Peru New President?

On Monday, Peru’s congress voted to remove Pedro Castillo from office and replace him with the vice president, Dina Boluarte. Castillo’s term only lasted about a year and a half, after he was recently impeached for trying to dissolve Peru’s Congress in face of the impeachment. Peruvian citizens are very upset about the way Castillo has been treated, and have been protesting since the impeachment. These protests are currently most prominent in the city of Andahuaylas, Peru. So far, seven people have died during these protests, including a 17 year old named Beckham Romario Quispe Garfias. On Monday, Alfredo Rodriguez Ballon Airport was temporarily closed due to the protests. This airport is located in Peru’s largest Southern city, Arequipa. According to Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communications, protestors destroyed security infrastructure and set fire to a security gate.

Dina Boluarte is officially Peru’s first female president, and she stated Wednesday that she’d be serving for three years, until the election in April of 2024, which was originally supposed to take place in 2026. Boluarte is Peru’s sixth leader in the last five years. Peru’s violent backlash for Boluarte’s unexpected presidency has sent the country into a state of emergency as civilians are continuing to be hospitalized amid the deadly protests. Castillo, who has been detained since his impeachment, stated in a handwritten note that Boluarte’s early election was a “dirty game” and described her as a “usurper.” The leftist governments of Mexico, Columbia, and Argentina all are in full support of Castillo, and issued a joint statement calling on Peru to respect the rights of Castillo. Peru’s Foreign Affairs Ministry quickly rejected the position of the neighboring nation, stating that this issue had nothing to do with them. It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out.