You probably remember the recent political crisis in Peru, but to recap:
In 2021 Peru had an election between two deeply unsavory individuals: the left wing Pedro Castillo and the right wing Keiko Fujimori (daughter of the more famous Alberto Fujimori, now in prison for human rights abuses). Castillo won with less than a percentage point and a minority in the legislature. Fujimori’s Popular Forces claimed the election was rigged and started trying to impeach him pretty much immediately (you don’t actually need a crime or anything to impeach a President in Peru, you can just say they’re unfit to rule). After several attempts of this he decided to launch a “self-coup,” dissolve Congress, and create a new government. Needless to say this did not work, he was finally actually impeached, arrested, and his Vice President Dina Boularte came to power.
The year following was a weird one. Castillo’s most ardent supporters took to the streets in mass protest against what they saw as a concerted attempt to violate the democratic results of the election at all costs (which to be fair is basically accurate). The institutionalists on the left, however, saw Castillo’s self-coup as simply going too far. While a member of the Peruvian Marxist left herself, current President Boularte found herself working with the center left and the conservatives against some members of her own party and the popular uprising. In the months that followed she deployed the security state against the protestors pretty brutally, which seemingly only encouraged them to fight harder. Things have calmed down now but the scars are there to stay. Boularte remains in power but her hold is fragile; her most recent opinion poll put her popularity at an abysmal 8%.
And apparently it’s not over yet. Attorney General Patricia Benavides (who spent a fair amount of time trying to get Castillo impeached) launched an eleven month investigation into police brutality and has now announced she is officially blaming President Boularte for the deaths of protestors. This is a pretty plausible outcome for the investigation, though it should be say there are some complications:
The attorney-general filed the complaint against the president just hours after she herself had been accused of leading a corruption ring, which allegedly dropped investigations against lawmakers in exchange for them appointing allies of Ms Benavides to key posts in the judiciary.
Ms Benavides has denied any wrongdoing, has fired the prosecutor who made the allegations against her team, and has so far resisted calls for her resignation.
What happens now? Congress will review the allegations, and since they backed putting down the protests, it is unlikely they will attempt to impeach her (unless the right wing is feeling particularly opportunistic, which they may be). A criminal trial wouldn’t happen until after Boularte leaves office, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a former President has been charged for crimes that Congress supported after they left office (see: Fujimori). Given the weak institutions in Peru, hopefully this doesn’t encourage Boularte to stay in power specifically to avoid prosecution.
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Notes -
Peru
You probably remember the recent political crisis in Peru, but to recap:
In 2021 Peru had an election between two deeply unsavory individuals: the left wing Pedro Castillo and the right wing Keiko Fujimori (daughter of the more famous Alberto Fujimori, now in prison for human rights abuses). Castillo won with less than a percentage point and a minority in the legislature. Fujimori’s Popular Forces claimed the election was rigged and started trying to impeach him pretty much immediately (you don’t actually need a crime or anything to impeach a President in Peru, you can just say they’re unfit to rule). After several attempts of this he decided to launch a “self-coup,” dissolve Congress, and create a new government. Needless to say this did not work, he was finally actually impeached, arrested, and his Vice President Dina Boularte came to power.
The year following was a weird one. Castillo’s most ardent supporters took to the streets in mass protest against what they saw as a concerted attempt to violate the democratic results of the election at all costs (which to be fair is basically accurate). The institutionalists on the left, however, saw Castillo’s self-coup as simply going too far. While a member of the Peruvian Marxist left herself, current President Boularte found herself working with the center left and the conservatives against some members of her own party and the popular uprising. In the months that followed she deployed the security state against the protestors pretty brutally, which seemingly only encouraged them to fight harder. Things have calmed down now but the scars are there to stay. Boularte remains in power but her hold is fragile; her most recent opinion poll put her popularity at an abysmal 8%.
And apparently it’s not over yet. Attorney General Patricia Benavides (who spent a fair amount of time trying to get Castillo impeached) launched an eleven month investigation into police brutality and has now announced she is officially blaming President Boularte for the deaths of protestors. This is a pretty plausible outcome for the investigation, though it should be say there are some complications:
What happens now? Congress will review the allegations, and since they backed putting down the protests, it is unlikely they will attempt to impeach her (unless the right wing is feeling particularly opportunistic, which they may be). A criminal trial wouldn’t happen until after Boularte leaves office, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a former President has been charged for crimes that Congress supported after they left office (see: Fujimori). Given the weak institutions in Peru, hopefully this doesn’t encourage Boularte to stay in power specifically to avoid prosecution.
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