Peru’s highly unpopular president is impeached due to a crime wave

Lima, Peru Peru’s Congress voted unanimously early Friday to remove deeply unpopular President Dina Boluarte from office amid a crime wave sweeping the South American country.

Lawmakers held an impeachment debate and trial late Thursday in the 130-member Congress after voting to accept four motions to vote on removing 63-year-old Bolwarty from office over what they said was her government’s inability to stop the crime.

They requested that Bulwarti appear before them shortly before midnight to defend herself, but when she did not appear they immediately voted to oust her. In short order, 124 lawmakers voted just after midnight to impeach Bolwarty. There were no votes against this effort.

This shocking turn of events came just hours after a shooting at a concert in the capital, sparking anger at the crime ravaging the country.

In contrast to the eight previous attempts to impeach her, nearly all legislative factions expressed support for the latest requests.

Bolwarty took office in December 2022 after Parliament used the same mechanism to impeach her predecessor.

Congress President Jose Jiri, a 38-year-old lawyer, was sworn in early Friday as interim president to complete Boluarte’s term. Elections are scheduled to be held next April, and Bolwarti’s term is scheduled to end on July 28, 2026.

After Friday’s vote, Bolwarty spoke on national television, recounting her administration’s accomplishments. “I wasn’t thinking about myself, I was thinking about Peruvians,” she said.

Minutes after her speech, the broadcast cut to show Geary being sworn in.

Jerry said he would defend Peru’s sovereignty and hand power to the winner of the April elections.

Peru’s first female leader was the sixth leader in less than a decade. The normal presidential term is five years.

Boluarte took power in Peru in 2022 to complete the term of then-President Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office just two years into his five-year term after trying to dissolve the legislature to avoid his removal. She served as Castillo’s vice president before becoming president.

There were more than 500 protests demanding her resignation in the first three months of her presidency.

Amid the scandals that have plagued it, its administration’s inability to address persistent crimes in Peru has been its undoing.

Bolwart received approval ratings of between 2% and 4% amid accusations that she illegally benefited from her office and was behind deadly crackdowns on protests supporting her predecessor, Reuters news agency reported. She denies any wrongdoing.

Agence France-Presse notes that it has been the subject of multiple investigations, including its alleged failure to advertise gifts of luxury jewelry and watches, a scandal dubbed “Rolexgate.” She also gave herself a big pay raise in July.

On Wednesday, she partly blamed the crime situation on immigrants living in the country illegally.

She said during a military ceremony: “This crime has been brewing for decades, and was reinforced by illegal immigration, which previous administrations were unable to defeat.” “Instead, they opened the doors of our borders and allowed criminals to enter everywhere… without any restrictions,” he added.

Official figures show that 6,041 people were killed between January and mid-August, the highest number during the same period since 2017. Meanwhile, extortion complaints totaled 15,989 between January and July, an increase of 28% compared to the same period in 2024.

The country’s latest presidential crisis erupted after a man opened fire and injured five people on Wednesday during a concert by Peru’s most popular cumbia band, Agua Marina.

Prime Minister Eduardo Arana on Thursday defended Boluarte during a hearing focused on the crime before Parliament, but that was not enough to dissuade lawmakers from pursuing proposals to remove the president from office.

Arana told lawmakers that Parliament’s “concerns cannot be resolved by addressing the impeachment motion, let alone approving it.” He added, “We do not adhere to our positions. We are here, and we knew from the beginning that our first day here could be our last day in office.”