With the mission of overcoming the institutional crisis that reached its peak with Pedro Castillo’s coup attempt, the new president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, should form her ministerial cabinet this Thursday (8). The announced names will make it possible to feel the pulse of his government’s orientation and estimate the possibilities that the country will finally experience a period of political stability under new leadership.
So far, Peru’s first female president has promised a time of truce, a government of national unity and a “cabinet of all stripes”. She also promised that she will fully fulfill her mandate, remaining in office until July 28, 2026 – which would differ from almost all of her predecessors since 2016, a portrait of the level of instability in Peru in recent years.
Boluarte, 60, was one of the first to call Castillo’s acts by name on Wednesday (7). “It is a blow that aggravates the political and institutional crisis, which Peruvian society will have to overcome with strict compliance with the law,” she wrote on her Twitter account.
Hours later, she arrived at Congress summoned by the Legislature to take the oath that consecrated her as the new occupant of the Casa de Pizarro, seat of the Presidency of Peru.
This Wednesday began to look like the most tumultuous day in Peru’s recent history when Castillo made a statement to the nation declaring a state of exception and ordering the dissolution of Parliament and the calling of new elections. In doing so, the then former president distorted the prerogatives provided for by the Constitution and, therefore, saw his act receive the label of an attempted coup.
Congress, in constant tension with the chief executive since the beginning of his term, in practice ignored Castillo’s excesses and proceeded with voting on the third vacancy motion against the populist leader – a kind of impeachment process.
Until the day before, everything indicated that the president would once again survive the attempt to remove him, but the unconstitutional measures he adopted hours before turned the tide. The vacancy motion was approved with 101 votes in favor, 6 against and 10 abstentions – 87 votes were needed for dismissal.
The Peruvian press, citing police sources, claims that the now ex-president planned to leave the country and flee to Mexico. He was intercepted, however, shortly after leaving the Government Palace, detained by police and taken to the City Hall of Lima.
El Comercio newspaper reports that Castillo remained in Lima for more than seven hours, the entire time with police officers. Afterwards, he was transferred together with former Prime Minister AnÃbal Torres to the Los Cibeles barracks, in the Rimac district and, from there, he left by helicopter for the headquarters of the Directorate of Special Operations (Diroes) – the same center where Alberto is being held. Fujimori, dictator who ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000, and father of Keiko, Castillo’s main opponent, who was defeated in the last election by about 50,000 votes.
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