Peru sworn in new leader after president ousted amid constitutional crisis

Peru’s Congress has removed President Pedro Castillo from office and replaced him with the vice president, shortly after Mr Castillo ordered the dissolution of the legislature ahead of a scheduled vote to remove him.

The Office of the State Ombudsman, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court have called his move to dissolve Congress a coup, although at least one expert disagrees.

Eduardo Gamarra, a professor of political science and international relations at Florida International University, said Peru’s Congress has the ability to remove a president, and the president has the ability to dissolve Congress, so “technically, it’s not a coup.”

“The confusion is about 15,000 interpretations of who prevails, Congress or the president,” he said. The winner will be whoever has more power, he said.

Lawmakers voted 101-6, with 10 abstentions, to remove Mr. Castillo for “permanent moral incapacity.”

Mr. Castillo left the presidential palace in a car that took him through central Lima and entered a police station, where he was not identified. In a since-deleted photo circulated by the National Police on Twitter, Mr. Castillo is seen sitting inside a police station, surrounded by officers.

Shortly before the vote, Mr Castillo announced he was forming a new emergency government and called on the next round of lawmakers to create a new constitution for the Andean nation. In a televised address, he said he would rule by decree until then and ordered a curfew starting Wednesday night.

He also announced that he would make changes in the leadership of the judiciary, police and constitutional court. The head of the Peruvian army resigned along with four ministers, including foreign and economic ministers.

Mr. Castillo took action as his opponents in Congress tried for a third time to remove him from office.

The Ombudsman’s Office, a self-government body, said ahead of the parliamentary vote that he should resign and surrender to judicial authorities. After years of democracy, Peru is in the midst of a constitutional breakdown in what can only be called a coup, the statement said.

“Mr Castillo must remember that he was not only elected president of the republic, but also that the people elected representatives for public service,” the statement said. “Castillo’s actions disregarded the wishes of the people and were invalid.”

Congress voted for Vice President Dina Boluarte to be president. She rejected Mr. Castillo’s move, saying it “exacerbated the political and institutional crisis that Peruvian society must overcome with strict adherence to the law”.

Ms. Boluarte, 60, a lawyer, is the first woman to hold the presidency of Peru’s more than 200 years as an independent republic. Bilingual in Spanish and Quechua, she was on the same ticket when voters chose Mr Castillo in July 2021, and also served as minister of development and social inclusion.

In a statement, Peru’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and national police denied the constitutionality of Mr. Castillo’s dissolution of Congress.

Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Mexico had decided to postpone the Pacific Alliance summit scheduled for December 14 in Lima. He said he regretted the recent developments and called for respect for democracy and human rights.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s government regrets the situation in Peru and is confident the crisis will be resolved through democratic mechanisms.

The Spanish government strongly condemned the breach of constitutional order and congratulated the country on its democratic comeback.

In an unusual midnight address on state television ahead of the vote, Mr. Castillo said he would never tarnish “my good name as an honest and exemplary parent who, like millions of Peruvians, is honest every day. building a future for their families”.

The farmer-turned-president said he was paying for his inexperienced mistakes, but a branch of Congress “had my removal as their only agenda item because they never accepted the election results and you, My dear Peruvians, it’s up to your vote”.

Mr Castillo, whose government came to power in July 2021, has denied corruption charges against him, saying they were based on “rumors from people who were trying to mitigate punishment for alleged crimes by abusing my trust in an attempt to Involve me without proof.”

Federal prosecutors are investigating half a dozen cases against him, most of them alleged corruption, on the grounds that he used his power to profit from public works.

A power struggle continues in the Peruvian capital as the Andes and its thousands of small farms struggle to survive the worst drought in half a century. Without rain, farmers can’t grow potatoes, and dead grass can’t feed herds of sheep, alpacas, llamas and llamas.

To make matters worse, bird flu has killed at least 18,000 seabirds and infected at least one poultry producer, endangering chickens and turkeys raised for traditional holiday meals.

The government also confirmed that the country has suffered a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections in the past week. Since the start of the pandemic, 4.3 million Peruvians have been infected and 217,000 have died.

According to polls, Mr Castillo has three times the support of Congress. A survey by the Peruvian Institute last month found that 86 percent of Congress disapproved and just 10 percent approved, while the president was 61 percent unfavorable and 31 percent approved of his performance.

While a majority in Lima disapproves of Mr. Castillo and wants him to step down, Peruvians in other cities and in rural communities in the interior want him to finish out his presidency and deliver on his promises. Many Peruvians want Congress closed.