Vice President Dina Boluarte swears in as Peru’s recent leader after Congress removes President Pedro Castillo in Lima, Peru on December 07, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Peru swore in a recent president on Wednesday after a day of political drama that saw leftist leader Pedro Castillo arrested after his ousting from office in an impeachment trial following his last-ditch bid to cling to power by dissolving Congress.
Ignoring Castillo’s try to shut down the legislature by decree, lawmakers moved ahead with a previously planned impeachment trial, with 101 votes in favor of removing him, six against and 10 abstentions.
The result was announced to loud cheers, and the legislature called on Vice President Dina Boluarte to take office.
The 60-year-old Boluarte was sworn in as president through 2026, making her the primary woman to guide Peru. She called for a political truce after months of instability, including two prior impeachment attempts, and said a recent cabinet inclusive of all political stripes can be formed.
She lambasted Castillo’s move to dissolve Congress as an “attempted coup.”
The general public ministry said on Wednesday evening that Castillo had been detained and accused of the crimes of “rise up” and “conspiracy” for breaking the constitutional order.
Television outlets showed Castillo leaving a police station and reported he can be moved to a police-run prison.
Castillo earlier had said he would temporarily shut down Congress, launch a “government of exception,” and call for brand spanking new legislative elections.
Supporters of Peruvian former President Pedro Castillo clash with the police to succeed in the Lima Prefecture, where Castillo is under detention, in Lima, on December 7, 2022.
Ernesto Benavides | Afp | Getty Images
That sparked resignations by his ministers amid indignant accusations from each opposition politicians and his allies that he was attempting a coup. The police and armed forces warned him that the route he had taken to attempt to dissolve Congress was unconstitutional and the police said that they had “intervened” to meet their duties.
Some small street protests took place. In Lima, dozens of individuals waving Peruvian flags cheered Castillo’s downfall, while elsewhere within the capital and in the town of Arequipa his supporters marched and clashed with police. One held an indication saying: “Pedro, the persons are with you.”
Dozens of cops with shields and plastic helmets were deployed across the Government Palace and Congress in Lima, which were surrounded by metal barricades.
U.S. welcomes recent government
Peru has passed through years of political turmoil, with multiple leaders accused of corruption, frequent impeachment attempts, and presidential terms cut short.
The most recent legal battle began in October, when the prosecutor’s office filed a constitutional grievance against Castillo for allegedly leading “a criminal organization” to make the most of state contracts and for obstructing investigations.
Congress summoned Castillo last week to answer accusations of “moral incapacity” to control.
Castillo has called the allegations “slander” by groups looking for “to make the most and seize the ability that the people took from them on the polls.”
The 53-year-old leftist teacher-turned-president had survived two previous attempts to question him since he began his term in July 2021.
But after Wednesday’s try to dissolve Congress his allies abandoned him and regional powers underlined the necessity for democratic stability.
“The USA categorically rejects any extra-constitutional act by President Castillo to stop Congress from fulfilling its mandate,” the U.S. ambassador to Peru, Lisa Kenna, wrote on Twitter.
In a while Wednesday, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department welcomed Boluarte’s appointment in a press release, adding that the USA would “support Peru under the unity government President Boluarte pledged to form.”
The turmoil rattled markets on this planet’s number two copper producer, though analysts said that the removal of Castillo, who has battled a hostile Congress since taking power, could eventually be positive.
“Peru’s financial markets will suffer, but won’t collapse, thanks mainly to solid domestic fundamentals,” said Andres Abadia at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
