Peru's Congress votes to impeach Dina Boluarte as crime wave stirs anger

Peru’s Congress voted to remove deeply unpopular President Dina Boluarte from office as a crime wave grips the South American nation.

Lawmakers voted to debate her removal from office on grounds of "moral incapacity" earlier in the night and summoned her to defend herself before Congress an hour later. She never appeared, and lawmakers had sufficient votes to proceed with a rapid impeachment process.

An overwhelming majority of 118 out of 122 lawmakers voted for her impeachment, removing her from the presidency, Congress leader Jose Jeri announced.

Jeri, a 38-year-old lawyer, was later sworn in as the interim president to serve out Boluarte's term. Elections are scheduled for next April and Boluarte's term was to end July 28, 2026.

Jeri said he would defend Peru's sovereignty and hand over power to the winner of the April election.

The shocking turn of events came just hours after a shooting at a concert in the capital inflamed anger over crime roiling the South American nation.

Unlike eight previous attempts to remove her, almost all legislative factions expressed support for the latest request.

Boluarte took office in December 2022 after Parliament used the same mechanism to impeach her predecessor. 

Boluarte’s government has struggled to respond to the spike in crime, particularly homicides and extortion. On Wednesday, she partially blamed the situation on immigrants living in the country illegally. 

“This crime has been brewing for decades and has been strengthened by illegal immigration, which past administrations haven’t defeated," she said during a military ceremony. “Instead, they’ve opened the doors of our borders and allowed criminals to enter everywhere... without any restrictions.”

Official figures show that 6,041 people were killed between January and mid-August, the highest number during the same period since 2017. Meanwhile, extortion complaints totaled 15,989 between January and July, a 28% increase compared to the same period in 2024.

The country’s latest presidential crisis erupted after a man opened fire and injured five people Wednesday during a concert of Peru’s most popular cumbia groups, Agua Marina.

Prime Minister Eduardo Arana on Thursday defended Boluarte during a crime-focused hearing before Parliament, but it was not enough to dissuade lawmakers from pursuing the motions to see the president out of office.

“Parliament’s concerns are not resolved by addressing a request for impeachment, much less by approving it,” Arana told lawmakers. “We are not clinging to our positions. We are here, and we knew from the beginning that our first day here could also be our last day in office.”

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP)