure to address the crime crisis. Boluarte was summoned to appear before Congress at 11:30 p.m. but refused to attend, calling the process unconstitutional.

Within hours, Jerí took the oath of office, pledging to serve until July 2026, when the next presidential term officially ends. General elections are scheduled for April 2026.

Outside Congress, dozens of people waved Peruvian flags and cheered Boluarte’s fall. “Cae Dina. Fuera pacto mafioso” (“Dina falls. Down with the corrupt pact”), read one sign held by a protester.

Scandals and decline

Boluarte, who had taken power in December 2022 after her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, was ousted after attempting to dissolve Congress, quickly became one of Peru’s most unpopular leaders. Despite initial backing from right-wing parties — including Keiko Fujimori’s Fuerza Popular and Rafael López Aliaga’s Renovación Popular — she lost support as corruption allegations piled up.

She was accused of accepting undeclared luxury watches and jewelry in a case dubbed “Rolexgate”, and of abandoning her post to undergo cosmetic surgery without notifying Congress. Her brother, Nicanor Boluarte, remains a fugitive, wanted for alleged influence peddling.

Boluarte denied any wrongdoing, claiming political persecution: “I never thought of myself, only of the 34 million Peruvians,” she said in a televised message after her ouster, which was cut short on the state TV channel.

A cycle of instability

Peru’s presidency has become one of the most precarious in the region. Since 2016, three presidents have been impeached, two resigned, and one completed an interim term. With Jerí now in power, analysts warn that the political turbulence is far from over.

Jerí, a lawyer with limited political experience and no solid congressional bloc, faces the same challenges that toppled his predecessors: public distrust, economic slowdown, and rampant violence.

“Without broad political alliances and real action against organized crime, Jerí’s presidency could be as short-lived as those before him,” said political analyst Rosa María Palacios on Canal N.

As the country braces for elections next year, Peruvians once again find themselves led by an unelected president, amid one of the deepest crises of legitimacy in the country’s democratic history.

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المصدر: Peru Reports