Peru’s Leftist president impeached hours after audacious attempt to escape prosecution
PERU’S far-left president was impeached on corruption charges last night, hours after claiming he had dissolved congress in a desperate attempt to avoid being sent to jail.
Politicians had been due to debate ousting Pedro Castillo yesterday evening but brought the session forward after the president told the nation in a surprise address that he was shuttering congress and would rule by decree until he convened a constituent assembly.
“This intolerable situation cannot continue,” he said, adding he was “temporarily dissolving Congress ... and installing an exceptional emergency government.” Dina Boluarte, his vicepresident, wrote on Twitter that Mr
Castillo’s move was a “coup d’état that aggravates the political and institutional crisis” in the country. Francisco Morales, the president of the constitutional court, told the broadcaster RPP: “Today, there has been a 20th centurystyle coup. It is a coup destined to fail. Peru wants to live in a democracy. This coup d’etat has no legal basis,” .
The attempt to dissolve congress was the final straw even for his own party, Marxist-leninist Free Peru. Many of its politicians were among those who voted to oust the president, a 53-yearold former teacher and wildcat strike leader.
The impeachment motion was passed with 101 votes out of a total of 130 in a session broadcast live on television.
Mr Castillo, who will be succeeded by
Ms Boluarte, was arrested yesterday . He had reportedly tried to flee to the Mexican embassy in Lima.
Andres Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s Leftist president, has been one of Mr Castillo’s few international allies and recently offered to travel to Peru when lawmakers refused to allow him leave Peru to attend a summit in Mexico City.
Prosecutors are investigating Mr Castillo
for multiple incidents of alleged corruption, including allegedly taking bribes and selling state jobs. In October, they filed a 376-page complaint against him, based on an extensive evidentiary trail and the testimony of dozens of witnesses. The constitutional crisis followed weeks of rising tensions between Mr Castillo and congress, which is dominated by several far-right parties.