Breaking: Peru’s President Dina Boluarte impeached amid surging crime wave

In a dramatic late-night session, Peru’s Congress voted overwhelmingly to remove President Dina Boluarte from office. The main reason for her removal was a widespread feeling among lawmakers that her government had failed to control a severe crime wave gripping the country.

124 out of 130 lawmakers voted to impeach President Boluarte shortly after midnight, with no votes against the motion. This sudden shift saw almost all political parties unite against her, unlike eight previous attempts to oust her since she took office in December 2022.

Lawmakers cited her government’s “inability to stem crime” as the grounds for her removal, using the legal mechanism of “permanent moral incapacity.”

The political crisis was significantly fueled by a shooting at a concert in the capital just hours earlier, which heightened public anger over the growing violence and insecurity.

Official figures show a spike in homicides and a 28% increase in extortion complaints in the country.

Congress requested Boluarte appear before them to defend herself but she did not show up, leading lawmakers to immediately proceed with the vote.

José Jerí, the President of the Congress, was immediately sworn in as the interim president to serve out the rest of her term. Jerí stated he would defend Peru’s sovereignty and hand over power to the winner of the scheduled election next April.

Boluarte, Peru’s first female president, was the country’s sixth leader in under a decade, continuing a period of chronic political instability.