{"id":28247,"date":"2022-12-07T23:55:43","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T23:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=28247"},"modified":"2022-12-07T23:55:45","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T23:55:45","slug":"peru-president-castillo-is-impeached-and-replaced-by-dina-boluarte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2022\/12\/07\/peru-president-castillo-is-impeached-and-replaced-by-dina-boluarte\/","title":{"rendered":"Peru President Castillo is impeached and replaced by Dina Boluarte"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Peru\u2019s congress has removed President Pedro Castillo from office after he announced the dissolution of the legislature and the installation of a \u201cgovernment of exception\u201d \u2013 just hours before he was due to face an impeachment vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country\u2019s national police tweeted on Wednesday that \u201cformer president\u201d Pedro Castillo had been detained, shortly after congress voted to remove him. In a photograph tweeted by the police, which was later erased, Castillo was seen sitting inside the station surrounded by officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vote came after Castillo ordered a night-time curfew and the reorganisation of the judiciary and prosecutor\u2019s office, which is investigating him for alleged corruption and influence trafficking \u2013 charges which he denies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castillo\u2019s vice-president, Dina Boluarte, described the move as a\u00a0coup in attempt, and hours later was sworn in as the new president, becoming the first female head of state in Peru\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boluarte called for a political truce and the installation of a national unity government. \u201cWhat I ask for is a space, a time to rescue the country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day of high drama put an end to Castillo\u2019s tumultuous 17 months in power, which has already seen five cabinets, more than 80 ministers, six criminal investigations and two failed attempts to impeach him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a televised speech, Castillo said he would temporarily shut down congress, launch a \u201cgovernment of exception\u201d to rule by decree and called for new legislative elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dina
Dina Boluarte is sworn in after Castillo\u2019s removal.Photograph: Sebastian Casta\u00f1eda\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The move immediately prompted mass resignations from the cabinet, and accusations that Castillo had attempted to seize power illegally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI strongly condemn this coup d\u2019\u00e9tat and call on the international community to assist in the democratic re-establishment of democracy in Peru,\u201d\u00a0tweeted\u00a0the foreign minister, C\u00e9sar Landa, as he announced his resignation. \u201cCastillo took this decision without my knowledge or support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castillo\u2019s bid to avoid an impeachment vote swiftly turned into an own goal as the armed forces and the police withdrew their support, saying, in a joint statement, that Castillo\u2019s move was \u201ccontrary to the established constitutional order\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Peru\u2019s constitutional court called Castillo\u2019s decision to dissolve congress \u201ca coup\u201d and said the leader was no longer in charge of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castillo\u2019s announcement prompted comparisons with the notorious \u201cautogolpe\u201d or self-coup of April 1992, in which then-president Alberto Fujimori dissolved congress and sent soldiers and tanks on to the streets of Lima.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat has happened in Peru is a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat,\u201d said Fernando Tuesta, a political science professor at Lima\u2019s Pontifical Catholic University. \u201cNothing announced by former president Pedro Castillo is allowed by the constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Embassy in Lima condemned Castillo\u2019s move. \u201cThe United States emphatically urges President Castillo to reverse his attempt to close Congress and allow democratic institutions in Peru to work according to the constitution,\u201d the embassy said in a\u00a0tweet. \u201cWe encourage the Peruvian public to stay calm during this uncertain time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico\u2019s president Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador called for \u201cdemocratic stability for the benefit of the people\u201d. In a string of tweets, the leftist leader said that an atmosphere of \u201cconfrontation and hostility\u201d had led Castillo to take decisions that ultimately served his opponents, and led to his removal from office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diego Almagro, secretary general of the Organisation of American States, said the constitutional order had been disrupted in Peru and\u00a0tweeted\u00a0his \u201csupport for \u201cdemocracy, peace and institutionality in Peru and the urgent need to restore the democratic path in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Congress rejoicing Castillo\u2019s fall, though most of the country has remained calm throughout the rapid succession of the day\u2019s events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castillo became president winning by the narrowest of margins in June 2021, shaking up the country\u2019s entrenched class system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former primary school teacher, farmer and union activist had no previous governing experience, and took office as an outsider, pledging to support poor Peruvians who had been left behind by the country\u2019s stellar economic growth since the beginning of the century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His win reflected massive disenchantment with the political elite after numerous corruption scandals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the novice president made numerous blunders, appointing barely qualified ministers and accumulating allegations of corruption and influence trafficking linked to his family and allies, which were investigated by the public prosecutor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCastillo is a symptom of the crisis rather than the cause,\u201d said Natalia Sobrevilla, professor of Latin American history at the University of Kent. Two of his predecessors faced two impeachment motions each: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned rather than face impeachment and his successor, Mart\u00edn Vizcarra, was ousted in November 2020 after dissolving congress a year before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite his unpopularity, Castillo has consistently had higher approval ratings than congress. A survey by the Institute of Peruvian Studies last month found 86% disapproval of Congress, and only 10% approval, while Castillo\u2019s negative ratings were 61% and 31% approve of his performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his address on Tuesday, Castillo said: \u201cThroughout the 17 months of my administration, a certain sector of Congress has focused solely on removing me from office, because they never accepted the results of an election that you, dear Peruvians, defined with your votes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, an OAS delegation visited Peru at Castillo\u2019s behest after he requested that the organisation activate its democratic charter, alleging that congress and the prosecutor\u2019s office were attempting a coup against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castillo\u2019s opponents argued that he was the one attempting a coup by sidelining congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPedro Castillo was dictator for only two hours,\u201d\u00a0tweeted\u00a0Iv\u00e1n Lanegra, secretary-general of the Peruvian NGO Transparencia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peru\u2019s congress has removed President Pedro Castillo from office after he announced the dissolution of the legislature and the installation of a \u201cgovernment of exception\u201d \u2013 just hours before he was due to face an impeachment vote. The country\u2019s national police tweeted on Wednesday that \u201cformer president\u201d Pedro Castillo had been detained, shortly after congress […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":28248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[7603,11264,7247,11830,3782,8877,6609,9194,6693,1384,6731,10507,8440,11831,11606,913,9387,10668,8876,911,6060,5455,12210,5345,2264,6543,10954,5406,11262,7248,1510,6864,12187,11973,8900,5396,1565,8878,421,10917,3805,12325,10313,11171,10722,13301,6736,2381,5618,5470,10041,6988,5376,6790,9313,8429,7231,9262,11957,214,10415,594],"class_list":["post-28247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","tag-activist","tag-allegations","tag-andres-manuel-lopez-obrador","tag-armed-forces","tag-cabinet","tag-castillo","tag-catholic","tag-charges","tag-congress","tag-corruption","tag-coup","tag-court","tag-crisis","tag-curfew","tag-democracy","tag-democratic","tag-detained","tag-dictator","tag-dina-boluarte","tag-election","tag-embassy","tag-family","tag-female","tag-foreign-minister","tag-government","tag-growth","tag-international","tag-judiciary","tag-kent","tag-lopez-obrador","tag-mexico","tag-ministers","tag-n","tag-one","tag-pablo","tag-peace","tag-pedro","tag-peru","tag-police","tag-poor","tag-president","tag-primary-school","tag-professor","tag-protesters","tag-removed","tag-results","tag-school","tag-science","tag-soldiers","tag-space","tag-speech","tag-successor","tag-tanks","tag-teacher","tag-trafficking","tag-truce","tag-union","tag-united-states","tag-unity","tag-university","tag-work","tag-who"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}