Peru's Congress unanimously voted to oust President Dina Boluarte just after midnight on Friday, swiftly swearing in 38-year-old congressional leader José Jerí as her successor. The move, fueled by widespread fury over a relentless crime wave and a cascade of corruption scandals, marks the seventh presidential change in Peru since 2016, underscoring the country's fragile democratic institutions and deepening public disillusionment. Boluarte, whose approval ratings had plummeted to an abysmal 2-4%—making her one of the world's most reviled leaders—was removed on charges of "moral incapacity," a constitutional clause that has become a go-to weapon in Lima's cutthroat political arena.
The impeachment process accelerated with breathtaking speed, triggered mere hours earlier when cross-party blocs tabled motions citing the government's failure to curb escalating gang violence that's terrorizing streets and strangling the economy. A horrific shooting at a Wednesday concert in a military-owned venue—where members of beloved cumbia band Agua Marina were wounded—served as the final straw, amplifying calls for accountability and exposing the stark vulnerabilities in Peru's security apparatus. Lawmakers from even traditionally supportive right-wing factions, including Rafael López's Popular Renewal and Keiko Fujimori's Popular Force—both eyeing the April 2026 presidential race—abandoned Boluarte, uniting 118 of 130 votes in a rare show of bipartisan resolve. Her absence from a mandatory late-Thursday congressional defense hearing only sealed her fate, as frustrated legislators bypassed formalities and charged ahead with the ouster.
As Jerí, a fresh-faced lawyer from the conservative Somos Perú party who assumed the congressional presidency in July, donned the presidential sash amid thundering applause, he wasted no time laying out an aggressive agenda. "The main enemy is out there on the streets: criminal gangs," the youthful leader proclaimed, his voice echoing through the hallowed halls of Congress. "We must declare war on crime." At 38, Jerí joins an elite club of young global statesmen, but his tenure—set to bridge until the April 2026 elections—will be anything but smooth, shadowed by his own past rape allegations and the Herculean task of restoring order to a nation gripped by extortion rackets, illegal mining, and brazen assassinations. Supporters outside the legislative building erupted in jubilation, waving flags, blasting music, and dancing in the streets, while speculation swirled around Boluarte's next moves, including unconfirmed rumors of an asylum bid at the Ecuadorian embassy.
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In a somber televised address from the presidential palace mere minutes after her removal, the 63-year-old Boluarte reflected on her tumultuous 34-month reign with a mix of defiance and resignation. "The same Congress that swore me in late 2022 has now voted me out, with all the implications for our democracy's stability," she stated, reiterating her pleas for national unity amid the chaos. Boluarte, who rocketed to power in December 2022 after her mentor, leftist President Pedro Castillo, was arrested for attempting a congressional coup, vehemently denied allegations of profiting illicitly from office. Yet her administration was dogged by "Rolexgate"—a probe into her undeclared hoard of luxury timepieces and jewels—along with accusations of human rights abuses during the deadly 2022-2023 protests that claimed over 60 lives, mostly in Indigenous Andean regions. Rights groups lambasted her security forces for excessive brutality, while her controversial decision in July 2025 to double her own salary amid economic woes only fueled the fire.
This latest upheaval in Peru's revolving-door presidency—where three former leaders currently languish in prison on corruption charges—exposes the deep rot in a system plagued by impunity and elite infighting. Boluarte's ouster reverses Congress's earlier stonewalling of multiple impeachment bids, none of which advanced to debate, highlighting how shifting alliances can topple even the most entrenched figures. As Jerí pledges a "transitional government" focused on sovereignty and stability, handing reins to the 2026 election winner, analysts warn of potential street unrest and economic tremors in a country already battered by inflation and inequality. For everyday Peruvians, weary of the palace intrigues, the real test lies not in who wears the sash, but whether this "war on crime" delivers tangible safety—or just another verse in the endless saga of scandal and strife.
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