It’s been a tough week for the president of Peru.
In just a matter of days… Pedro Castillo was removed as president after a speedy impeachment trial– and later arrested. The left-wing leader announced on Wednesday that he was dissolving the congress, introducing a curfew, and using emergency powers to call new elections.
The move was condemned by the constitutional court as a “coup d’etat” and legislators soon gathered and overwhelmingly voted in favour of removing Castillo. The former president was later arrested and accused of the crimes of “rebellion” and “conspiracy” for breaking the constitutional order. Hours after the impeachment, vice president Dina Boluarte was sworn in as Peru’s new president. Castillo previously survived two impeachment attempts since he came to office in July 2021.
Last December, his government was accused of “unlawful financing”, and then in march congress tried to impeach him again for “permanent moral incapacity”, a term that lacks definition and which congress has used more than half a dozen times since 2017 to try to remove presidents.
