The president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, it has been removed from office shortly after he tried to dissolve Congress, a move defined «coup d’état» by his own vice president, Dina Boluarte. On Wednesday, the Peruvian president gave a speech in which he said: “We have taken the decision to establish an emergency government, to restore law and democracy.” A few hours later the Peruvian Congress, which holds the legislative power and is composed of only one chamber, impeached Castillo and voted to remove him from office.
The congressional vote was already scheduled and Castillo’s move was probably aimed at preventing the impeachment vote against him from being voted on. Shortly after his announcement, however, some members of his government resigned, and the Peruvian armed forces issued a statement in which they said that Castillo did not have the authority to dissolve Congress with an extraordinary decree. In addition to the vice president, Francisco Morales, head of the Peruvian Constitutional Court, also defined Castillo’s move as a coup project.
Peruvian police, writes El País, said Castillo was detained for three hours following the congressional vote. It is not yet clear what will happen now, but in the meantime, on Wednesday afternoon (local time) she is expected to swear in Dina Boluarte as the new president.
Castillo’s presidency had been going through a serious political crisis for some time. Congress’ vote today was the third attempt to remove him due to allegations of corruption, instability of his government and intense protests in the country against him in recent weeks. The protests were mainly caused by the price increase that is also taking place in the rest of the world, but they also ended up involving the national government. Castillo, a former leftist Marxist-inspired teacher, had been president since July 2021.
